Bulimia Help

Rice cakes, nuts (juts an ounce), grapes, sipping on broth, small salad, crackers, snack size popcorn.....obviously I am a snackaholic so these are a few suggestions from me. Good job on your eighth day!

other fruits such as pears, canned pineapple, a handful of nuts (have to keep the bag at work of i'd eat them all), a small bowl of porridge...

I love to snack on a combination of fruit (especially bananas and oranges), nuts and seeds, or those awesome oat bars that are made from raw ingredients, or sometimes if I know I need to eat more something like a multi-seed bagel or some cereal or toast. Occasionally if I feel like eating some junk I might snack on something like a chocolate bar, although healthy snack choices really do make me feel better so I stick to them unless i'm actually really craving something less healthy. A smaller portion of salad with some protein in it can be great too, or some crackers with cheese.

If you're just having fruit on its own for snacks it would be important to try and make sure you're eating more for your meals to make sure your body is getting enough calories for the day.

On days when the quanitiy of the food is really getting to you things like nuts and seeds can be great because you only need a small portion!x x

a small fruit salad with greek yogurt,
raisins and almonds
cheese with a slice of whole wheat bread
and if you're up for it, give yourself a serving of a treat!

The best combos are proteins/carbs because biologically, the body needs carbs to help digesting proteins. thats why people can't eat some form of meat with some form of carb like a side of potatoes or in a sandwich.
I have to bring the science into this so I feel better about snacking. Plus, thinking about sugars as just carbon, hydrogen and oxygen makes it easier to handle than thinking of the "bad foods"
they're all broken down into the same thing in the end =)

and if you want to feel even more comfortable, look up the foods you're going to eat on http://www.whfoods.com/ or http://www.nutritiondata.com/ to see all the great nutrition you're about to eat, rather than just looking at calorie/fat/sugar content.

baby carrots with a little bit of ranch dressing or babybel cheese light., yogurt or grapes. i hate it tho! i wish i could eat something else. hmmm

Baby carrots with spicy mustard or hummus. I also like air popped popcorn.

I love chocolate milk and I've found that Ovaltine is really good for you.. It's got so many vitamins and stuff in it! I love having a glass of that with some whip cream on top. It's liquid so it doesn't make me feel like I've just eaten a whole meal, but I'm still getting the nutrients I need.

I always snack on fruit. Sometimes I'll snack on a little yogurt with a few almonds/grapenuts inside, or popcorn. If I feel like I'm in control, I might pour myself a small amount of dry cereal, like Cheerios, without milk/soymilk. I have to be extremely careful with cereal though, so maybe you should try snacking on fruit, because it seems to be what most people suggest! Good luck! =)

Thanks guys!! Definitely going to start alternating with what snacks im having. I'm worried that if my daily diet doesn't have much variety in it I'll be more tempted to start bingeing again. I bought Options low calorie hot chocolate today. They have loads of different flavours too so I was thinking that could be a good snack. Also im hoping i wont feel too guilty as they aren't 'bad'. Thanks again for the suggestions!
xx

almond butter on celery sticks, edamame, apples, a handful of raw almonds, yogurt, a hard boiled egg, these feel pretty safe to me...or just a small serving of your 'trigger' foods eaten very mindfully- it helps me to eat whatever i want in controlled portions (which takes some practice as to not go overboard) because restricting too much makes those things seem too illustrious...
my secret to handling small amounts of triggering foods is to be well nourished-never too hungry.

I really LOVE fruit.

I make myself some fruit salad almost everyday, I just get different fruits every time I go grocery shopping so I have a variety of fruits. I also like frozen berries etc, much cheaper then buying fresh ones in the winter but just as good:)

In the winter time I really like slices of apple and pear, microwave for 1 minute, sprinkle with cinnamon and some honey(dont add the honey first because by warming it over a certain temperature it will loose its nutritional value)... Warm, yummy and healthy:)

Really, really dark chocolate. 80% or more cacao. Very intense flavours (which make me not want to binge on it) and it makes it more healthy (and me less guilty) too.

Dried fruits and nuts. I eat a handful of this if I really need some more energy but not a whole meal.

