|
|
VEGETARIANS
Upon admission to the program, individuals participate
in a one on one assessment with the nutrition therapist, a Registered Dietitian,
to develop their individual food plan.
The Registered Dietitian and the individual develop a collaborative and supportive
relationship in which the nutritional issues can be safely addressed. Each meal
plan is balanced and nutritious. Since
each client’s food plan is truly individualized, we are able to work with vegetarian,
vegan, lactose intolerant, kosher and other specific food plans. Our cooks are excellent. They
understand the necessity of offering a wide variety of foods and only use the freshest
ingredients for each meal. Our experience
has shown us that at the time they enter the program many individuals are out of
control with food. Many individuals
are locked into a fearful cycle with food.
For these reasons, we work with individuals in an effort to gain their trust. We want individuals to learn the difference
between food preferences and eating disordered driven choices. We understand that this may be frightening, but we commit to each individual
that we will not allow her or his weight to swing to either extreme. We encourage open discussion of feelings about these matters with the staff
and peers. The staff’s responsibility
is not to police food intake or to force individuals to do something that they do
not wish to do. Instead we ask individuals
to be willing to trust our staff and to share with us when they are having difficulty.
Our goal is to help individuals gain the knowledge and skills necessary to begin
nourishing instead of abusing their bodies with food. We understand that eating disorders do not develop overnight, so we do not
expect behaviors and feelings about food to disappear overnight either. We know that changing nutritional habits may be difficult, but our staff
is committed to help individuals work through the changes.
The following is one vegan’s experience with her food plan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I came to Rader as a vegan. I didn't eat meat, eggs, dairy or any other animal products.
I ate organic, all-natural "health foods" and feared refined sugars and carbs. I
wanted to be healthy, but if I was really so healthy, I wouldn't have ended up at
Rader. Upon admission, I had narrowed my variety of foods to the extent that it
was unhealthy-physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I had restricted myself from the foods I knew I liked. The truth is the differences
between food preferences and disordered eating are the motives behind the eating
habits. I believe in animal rights but that was not the real reason, I wouldn’t
eat meat. The truth was, I was deathly afraid of being "unhealthy", of being "fat",
and of consuming cholesterol and saturated fat if I ate meat. But "my way" obviously
didn’t work; it wasn't healthy. I had deprived myself of the pleasure of variety
and didn’t have balance with my meals. I would make myself full by eating vegetables
but ultimately get hungry quickly and end up craving the foods that I feared the
most.
I would start out binging on health foods. I binged on cereals, carbs, and sweets.
Then I would progress to were it didn’t matter what I binged on, because I was going
to purge it out anyway, I was desperate. I would end up bingeing on refined carbs,
sugar cookies, white bread and all. I was completely out of control. The more I
tried to control my food, my food would end up controlling me.
When I came to Rader, I decided it was time to be honest with myself about my relationship
with food. The dietitian challenged me to think about my "healthy" habits and how
these choices may have been feeding my eating disordered behavior. I knew that my
lifestyle wasn't healthy and I that I couldn’t go back to what I was doing. I decided
it was time to attempt to surrender to the professionals who ran the program. I
knew I wanted to recover and to do so, I was going to need to trust the program.
In the past, I had tried to get out of my eating disorder alone, but it never worked.
This time I was going to try something new and entrust myself to the professional
opinion of some one else.
Together with Rader’s dietitian, we can up with a meal plan that was healthy and
designed to maintain my weight. For the first time, I began to believe that food
exchanges are truly equal. Be it 3oz. of tofu or 3oz. of lean meat. One isn't really
better then the other. In essence, they are about the same in calories and nutritional
value. They just have different vitamins and nutrients in different combinations.
I knew that the extent of my veganism was a result of my eating disorder and my
eating disorder couldn’t possibly be healthy. By restricting and limiting myself,
I had set myself up for obsession, which led down the destructive path of bingeing
and purging. I took my treatment at Rader as the opportunity to reintroduce the
foods I had feared for so long.
At Rader I was always given a vegetarian/ vegan choice at menu planning, and was
never forced to eat meat, but I decided it was time to challenge myself. I had entered
treatment to recover, not to fall prey to my eating disorder.
I now know that the food exchanges are equal, vegan or not, and everything I eat
has nutritional value. Even white bread and refined carbs, which I greatly feared,
have nutritional value. During treatment I made the choice of slowly added new foods
to my meal plan. I've eaten white bread, white rice, and pasta. I've tried cheese,
cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt and milk. I have even eaten tuna, sashimi,
and orange roughly. All of which I've discovered I really enjoy. For me, protein
is protein and a variety of food in my meal plan ensures that I am getting a variety
of nutrients. I’ve learned that eating these new foods in moderation is better for
my health than bingeing and/or purging. Through treatment, I learned that variety
and pleasure are healthy; it nourishes the body, mind and soul.
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information or to arrange for a free confidential consultation, call
|