ok so when I went to residential treatment I met with a russian nutritionist named svetlana who deadass changed my life and I’m going to share some of what she taught me

this is going to be a long thread, and I’m basically just typing up all my notes from residential. this is half for me so I have it all in one place and half for my friends bc I’m always giving out svetlana tips so I figured I should compile it and share her wisdoms

disclaimer I am not a medical professional obviously, just telling u what a medical professional told me. this is more descriptive of what I learned than prescriptive, and won’t work for everyone! practice good judgment and do what’s right for your body

disclaimer part 2: all these tips were given to me in the context of me recovering from anorexia. that’s why you won’t see many “food rules” or restrictive patterns or heavy exercise on here. also why some of this basic stuff was so revolutionary to me lol

the main principles that overshadow everything I’m gonna be talking about in this thread are: **listen to your body when it tells you what it wants** and: eat consistently and regularly. routine is good for ur body

also: focus on what you should INCLUDE in your diet, not what you should EXCLUDE from your diet. it’s way more important to fill up on protein and fiber-filled foods than it is to eliminate sugar or carbs. both of which, spoiler alert, your body does need!!

1. &MOST IMPORTANT: BREAKFAST. breakfast is what tells your metabolism that a. the day is starting, so time to digest! and b. we’re safe, we have enough food, protein, and water, you don’t need to store fat. if u only do one thing from this list, do breakfast.

a good breakfast:
-starts with a cup of water first!
-is eaten within 1.5 hours of waking up. svetlana called this the “magic time.” to ur metabolism, it doesn’t matter if u wake up at 8 am or 8 pm. those first 1.5 hours are breakfast time baby
-includes protein, fiber, and water

the benefits I noticed after a week of doing this ^^
-after a few days I was ?? actually hungry?? at the right times?? I would wake up hungry and then be hungry again around lunchtime and then again for dinner????
-so much more energy throughout the day like holy shit

2. PORTIONS: svetlana was a huge proponent of using your fist and hands as measurements: a fist-sized amount of any food is good and won’t shock your stomach. that goes for “healthy” foods too!!! if you don’t eat fiber all day but then eat a ginormous salad at the end of the day,

your body won’t be able to absorb all those nutrients at once!! it’s much much better to eat fist-sized manageable portions of nutritious food throughout the day. that goes for water too; it’s better to sip throughout the day than chug a liter all at once

3. FIBER: keeps you regular!! very important for your body’s natural digestion process. 25 mg a day is a good number to shoot for and I recommend actually going thru ur average daily food intake and calculating an estimate of how much fiber ur getting. we did this in residential

and I was absolutely humiliated I think I was getting like 6g a day. I guarantee u ur not eating enough fiber. whole grains are good. vegetables are good.

4. PROTEIN: it’s important. and it will fill u up. google how much u need—it varies by activity level and sex.

5. CARBS: the diet industry wants you to think carbs are a “bad food” but ur body needs carbs!!!! you need 2 servings of carbs at every meal! FRUITS ARE CARBS!! beans are carbs! lentils! grains! veggies! all carbs!

6. SUGAR: this is the one we’re always told is bad and that we should avoid. svetlana always emphasized that added sugar is the real culprit, and that 25g is a good target to hit. avoid artificial sweeteners, but stevia and agave are ok

7. SUPPLEMENTS:
svetlana had a lot of opinions about supplements.
-none of that “women’s supplement” or “hair and nails supplement” bullshit u see is FDA approved and most of them dont do anything. u want specific, simple supplements recommended by ur doctor

-svetlana recommends getting bloodwork done and seeing what ur deficient in, and consulting ur doc on if u should take supplements for that.

-we are all pretty much vitamin D deficient bc humans are meant to go out in the sun way more than we do these days, and even if ur vitamin D levels aren’t dangerously low the target is 30 (I forget the unit but you’ll see it on ur bloodwork, mine was 24)

-I also take iron supplements bc I’m deficient, if u have a period chances u are too but again, get bloodwork done and consult ur doctor.
-protein bars are supplements, not meal replacements. treat them accordingly

8. CHOLESTEROL: this is something u rly have to consult ur doc about. I’m genetically predisposed to high cholesterol so I have to watch my red meat and saturated fat intake, but some ppl are genetically predisposed to awesome cholesterol levels. get a lipid profile done

9. SODIUM: svetlana says Americans eat way too much sodium. too much is bad for ur kidneys. I just tend to moderate sodium and go for low sodium options where I can

10. DINNER: svetlana says: Americans tend to eat way too much at dinner. the size of ur meals should go breakfast>lunch>dinner. this is a REALLY hard adjustment to make at first. ideally ur metabolism wants a moderate sized dinner, then a light walk, then bed a few hours later.

11. EXERCISE: different for everyone! but some rules of thumb: don’t over-exercise, it shocks ur body. 30 minutes of light exercise every day—walking, swimming, dancing are all good. weight lifting is good for ur bones but again, don’t push urself too hard. consistency is key!

12. SKIN: svetlana was big on sweating??? she always talked about the saunas they had back in Russia and how sweating is rly good for ur skin. so yeah do with that what you will. exercise that makes you sweat at least once a week is good for ur skin

13. FINALLY: svetlana recommended very slow incremental change; that way it has a higher probability of sticking. so if ur gonna do these, just try one or two of these tips above, and work them into ur diet next week! I recommend starting with breakfast!!!