I have a really poor relationship with food. Growing up, my parents never enforced the idea of ‘eat your greens,’ and my mom was mostly focused on body shaming. I’m trying not to slip back into an ED spiral, as I’ve just gotten out of it, and I’m working on disciplining myself—something I was never really taught. I’ve read countless articles, but I’m still struggling to grasp what a balanced diet actually looks like. For example, if I have mostly fats and carbs for lunch, fruit as a midday snack, and protein for dinner, is that balanced? Or should I have a little bit of everything in each meal? And those percentages they mention in articles—how do you even figure those out? I naturally have a small appetite, and I find it really hard to eat as much as I’m ‘supposed’ to. Honestly, I’m clueless when it comes to balanced meals and would love some clarity.
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A balanced diet is one where you consume foods from a variety of sources to get a good balance of all the things your body needs. ie fiber, vitamins and minerals, other micronutrients, and a balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates that is best suited to you.
Ideally, if you are going to split your meals up into three as you have, you will want a balance of each at the simplest level. A small source of protein is always a good idea, as are carbs and fats.
So a meal may look like a veggie, protein, carbs, fats from micronutrient dense foods.
As someone with a former ED, I know how hard this can be. Disordered eating is really hard to overcome. Feel free to reach out if you need anything or want to structure a meal plan
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