Emily asked me to describe what a typical day’s meals look like for me, so I will share that in this post. First, I want to mention that since following the Body Ecology system of healing, I have felt more grounded in mind, body and spirit than ever before. This is not about deprivation at all – in fact, for the first time in my life, I feel more satisfied than ever with my food.

Never Enough
Before following the Body Ecology Diet, I would eat foods and only feel a sense of wanting more. There was no satisfaction at all – except in my taste buds. I’d feel like I really loved sugar and all kinds of other foods, but they’d constantly leave me wanting more. Not only would I want more for the taste – I’d want more from a deeper level, which at the time I did not understand. That deeper level was my body crying for nutrients.

Even when I thought I was eating “healthy” in between episodes of disordered eating, my impaired digestive tract was not allowing me to get the vitamins and minerals from my foods. No matter how much I had studied nutrition, it was not enough to make up for the fact that I wasn’t eating properly to improve my ability to get nutrients.

Vitamin Supplements
Additionally, I was spending a lot of money on vitamins, thinking they would help me heal – but the money was wasted because they did little good. I know this because I took a Genova/Great Smokies Labs test and learned about my vitamin levels. This was at a point into my recovery, so my vitamin levels were pretty good with a few exceptions. For example, my B12, folate and B3 vitamin levels were very low – even though I ate an enormous amount of green, leafy vegetables and was taking mega-B vitamin supplements. This was before I started the Body Ecology Diet and before I learned how critical good digestion and healthy microflora (beneficial bacteria) are for health.

Digestive Health – A New Frontier
Since getting my Certified Body Ecologist training and researching digestion in my eating disorders graduate studies, I have learned so much more about how our digestive systems work. I have learned what can go wrong and how to create healing. I will share my research paper with you once I complete it.

Principle of Uniqueness
One of the key principles of Body Ecology Diet – with which I wholeheartedly agree – is the principle of uniqueness. Each of us is different and this means two things: (1) What works for one person may not work for another, so modifications for each person’s specific situation is key; and (2) Following your own path, your own voice is especially important. Doing things that are right for you and when you are ready is more important than following anyone else’s suggestions. So I share these things with you as signposts – or options – because you may already know how much I believe in trying different things on the recovery path. You never know what will be the catalyst for your shift – just trust that something will.

My Eating Plan – Based on the Body Ecology Diet (BED)
The Body Ecology Diet is based on many years of study done by Donna Gates. She holds an M.Ed. in Counseling and as a result of her own quest for health, studied nutrition, candidiasis and related immune disorders extensively over the years. After studying with the top macrobiotic teachers, she graduated from Lima Osawa’s cooking academy in Japan. Her research and experimentation with many people included Chinese medicine and naturopathy, since she sought natural healing for chronic illness. She teaches that the BED keeps people looking young — and to look at her, you’d never know she was turning 60 this year (the picture is fairly recent). While I was attracted to her book the first time I saw it – I wasn’t completely sure if it would help me, so I bought it, read it and put it on my bookshelf for a couple of years.

Gall Bladder Connection?
It wasn’t until I saw a doctor in Pennsylvania, who believed that eating disorders were caused by a diseased gall bladder, that I picked Donna’s book back up again. I traveled 10 hours with my husband to see this doctor and get his special test that said, yes, my gallbladder wasn’t functioning properly. His recommendation was that I have it removed or it could just get worse over the years. He explained all of the symptoms that, yes, I had. And yet, as I researched the impact of gall bladder removal, I was not seeing any indication that it would heal an eating disorder as chronic as mine – nor was I seeing amazing results from others whose gall bladders had been removed. It appeared, based on all of the bulletin boards I was on, that symptoms persisted – and fat metabolism was adversely impacted.

