Carb-phobia. (ED talk- potentially triggering)

snowflakes

Full Member
In my teens and early twenties I had an eating disorder (flipping between bulimic and anorexic behaviours). I struggled most with carbs - processed carbs were something would trigger a binge, so since then, even though I've been recovered for years, I've tried to avoid them. When I do have them I still always mentally see it as being 'bad'; sometimes I overeat (particularly pasta) but I no longer purge. I think I'm still mentally scared that they're 'empty calories'. It's only in the last year or so that I've started buying bread products again but usually only wholegrain/seeded products. If I have toast in the morning for breakfast, I won't have a sandwich for lunch. The same goes with potatoes - I won't buy any ready made potato products, and limit the potato dishes I do have. Same with pasta - if I eat regular white pasta it's always a 'naughty' guilt inducing thing. Even if it's wholemeal I still feel quite bad about it. Cereals, in my mind, are just as bad as chocolate.
Apart from vegetables, wholegrain rice, quinoa, oats and this 7 grain mix from Tesco are about the only complex carbs I feel 100% happy with eating. The irony is that I'll scoff down a chocolate bar filled with sugar and fat and not feel bad about that!

Quite a lot of the carbs I feel OK about eating are quite time consuming to prepare (potatoes, rice etc.) so when it comes to choices on the fly and I'm faced with a sandwich on white bread, I'll often choose a flapjack or something because oats are 'healthier' - but as well as the oats they're full of sugar and fat too, so it's usually not actually better!

I guess if anyone has any advice, or suggestions of quick healthy carbs or ways I can become less 'scared' of eating carbs?
 
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