I like to freeze yogurts. This helps because it takes longer to eat and I can take time to taste what I am eating.
I also like yogurt mixed with cottage cheese.
If I want something salty I get a snack size bag of popcorn, or carrots, or an apple and put salt on it. The 94% FF Sweet and Salty Popcorn is good if you are having both sweet and salty cravings.
My favorite drink of choice is hot chocolate. Sip on it slowly and this helps to fill you up and give you a little chocolate taste.

I like to freeze anything that taste good frozen. I have frozen grapes, blueberries, yogurts, etc.
Anything you think might sound good frozen I would try it. This slows down the rapid eating process some. Hope this helps!

i unfortunately DO count calories. i keep snacks that are healthy and roughly 100 calories that i can just grab. fiber, fat, and protein are key:
-weight watchers yogurt
-an apple
-a pear
-a kiwi and a clementine together
-fake turkey and cheese rollups
-a frozen juice popsicle
-a banana
good work on recovery!

Serving-size yoghurts (personally i don't go for the low-fat crapnesses - they're full of additives and just make you hungry later) with chopped nuts/seeds and fresh or dried fruit stirred in

Slice of toast with tahini (or another kind of nut butter, or y'know... butter!) and marmite, with a tomato sliced on top

Toast with tahini (or nut butter) with a banana mashed on top and cinnamon, for a sweeter version of the above

Various cereal bars, be they oaty or raw or otherwise

Someone else mentioned raw bars... i quite like Nakd bars - they look like this - http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/605101_Nakd_Co...

You can get them in health food shops and here in the UK a lot of large supermarkets stock them

Speaking of health food shops... Another thing i have recently re-discovered, as i know some of you find it hard to eat a bar of chocolate without going doolally* but would still enjoy a chocolate hit, is cacao nibs. The ones i like look like this: http://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/pics/400x400/cocoa-nibs-125g.jpg - you mightn't like them of course. They're pretty intense and not particularly sweet, but i think they're great in yoghurt or on my porridge or wherever.

Well, not in my knickers. Seriously, how much of a fright would THAT give you?

One small suggestion (please don't take this as me being patronising - i mean it only as a reminder, to bear in mind for the future, when you feel ready): try having a little snack that you don't consider to be all "healthy" and "good" and all that. Something you enjoy, somewhere you feel safe and able to enjoy it. Because of course it won't turn you into an evil monster and recovery is about being able to do what you want sometimes, not live rigidly to a set of rules.

If you do that once and it goes horribly wrong, don't give up, just try again another time. And if it goes right, do it again another time.

*Indian! The expression comes from the name of a place in India where the shell shocked troops were sent to recover, hence so-and-so has "gone doolally".

kelly23! i freeze everything too! i have so many tupperwares of berries and bananas. i also freeze yogurt. i just poke a spoon in the foil lid and throw it in and pull it out later. i also make a lot of homemade popsicles. i freeze mango juice, crushed pineapples, and crushed clementines with agave. they are healthy snacks that you must take your time with so you get to really enjoy them.

They are called "Nakd" (68g bars) I found them in Tesco in the UK. All they contain is raw fruit, nuts and oats so they are super good for you, they also count as 2 of your 5 a day, and calorie wise I think they are a great amount for a snack. I only found three flavours, the berry one is lovely and so is the apple pie one, it tastes like real apple pie! The cocoa one is not so nice in my opinion! They are great to just have with you in case you get caught somewhere and need to eat something to keep to your structured eating plan :) x x

hello my lovelies :)..at the start of normalized eating i also had a tough time finding controlled portion snacks that wouldn't trigger me or leave me wanting 20 more. Now my possibilties are endless!!!

* fruit cups ( canned fruit but in a cup)
* 1 hard boiled egg
* 1 english muffin with hummus or jelly
* 2 rice cakes
* muscle milk (really filling protien drink)
* natural single portion fruit snacks
* kashi nutrition bar
* chicken or vegi broth
* soup
* 1 cheese stick
* 1 cup chopped veggies
* low fat popcorn
* yogurt cup
* 1 serving lunch meat
* 1 medium size fruit (apple, pear, orange)
* pickles :)

yep thats only a few of mine :) i try and eat two of these for every snack ( a protien and a carb) If i am feeling very hungry eat something with a lot of volume such as veggies, popcorn, fruit or soup. If i am not in the mood to eat, i will pick something more dense such as cheese stick, nutrition bar, or nuts. These allow me to get the calories i need without feeling so full :)

throughout the day i also found that drinking tea or carbonated water really helps me to not snack excessivly, which lead to bingeing. The heat of the tea soothes my tummy and helps with digestion. The bubbles or the seltzer water are also soothing and help my body feel less hungry 24-7!!!

