hi stephanie,
cheese, fried foods, and those with citrus or high acid content are not good for fissure suffers.
as with any diet, the first thing is to read up on it and then take what may be appealing, if anything, and customize it to you. as in the case of seeds and nuts, it would make more sense if you are going to eat them, to use the machine at the store (if there should be one) and make it into a creamy spread.
you can still eat lots of foods you love but you may have to either eat them in their natural form or turn them into mush/liquify in order to avoid anything that is not smooth going down.
macrobiotics has lots of amazing tips in just how you eat, not only in what you should eat.
probably one of the most interesting tips that really helped is that cereal that you eat in the morning -- it must be hot/warm and without milk (dairy), sweetners (sugar or artificial). and to expand on that, having a hearty soup such as miso soup with shrimp, tofu, and the much needed seaweed or a vegetable soup with barley or brown rice along with some hot green tea or simple hot water over a month will do wonders for your digestive system and how things come out.
there are secrets to be explored in macrobiotic principles but i am neither novice nor expert to guide you.
all i can say is that when your body is in harmony with the seasons and temperature and what you eat, it affects everything the body does - including taking a poo!

Ah i see, thank you. What would you have for breakfast if you can't have milk? The only things I eat currently for breakfast is cereal with milk and sometimes porridge. Porridge made with water was mentioned but it's so gross :(
But dinner is decided- I looove tofu so I'll have soup with Tofu for my dinners.
Thank you again for your advice, I will look further into my options on the website.

there lots of other alternatives for milk stephanie that are delicious and good for u too: soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, oat milk, hemp milk, grain milk, amazake (which may be easier for you to find in the UK than here.....the closest i've gotten to amazake is eden food's blend of soy and rice milk - which is yummy!)
you'll be surprised at what delicious, great for your heart and with helpings of fiber that await for you - here are some suggestions:
1. make it warm or hot
2. make it with non-milk substitutes like soy milk; if using water, do it with 1/2 water, 1/2 soy milk (for example) when it comes to cooking cereal grains.
3. when you want variety to grain cereals such as oatmeal, porridge, congee, or any other type of hot grain cereal, you should have some green tea along with it.
4. you can also have steamed brown rice for breakfast with a sprinkle (notice a small sprinkle) of gomasio (yes these are sesame seeds but so tiny and never have given me an ounce of problems) along with a umeboshi plum!
5. miso soup for breakfast! make it with wakame, tofu, and some carrots and any other veggie you want.
6. steamed plate of mixed veggies such as carrots, cabbage, broccoli, and seaweed.
7. vegetable soup with the veggies of course.
basically the idea is you want to start eating warm and soft for breakfast - not dried up cereal flakes, buds, or nuggets; also the idea that the temperature is too cold with cold milk + the harsh texture of the dried cereal is just that - too harsh on your digestive system when you have had nothing in your tummy overnight!
just changing to warm and soft foods in the morning - without dairy or oils / not fried - you will begin to notice a difference alone in your poos within 1-2 weeks.
keep fried stuff out.
keep dairy stuff out.
keep refined/processed stuff out.
and if you need to eat meat, choose white meat fish first, then turkey or chicken, and lastly, lean meats. but try to reduce your meat intake to about 1/2 of what it is now.
see, you can have your meat and eat it too but eventually you will want to start to also switch into meat substitutes that are good for you such as tempeh, seitan, tofu, veggie burgers, etc.
slowly work your way into it as too quickly, may also generate the runs for you.....so take baby steps and a good way is to start changing what you put into your body first thing in the morning......
once you have breakfast routine down, you can move on to adjusting your lunch, then dinner until you have your full day complete!
and of course, just keep in mind the guidelines and adapt accordingly to your lifestyle. you don't have to be die-hard but even if you did a 50% attempt, you'll see some benefits. once you are there, you'll want to go a bit further.

Hey steph,
We all need to comfort eachother and give eachother tips and support eachother. We are all so thankful for this website. Welcome to the forums :)

Hey Stephanie,
Good that you're thinking about diet...it really is hugely important in aiding recovery.
I've spent a huge amount of time analysing my diet, truly a case of trial and error and although I'm not a nutritionist, I would offer the following suggestions:
- I think you need to up the amount of veggies in your diet. Eating a couple of pieces of fruit a day is great, but eating more veggies helps things move along, especially as your diet includes quite a lot of pasta / bread etc. UK guidelines are 5 portions per day but I'm calculating yours based on the meal plan to be 3 or maybe 4 portions (NB 2 clementines = 1 portion). In Australia, the recommendation is for 5 portions of vegetables per day PLUS 2 portions of fruit per day!!
- Water: How about buying a 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water (or having a bottle to refill) on your desk and making sure you drink all of that in the day. I know it's hard to start drinking water if you're not used to it, but once you get into the habit, it's not too hard.
- Cheese: My nutritionist told me baked cheese (I mean the sort on top of a pizza / on a lasagne) is constipating and should be avoided. Through a bit of experimentation I agree this was the case for me. I've also found (cold) grated hard cheese (like cheddar) is constipating but other softer uncooked cheeses like goats or feta are OK.
- Try to have some beans / pulses: Making meals with things like lentils is very healthy and nutritious. Meals can be really cheap and low fat. Try Rose Elliot if you need some inspiration. Her cookery books are straighforward and don't require heaps of expensive ingredients.
I completely understand it's hard to be in charge of what you eat when you're not at home, However, if you're staying at your boyfriend's every other day, that means half the week you're in complete control of what you eat and can be really good.
Sorry, I could ramble on forever on this subject because (like most people on this site) I realised properly taking care of my diet means I'm helping the fissure heal.
Good luck!!

Thank you Happyass and Rockbottom for your tips and advice. It all makes sense, and I will work on making my breakfast warm, wet and dairy free!
It's so hard to change everything in one go, so I will work at this slowly and incorporate more beans and vegetables into my diet. This will be easier at dinnertime, and even when staying at my boyfriend's house, I have asked for small portions with more of the healthy stuff. So for example yesterday I had one small fishcake instead of the usual two, but substituted it with extra peas and carrots.
Things are definitely looking up; I barely ever get throbbing now - just intense pain when pooing but that's all. And I'm really happy about that :)
(and that's even with some cheese in the diet - I know I should stop completely, but it doesn't seem to block me up)
I don't mind you rambling, it's been nice to read everything you have to say.
Thank you also Nebelwerfer for your welcome.