So I totally lost track of the fact that yesterday was Wednesday, and that Wednesday is Tip Day.  Also, my Netflix DVD of House Season One came in the mail, which may or may not have had something to do with yesterday's lack of posts.

Many people with eating disorders tend to eat a very regimented diet.  For me, I typically ate the same few things that caused the least amount of anxiety.  Outside of entering a structured treatment program, I had major difficulties learning to eat a wider variety of foods.  More often than not, I would sort of slide back into a pattern of eating the few same things.

Of course, some people like more food variety than others, but it's also important to eat sufficient variety of foods to get vitamin and mineral intake.  As well, the extreme lack of variety (I'm a creature of habit, and my diet isn't super-varied, but I do think pushing variety was a key part of my recovery) can keep you stuck in ED thoughts and habits.  Today's tips will deal with ways of increasing variety in your diet.

1. Think of it as a game.  One person I knew would only eat veggies of a certain color.  So her therapist had her make a color wheel, and she got a sticker every time she had a different colored fruit or vegetable.  After filling in all the different parts of the chart, she could treat herself to a prize. Yes, it's cheesy and can seem a little infantile, but it's important to remember that fun can be a part of this process.

2. Be a kid.  Look at foods not as "good" or "bad" or by evaluating their nutritional minutiae.  Instead ask yourself what looks interesting or tasty or fun to cook.

3. Try something new.  There are no expectations here.  You don't have to like what you've tried, you don't have to eat it all the time.  But it can be fun to experiment, and you might just find yourself enjoying something you didn't even know you liked.

4. Try something old.  For a while, I was hooked on treats from my childhood: Little Debbie stuff, that kind of thing.  After I tried some, they did lose a bit of their appeal as they were never quite as wonderful as I remembered.  Except the Nutty Bars.  Those things are awesome.  But trying these opened my eyes to many other new foods, and they made me more flexible and willing to try new/old things.

5. Be social.  Social situations can be very threatening for me, but at the same time, it can also be a good push to broaden my horizons.  If your friends order pizza and you normally get something different, that might be a good opportunity to try a slice of pizza.  It makes the experience much more normalized rather than dwelling on being that freaky person who doesn't eat pizza.

6. Stay accountable.  It's easy to say you're going to try something different, but it's not so easy to carry out.  Often, I would enter a situation intended to break the mold a little bit, but as it came time to actually decide, I would back down.  To get around that, I've occasionally had friends or family order for me, or remind me of my goal to order something on the menu besides the salad with grilled chicken.

Next week, I'm going to do tips on surviving Thanksgiving.  I hope you all enjoy!