The Body Ecology Diet (BED)
This is when I started reading Donna’s book – and where I found the part about bulimia referenced. I learned from Donna’s book that I could heal my own liver and gall bladder if I just took steps to treat them right. I also realized that if I finally, after years of trying, wanted to take charge of my health, I had to make some changes in what and how I was eating. Yes, it sucked to think about. Yes, it would take planning, organization and the development of new habits. But what was my alternative? After trying over and over again – I kept coming back to the same messages – it was time to make changes that would empower ME to fix myself. Admittedly, I was hoping for some magic pill or some magic cure – someone else to fix me. After 16 years, I finally realized I had to take charge myself. Once I got over that inner tantrum, I started to get motivated.

Here is a typical day’s routine – because again, it’s a way of life, rather than just food:

  • Get at least 7 hours of sleep
  • Upon waking, meditate for 30 minutes – typically I do the healing meditation, to help use my mind-body connection to heal whatever damage might have been done from years of bulimia. I also focus on breathing love, joy, trust and abundance into my body.
  • Have a glass of water with a few herbal tinctures that Rhonda Lenair had recommended for my specific healing needs.
  • After 30 minutes, I have a glass of water with 1 squeezed, fresh organic lemon and a little stevia, along with 2 tablespoons of pure Noni juice (good for digestion, vitamins and minerals).
  • After another 15 – 30 minutes, I have a glass of water with Vitality SuperGreen and RenewPro. The Vitality SuperGreen is my new favorite green drink – sleeping makes our blood acidic and it wants to be slightly alkaline. Vitality SuperGreen alkalizes the body and brings it back into balance. The RenewPro has non-denatured whey protein. Both Vitality SuperGreen and RenewPro have glutimmune, wonderful for healing the gut lining. I have found that this drink is a great pick-me-up and I no longer need caffeine to wake me up.
  • After 15 minutes (so the liquid doesn’t impede digestive acid), I have breakfast.

Meals
All of my meals vary each day. The idea in healing is to rotate your foods, so that you have a lot of variety in vitamins and minerals – and so that you don’t develop allergies to foods by having them day in and day out. Everything is organic, if possible. I have just started getting a “share” from a local, organic farm – so I can pick up a box of fresh, local organic vegetables each week. I also use organic, free-range, hormone free, grass-fed animal protein, which I get from my local health food store or a local organic farm. These animals are running free and humanely treated. The farmer I typically buy from loves his animals and healed himself — through healthy, organic foods — from stage 4 pancreatic cancer, when doctors said he had little chance of surviving.

Keep in mind that I have been doing this for a long time now, so it’s like second nature. It is, in fact, a step-by-step learning process. The idea is not to try all of this at once, but to make gradual changes at your own pace. Any changes you make, you’ll start to feel better.

Breakfast

  • Eggs cooked with coconut oil and vegetables (greens, carrots, onions or garlic) and put on top of fresh, raw greens and sea vegetables. ½ Cup of fermented vegetables may accompany this meal. On the salad, I use 2 Tablespoons of ground flax seeds and a teaspoon of lecithin (fat emulsifier).
  • If I don’t have eggs, I have a grain meal of either quinoa, buckwheat, millet or amaranth. All are gluten-free and do not feed candida (yeast). They are also high in protein, which is good for healing the gut. I cook the grains with veggies and add them warm, over salad greens and toasted nori. I use a healthy oil, like coconut oil, ghee, olive oil, pumpkin seed oil or flax oil. I use ground flax seeds (help with elimination as well) and lecithin as well.
  • Eggs and animal protein are contractive, so the body craving balance, will want something expansive. The coconut oil is expansive, along with the herbs and spices I put on it. The vegetables are closer to the middle, so the whole thing balances out.
  • The Body Ecology recommended grains are in the middle, so it’s a nice, balanced meal.
  • My meals are 80% vegetables, 20% eggs (or grains) – this helps the digestive tract and avoids bloating.
  • My meals also follow the principle of acid/alkaline balance – remember that our body works to keep the blood slightly alkaline, so if you eat acid foods, your body has to work harder. When healing, you want to help the body come into balance. Therefore, the 80/20 rule applies here too.
  • 80% alkaline, 20% acid. The eggs are acid, so I use some real sea salt on them, since sea salt is alkaline. In any case, the vegetables are alkaline, so there is plenty of balance.
  • My meals also follow proper food combining, which also helps the digestive tract. If you get gassy, bloated and/or tired after eating, food combining may work for you.

