Sunday, May 27, 2012

Confused

I've had a bad stomach bug for the last few days. My stomach was incredibly distended, stabbing stomach pains, diarrhea, and toxic gas- yes, TMI but there you have it. 

A lot has been on my mind lately about nutrition and weight. I feel so confused. There's all this conflicting information out there on how we should be eating, exercising, what we should weigh, etc. I'm not sure what to believe. Everyone makes good points. There's the whole general opinion that we are in the middle of an obesity crisis and people need to lose weight. Then there's other opinions I've been reading and hearing saying it's dieting that's the problem, not obesity. We should eat these foods, not those foods. Exercise but not too much. 

I am so confused right now! I just want a clearcut answer- what should I eat? How much should I exercise? What really is my ideal body weight? Who's right and who is wrong? 

6 comments:

  1. Girl, that is part of the ED set mind.

    nothing is completely black and white, nothing is completely bad or completely good.

    there is not a correct answer, that is the problem with ED, you want to do everything perfect and that is imposible.

    I am praying for you

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  2. I had the exact same confusing thoughts and asked my dietitian who's right bla bla bla - she said much of the advice out there is aimed at a population where such a large percentage are overweight or obese, and that the government are focused on preventing those issues getting worse. She said I myself don't need to reduce calories etc because I'm not in the majority. It made me feel better but I do still get confused and triggered - it's hard!!! I know how you feel. Everything's aimed at obesity etc but when they're wanting people to lose weight or not gain it it's easy to count the intended audience as everybody. It's difficult. Just remember you know how to be generally healthy, more so than many, and you're very unlikely to ever overeat your way to obesity - so you're not the one needing to stress about it. It's for those people who really don't care or take note of calories etc and live off junk food everyday.

    I hope things start looking up for you soon - I'm at the same place as you in recovery after 8 long years and know how sodding hard this is! Good luck :)

    X

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  3. Yes, it can be very confusing. I never know what to believe either.

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  4. this is something that was very hard for me too because there are soooo many mixed messages out there... and you don't know who or what to believe. But throughout my recovery, I have learned to try to take the advice of my treatment team whom I trust and also the book Intuitive Eating. I got that at my first treatment center and I think it makes a lot of good points. I don't know if you have ever read that book or not, but there might be something in there that could help you too ; )

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  5. Some of my thoughts...
    Okay yes, there's an "obesity epidemic" out there, but that's not something that has anything to do with people with active eds/or trying to recover from their eating disorders!!

    You'd need to sit with a nutritionist/etc to figure out what YOUR own PERSONAL needs are. It's not going to be the same for everyone, based on activity levels, genetics, etc.

    And I know that you have a great deal of wisdom and common sense that you can use... eg, Is exercising 2hours every day too much? Yes. (Unless you're training for a marathon, unless you're someone who has never had an ED)..

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  6. YES. I so identify with the confusion. I say in almost every dietician appointment that I have, "I just want someone to tell me what to do!" I hate the uncertainty and I feel like since no one can tell me the "right" way, I can only trust myself and no one else, and I barely even trust myself. No advice, but I hear you.

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