GOOD LUCK SWEETHEARTS!! i hope this helped...

I LOOVVVEEE....

Pure Protein Bars- they taste like a candy bar w lil cals high protein n low sugar!! U wont feel bad bout these even if u eat em l8 @ nite ;)

Laughing Cow lite cheese--Mini Baybel alone or the triangles w carrot stix

Pickles!!!!

Cottage cheese---a given

Low carb yogurt--also another good sweet craving satisfier l8 @ nite

Suger free jello

fat free and sugar free puddin

ff or low fat ranch w Mrs. Dash garlic n herb mixed n w veggies...just note thats Mrs. Dash is the SH*T!!! It pumps up the flavor on boring food n makes them yum yum!!! i put it on everything!!! lol

sugar free or ff fudgescicles

fruit--obviously...banana r my fav, n honey crisp apples!!

applesauce

soy crisps-- i like mine w ranch/n mrs dash or spicy mustard...or sweet hot mustard

edamame---really good 4 a nut craving n more fiber less fat more protein etc!! ;)

cal conscious not obsessive is key!! <3

Fruit is definitely a good idea. Try going for fresh as opposed to dried, as it will make you feel fuller for longer. Something like an apple, banana or even some apricots will do the trick. You could even try mixing some yogurt in with some chopped up fruit (and sunflower seeds if you fancy them). Canned soup is also a good idea. Perhaps try this with a few crackers and some cottage cheese?

Hope this helps! :-)

But I was wondering if its just me, or does anyone else have a really hard time with granola bars? I don't know why! I don't even buy the really sugary, artificial kind, but I've tried to eat them as a snack many times and they consistently start me binging! So I've given up on them for now, as well as dry cereal, anything with enriched wheat flour or a lot of sugar. It just goes too out of control. Does anyone else have this problem?

Yah i snack on alot of fruit.
I sometimes make fruit smoothies aswell. They're really good cus they fill you up and there's lots of fruit!! :)
You can buy one of those hand mixers, quite cheap and they work fine! you dont need a huge smoothie maker!! :)
I also snack on rice cakes, they have liek no calories, so it would be ok to eat a couple of them, but the problem is that they dont exactly fill you up, so you end up eating a tad bit too many!

Otherwise there's like what the other have mentioned, salads, or jsut snaking on like carrots or celery or something!! :)

X

on bagel bits really. Everything else I freak out. Sometimes I even freak out with those things. I know what I should be having, it's just hard. The suggestions on here are all really good though. Maybe I can try some...

Hi I just wanted to post a suggestion for the snacks. I am trying to recover from B/P but I still like to workout because I just enjoy that warm tingly feeling in your thighs after a good run....but anyways, a snack that has helped me feel full are those hunts sugar free jello packs. You can get them at Walmart for a buck and they are only 5 calories. I try not to think about the calorie count but they fill me up and they make me feel fun like a kid again. I usually have one after I workout, before I shower. It seems crazy but I will workout for an hour and come home and eat twice as many calories at I burned off so I use It as one of the few things that I don't really binge on. I also enjoy pieces of fruit too cause I can stop at one.

I've read that cinnamon helps to stabilise your blood-sugar levels, which may or may not be true, anyaway it's kind of a natural sugarfee sweetener, so I just put it in everything.

my coffee
oatmeal

I slice up an apple to tiny slices and dip the slices into cinnamon powder (apple is pretty much the only fruit I eat but you can try it with others too)

another cinnamon-apple recipe ' grated apples' just grate some apples, put some lemon juice and cinnamon on it, and you're done. You can add some honey too if you wish, or if you want something more filling you can have some yoghurt with it

make various yoghurt based dips, and have some raw vegetables with it

1 slice of ham with a slice of cheese and some vegetables

feta cheese with cucumber sices

and a nice cup of tea is always good for you

Being a student, there are always loads of left-overs in the fridge, so I have toast, with a bit of tomato pasta sauce and melted cheese on top. It's low calorie, and makes me feel like I'm not missing out (pizza is on of my MAJOR binge foods). I suppose you could always stick ham/peppers/etc. to make it more pizza-like.