Lunch

  • For lunch, I typically have an animal protein meal. As a type O blood, healthy animal proteins are important for me. Additionally, being deficient in vitamin B12 (causes mood disturbances, depression, etc.), animal protein is one of the only sources of vitamin B12 we can get from food. In some cases, you can get it from sea vegetables and eggs, but the studies indicate that animal protein is really the best source.
  • I really like chicken and salmon, so I often rotate these, along with other types of fish and occasional turkey. I cook them with plenty of green, leafy vegetables and sea vegetables. If I’m in a hurry, I just top a salad with my animal protein and use a healthy oil with lemon juice and raw apple cider vinegar for dressing.
  • Again, the principle of 80/20 applies – 80% land and sea vegetables, 20% animal protein.
  • The 80/20 for alkaline/acid balance applies for this meal as well.
  • Animal protein is harder to digest, so I use hydrochloric acid supplements (Betaine pepsin HCl) to help it digest. Additionally, I eat it only between 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, so my pancreas doesn’t have to work so hard to digest it. If you have hot flashes or night sweats, try having animal protein only around the lunch hours, rather than at night. Animal protein that does not digest properly can ferment in the intestines, causing gas and toxins – and feeding the candida (yeast).

Dinner
I typically have a Body Ecology recommended grain, along with plenty of land and ocean vegetables. I either follow a recipe or cook it like rice pilaf, with vegetables – and top on a salad of fresh greens with toasted nori. Since you can combine starch vegetables, like peas or winter squash with grains, I sometimes have my favorite type of winter squash, which sweetens the meal. I also include ½ cup of cultured vegetables.

Dessert or Snacks

  • I eat organic almond butter for dessert or snacks sometimes, as if it were a piece of chocolate. And it feels that indulgent for me – I love it and find it very satisfying.
  • I also like to make raw crackers from flax seeds, sunflower seeds or almonds – these can also be purchased online or in health food stores.
  • I make my own cultured veggies, using a Body Ecology Culture starter to save money – these can be expensive when you purchase them in the health food store. They add healthy microflora to your intestines, which improve digestion, stop sugar cravings and help your body extract vitamins and minerals from foods. Microflora also fight viral and fungal infections and can help heal candida. If you buy probiotic supplements, you could save money by eating cultured vegetables instead – probiotics are microflora.
  • Water with 1 tablespoon of fulvic or humic acid - this adds minerals (electrolytes) to my body. Our bodies look for minerals every hour and these can help add minerals, without the sugary side effects of products like Gatorade. Many of you may have heard that dehydration can cause hunger or cravings — I like to drink these in water or even sweetened with stevia when I feel like eating between meals. It allows me to know whether it was thirst or hunger. Most often, I find it was thirst, since my body feels satisfied from the mineral-rich drink.

Things Not In My Diet

  • Sugar, honey, molasses, malt syrups, etc. – I use the all-natural, calorie-free herb called stevia for a sweetener.
  • Fruit – with the exception of lemons, limes, pomegranates, and unsweetened cranberries. Unsweetened black currant juice is also okay. Any sweet fruits have enough natural sugars to feed candida. Eventually, when the candida is not so high in my system, I may add some fruit here and there, but I honestly don’t crave it at all, so I don’t miss it.
  • Processed foods
  • Additives, preservatives
  • Breads – eventually I may make breads from the flour of the 4 grains that are on the BED, but I don’t miss them. I can make a bread from almond flour if I really want to, but haven’t had the desire to do so yet.

