Why I stopped eating red meat

Hey guys :) 

Today's post is quite a personal one to me because it's about my own personal life choices and decisions. 

*DISCLAIMER I'm not trying to insult anyone or influence anyone's decisions on their diet, what you eat is your choice I'm just here to share my own experiences*

Okay so about a month ago I decided to stop eating all red meat.

For those of you who don't know red meat includes- 

-beef

-veal

-lamb 

-mutton

-venison

-pork

-goat

-rabbit

-buffalo or bison 

And white meat is- 

-fish 

-seafood

-poultry (chicken etc)

Even though I eat white meat I try and avoid animal meats (I.e. Chicken and birds) as much as I can and get my main source of meat from fish, and I don't eat any forms of processed meats.

I have been researching into different life styles such as veganism and vegetarianism for a while and concluded that veganism isn't for me, neither is being vegetarian. However I do want become a pesctarian eventually (someone who doesn't eat animal meat but eats fish), but for reasons in my anorexia recovery (my body needs protein from meat right now) and it's hard for me to give up meat like chicken straight away so I thought I should just give up red meat to start and see how I go, and in this process I discovered this isn't the only reason that appealed to me for giving up red meat.

Health reasons as to why I gave up red meat: 

1)Red meat contains heme iron which leads to type 2 diabetes

2)High consumption of red meat and processed meat (chicken nuggets, burgers etc) lead to an increase risk of colorectal cancer

3)Men who eat a lot of red meat increase their risk if prostate cancer

4)Red meat increases the risk of Alzheimer's 

5)Red meat can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

Okay so I know that foods that increase your risk of cancer etc change every few seconds and white meat can also have some of these health affects, but it is a common known fact due to extensive research and studies that red meats do have these affects. In addition to this white meat show to have much less of an impact, which is why I still eat it but as previously stated try to avoid meat whenever I can and not eat processed meats.

There are obviously ethical reasons why I've given up red meat and also trying to give up animal meat altogether. I am aware of the ethical problems to do with white meat, but this post isn't about being a vegetarian, it is simply about red meat...for now 

This post wasn't a preach at you to give up any type of food. Just something I wanted to share with you all 

Thank you for reading 

B x

How do you deal with gaining weight?- Anorexia Recovery

Hello :) 

Today I thought I'd write a post on one the most frequently asked question I get about my recovery from anorexia-"how do you deal with the weight gain in anorexia recovery?" 

Gaining weight has been hands down the hardest part of my anorexia recovery. At the start if my recovery I grew used to eating normally again within a few weeks, because I overcame this fear that if I eat food that I would immediately gain weight and be fat, but when I didn't I began to feel okay. 

However, obviously slowly overtime I did begin to put on weight, and when I saw this weight gained I completely freaked out and relapsed completely. 

When I gained weight my anorexia began screaming at me, calling me disgusting, fat, a failure,weak etc. and I believed it and gave in. 

But after a few months I got back into the recovery, because I learnt of ways to prepare myself and deal with the weight gain and the voice of anorexia. 

These ways aren't bulletproof, they won't magically make everything easier all the time. You need to accept that in order to healthy and love you have to out on weight, but they will hopefully make you strong and keep you motivated to stay in recovery: 

1)wear baggy clothes when you feel big or bloated- if you cover your body and can't see your shape you won't think about your changing body nor can you see it (out of sight, out of mind) 

2)on days when the anorexia is strong and you already have a negative view of yourself, avoid mirrors 

3)pick out 3 things about your body that you like everyday 

4)tell yourself that your body is becoming healthy. That your body needs to look this way to have children, to run, to travel, to go out, to live a fulfilling and amazing life

5)your body deserves this food

6)you aren't weak for eating. You're a zombie if you listen to the anorexia.

7)if you do not eat and gain weight to be healthy, you will die

8)your therapists aren't making you gain weight because they hate you and want you to be ugly. They are doing it to save your life and make you have a beautiful life, mind and body 

9)surround yourself with happy and positive people 

10)unfollow all thinspo accounts and pro-anorexia blogs

Recovering from anorexia will be one of the hardest things you'll do, but I swear to you it is so worth it in ways I can't even out into words for you. 

Please keep going I know days are hard and everyday is a battle but you're a warrior and you're so strong and you deserve a full life free of this. 

Fight for your freedom and fight for your life. 

I'm always here for support, please leave a comment or ask me on my tumblr- http://catchinghopesandfears.tumblr.com

Thank you for reading 

B x 

Healthy Granola Bars

Hello :)
Okay so recently I have been trying to eat healthy alternatives to my favourite foods, and eating healthier meals etc.
However I face one problem with this...I'm not a big fan of 'healthy' food
I mean I like fruit and vegetables and brown pasta, bread etc. But I don't like things like quinoa, lentils, meat substitutes, and only eating vegetables for my dinner and constantly having salads for lunch like most of the healthy bloggers out there do
And so a lot of these healthy cook books don't really appeal to me so it is hard for me to find healthy recipes I actually do like

These are granola bars have been a long time in the making. I've gone through a lot of trial and error with these until they tasted how I wanted them too and I think they taste so yummy and they are full of natural ingredients that are all healthy which is exactly what I, and everyone else wants in healthy foods.

 

Ingredients:

• 300g of dates (pitted)
• 200g oats
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 50g raisons
• 2tbps cinnamon

*you can use any type of seed/nut you want and as many as you want, to add sweetness you can add tbps of maple syrup or a teaspoon of stevia*

Methods:

• preheat your oven to 200degrees Celsius
• de-pit your dates and place them in a pan of boiling water and let them soften (this can take up to 7 minutes) 
• once soften mush the dates to a paste (if you have a blender use this to make your life easier)
• in a separate bowl mix the cinnamon, oats and sweetener if you've added it together and then add the date paste and mix until all the oats are covered
• add in your chosen seeds, nuts and raisons and mix
• transfer you mixture to a baking tray that is covered by a greaseproof sheet so it doesn't stick
• bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown
• once out the oven cut into bars and leave to cool

These bars are full of fibre and so will give you slow releasing energy throughout the day. The dates (which actually taste so good) provide you with a portion of fruit, the seeds give you such healthy fats and the oats are amazing at balancing  cholesterol.

These bars aren't like 'rabbit food' like many healthy bars are and when I eat them as a snack I don't see them as healthy because they are like the bars you buy at the supermarket
If you try these out please comment and share your thoughts!
Thank you for reading
Until next time
B x