What to eat?

[azscp]

Okay everyone I need some advice. I'm not eating very much of anything lately. I'm scaredfood will make me sick.


Can you all tell me what you eat...what's safe to eat...easy on the digestive system? I'm getting tired of toast and rice.


-Steve

[peachfeet]

Well, first things first. I think you should immediately destroy the belief that food in general will make you sick. You can't live without it! I myself don't eat much either, but here's my diet, in no particular order. I don't eat all these foods at once, just varies depending on my mood.


These are the foods that's helped me, and never once gave me any grief! Maybe they can give you ideas; creations for your own.


Breakfast: Plain bagel with cream cheese or butter, bowl of Cherrio's with sliced strawberries on top, plain waffles or pancakes, eggs scrambled with pieces of cooked diced bacon with a side of toast. Plain yogurt mixed with granola, blueberry's, raspberries and peaches. Slab of pumpkin bread (or banana nut) with any kind of juice. Vitamins! after every breakfast; preferably Once-A-Day.


Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup, ham sandwich with some potato chips, spaghetti-o's (a kids favorite and pretty light on the stomach), turkey rolls, Ritz crackers topped with slices of cheddar cheese and deli meat, peanut butter sandwich with a side of baby-carrots and any type of veggie dip. Banana & peanut butter sandwiches.





Dinner: I recommend purchasing a small George Foreman grill - easy for eliminating stubborn fats and grease that could be unsettling for the stomach.


Boneless chicken with wild rice, a light pasta such as Alfredo or angel hair. A bowl of macaroni and cheese (my personal favorite), cube-steak (basically a thin and very digestive steak) with a mixture of veggies such as green beans and carrots (fresh recommended) and a baked potato. Soup and crackers. Home-made hamburgers (definitely an improvement compared to nasty McDonalds!), spaghetti, baked chicken nuggets with french fries.


Basically any type of meat with a side dish of either pasta or veggies is a very good and settling dinner. I personally don't go out of my way to prepare huge feasts - something simple, light and creative.


Desert: Use your imagination!


This is simply what I eat, to perhaps give you an idea! I hope you find a good beneficial diet that will suit you and not give you any problems. Not all foods are harmful. Try to avoid fast food and you'll be fine! Good luck! Edited by: peachfeet

[jesskali]

Peachfeet gave you some good suggestions. If I'm not feeling well, peanut butter and crackers is my comfort food. When I was having a lot of stomach problems, I practically lived on them. When I'm eating out, and I'm concerned about the food, I stick with a grilled cheese sandwich.

You really should be eating something--there are many foods that will not make you sick. Try to stay away from spicy/greasy foods.

You may want to start out with the BRAT diet which is what doctors recommend to people with diarrhea. Things such as bananas, rice, toast are easy on the stomach and are easy to digest.

Jess

[jesskali]

Oops--sorry--I just read your post again and realized that you are already eating things like rice and toast!

[azscp]

Peachfeet and Jesskali,


Thanks for your advice. Do either of you take medication for this illness? Up until 2 months ago I was eating fine. I used to be on meds and came off a year and a half ago. Since then I've slowly gone downhill. Long story short, I have to get over this hump again.


Grilled cheese sounds tasty. I went out and bought some pudding. Oh, I don't think food in general will make me sick...well, maybe I do. It's just I'm feeling so nauseous lately and I try to eat but most of the times it makes it worse.


Thanks for all the advice.


Steve

[steph77]

it's a vicious cycle. when you don't eat, your stomach gets used to it and will actually shrink. then when you eat, you feel full so much quicker and sick when the stomach needs to work again.try to eat small portions of food as many times a day as you can. kind of like snacking all day. this way, you won't get overly full and your stomach can digest completely AND use all the nutrients from the food


do you find yourself obsessing about the possibility of v* or food poisoning when you eat? or something else? if obsessing is the problem, i found that watching a movie or doing a crossword puzzle or SOMEthing while i was eating took my mind off of it....


i hope this helps a little and good luck to you

[holly103]

I just got put on some anxiety meds. I can't ask for an anti-emetic because my DR. doesnt believe me andmisdiagnoses me with aneorexia. But anywho, I'm taking Buspar and Vistaril. How long have you had this?Edited by: holly103

[jesskali]

azscp--I'm not on medication for this phobia, but I do keep anti-emetics handy if I'm feeling especially nauseous. I also take meds for GERD and IBS.

Jess

[trinity_13]

Steve, i sympothise with you totally, i have been going through my thing with food for the last year or so. I genuinely thought that everything i ate was going to make me sick, i got to the stage where i was living on 3 small cookies a day, felt awful, couldn't get out of bed andhad 3 months off of work sick and lost heaps of weight. I was taking 8 anti emetic pills a day, basically i took the phobia to the extreme and really threatened my health. The problem is you get into a cycle of not eating and your tummy shuts down, so when you do eat something it goes into shock. I was feeling nauseated if i did eat a little and nauseated if i didn't (that familiar catch 22 situation!)


Over the last 2 months i have managed to eat potatoes (mainly roasted and mashed) building up to twice a day, i have an english muffin with jam for breakfast and i suppliment through the day with other little bits and pieces, a cookie here and there, or whatever i feel confident with. My therapist calls this 'testing' i'm testing my own theories about food and what's 'safe' I have also managed to wean myself off the anti emetics, which i am proud of. I was using them as a crutch and didn't really need them physically.


Maybe you should try things that are in portion size, like a small packet of low fat potato chips, a cracker with low fat cream cheese (although you need the fat its harder on the tum to digest) The key is to build up your confidence in food slowly, take one thing at a time. I started off picking one new thing to introduce to my diet and ate that once a day for as long as it took, when i was more confident with that food then i know i can put it on my safe list and try something else. Start off with blander things too. Also to get your sugar content up a bit try sucking on hard candy(mints can be good as they can relieve nausea a tad too)


Lastly have you been to the docs so they can rule out any stomach complaints? I would highly recommend that you go, just in case.


If you want to email me please do as i do know where you are coming from on this [email protected]


Take care


Nikki

[SimplyMe]

I'm sorry you're havign trouble w/ eating. I did for about a year too and lost way too much weight. I think everyone has had great suggestions! Macaroni and cheese is good too because it has cheese-protien and dairy and pasta-starch YUM! lol plus I've never heard of anyone getting sick off it. Do it gradually introducing more foods. Also what about Ensure or any of those meal replacement drinks so that at least that way you get what your body needs? Hoep this helped and that you are doing better!