Removing sugar and fruit seemed like it would be impossible at first, but after a day or two, I never craved it. Typically, the gut lining takes about 5 days to turn over, so when you eat healthy foods for 5 days, you may find you no longer crave sugar or processed foods at all.

What Seems Hard Just Needs to Become Habit
It takes time to create new habits – some say that 21 days is necessary to make a new habit. For me, it was my own mind that made me feel like these changes would be impossible. Eventually, I was willing to try anything to get my life back. Writing my vision and following the steps in yesterday’s post really helped create the commitment in my mind, so that I could stay on track toward my recovery.

New Relationship with Food
Before each meal, I do a short meditation of gratitude for my food, which has really changed my relationship with food altogether. Now I see food as healing my body and I feel it healing my body, where I used to kind of “clench” inside, hoping it wouldn’t digest. Now that I understand digestion – that it is meant to make my skin smooth and beautiful, keep me slim and fit, give me energy and vitality, keep me young – I have a whole new appreciation for it.

Surprises Along The Way
In my corporate job, I took my meals with me to work, so I always had food. You can see the insulated lunch bag I used (eBags Crew Cooler), which was professional-looking and could be taken even to client’s sites. People loved to ask me questions about what I was eating – and instead of being seen as “weird,” which I thought would happen, they actually expressed admiration. Many wanted to taste my food and really liked it!

Fitting In
I went to many client dinners and dinners with colleagues – all executives (who I feared would be most judgmental) – and found that my ability to order what I needed so easy, that it created no issues during the meals. Again, people would ask a million questions about nutrition – they had no idea I was in recovery from an eating disorder – they thought I had allergies to wheat and sugar, among other foods. The restaurants – chefs, waitstaff – were so kind it sometimes made me want to cry and certainly filled my heart. Everyone would bend over backwards to ensure I had something lovely to eat. And of course, I always had my own supply of things, just in case, so I could have a delicious meal in a pinch.

Learning How To Ask
When I used to go out to dinner and eat whatever foods were on the menu, I’d feel a little “not quite right” digestively and even in my moods (foggy thinking or irritable). Now, I feel great after eating in restaurants – because I know what to order and I supplement with my own foods (e.g., salad or steamed veggies and I bring my own grain). I have never experienced so much kindness and interest from people. And through our conversations, many have admitted allergies or issues they want to heal – and they tell me they have renewed commitment after seeing how I’ve arranged my life.

I used to be so afraid of being different or asking for what I need – and I was missing out on all the interest, love and kindness that others bestow upon those who ask for what they want. It gave me courage to do this more and more in my personal and professional life. I started to embrace the idea that I deserved to have what I wanted – and energy to give back wholeheartedly to others.

Blessings
There is no calorie counting, which I used to be a slave to. There is no deprivation – I eat when and as much as I want. There is no need to eat obsessively, it’s just not a part of me anymore. For the first time in my life, I can eat and know when to stop. There’s a shut off valve – and for that, I am tremendously grateful. I think I have finally realized in life and with food, that there is such thing as enough. That in the abundance that surrounds us, there is always enough.

Peaceful, Healing Way of Life
While to some, this may seem like a lot of work, to me, it feels like peace. I actually spend a lot less time thinking about and dealing with food, shopping, etc. I feel a sense of contentment — even more grounded to the Earth and the environment. I used to feel so abusive to the environment from having bulimia, and now I feel a connection. I’m sure it’s all about attitude, but it’s not hard to have an attitude of peace and joy when my body feels so radiantly healthy. It’s not hard, is it, when we know what used to be?

I think this joy is what life is all about. Food isn’t the only answer — but, ironically, it was a contributor to my illness and a contributor to my health. My mind and body needed something different — a new way of living — and I wholeheartedly believe that nourishment for both is necessary. As we learn to nourish the mind, it also pays to learn to nourish the body — step-by-step, at our own pace.

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