Fireblossom wrote:
I don't know about obesity, but from my observations, lots of autistic people do look like they'd be slightly overweight. Not that I can say for sure since I don't know their actual weights and am not a professional, so I could be mistaken in some cases...
In my case, I was overweight from my pre-teen years to late teens/very early twenties. I moved out of my parents' place at 18, and that's when I started to lose weight because I had to make and pay for everything on my own, so I could no longer afford all the foods I used to eat. That and I moved from a farm to the center of a small city, so instead of needing my parents to drive me everywhere, I could actually walk to stores and such. Plus, having street lights around made the idea of going for a walk after dark, which comes way before 4 pm and ends what, around 10 am, at winter time, far more appealing.
Quote:
My BMI is 21 point something. The obesity in autistic women I see all the time, coupled with excessive flabbiness, makes me cringe. There just is no excuse. Workouts can be done at home, and workout equipment is cheap on Amazon. Don't get me started on this. I used to be a personal trainer and I could go on endlessly.
I'd think that with all the struggles that autistic people have, the one thing they can do that puts them on an even playing field with NTs is that of exercising and strengthening their muscles, looking toned, fit and firm instead of like Homer Simpson or like your body is made of bread dough.
Good advice for the autistic women (and men) who got lucky and were born physically healthy, but for us that were born physically disabled, it's not as easy. My muscles and stamina are weak because of a permanent health complication that I was born with, and there are others like me as well. While it's true that we too can and should exercise, our bodies are weaker than an average person's for good no matter what we do. I think people should take this possibility in to account when dealing with strangers; the other might not have been born with the privilege of being physically healthy that those who have tend to take for granted.
Though dyspraxia comes at a higher rate in autistic people than in NTs, it's not accurate to say or imply that autims often comes with physical disabilities. This gets shot down when we consider that there are many athletes with Down syndrome who are very toned and even muscular from their workouts. Yet Down syndrome, 100 percent of the time, comes with naturally LOW muscle tone. Not only does this make it more difficult to get toned and firm, let alone muscular, but it also makes it harder to keep a healthy weight, since low muscle tone means a slower metabolism.
Yet I have seen people with DS who are practically shredded from workouts. There was a guy at my gym with DS who'd go around to the various machines and really pump it out, and he'd go around flexing his muscles with pride. I'm not saying any of us should bulk up like Mr. Olympia, but I'm using the DS as an example of how, despite being born with health ailments (many with DS have heart problems and other physical issues, not just the low muscle tone), one can STILL do strength training with gusto. This includes people with cerebral palsy.
In college was a student with severe CP (he used a motorized chair), yet he'd slide off it while in one of the campus weight rooms and use the pulley machines very diligently. This guy was ripped, despite not being able to walk, and despite not even being able to steadily hold a glass of water or write with a pencil.
Its not about money or accessability to gyms. Amazon sells incredibly cheap resistance devices, and the human body itself makes a great "bodyweight exercise" tool.
Autism does NOT cause low muscle tone. It's a neurotype, not a physical health ailment. The prevalence of obesity and excessive flab among autistics is TOO GREAT to attribute to a higher rate of health ailments such as Ehlos-Danlos (sp?) syndrome, dyspraxia, etc.
However, dyspraxia doesn't preclude feisty strength workouts. Strength training does NOT require coordination or the ability to walk in a straight line.
I see old people at the gym, and I mean OLD, really putting it out there. And they are so very toned, even though they may hobble around.
People make excuses. That's what it boils down to. Unless one has a condition that makes it PAINFUL to strength train, or Prader Willi syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that causes continuous intense hunger that can't be suppressed with any amount of food -- there just is no excuse. There are military vets with permanent disabilities who still manage to use weight machines and dumbbells, and they're very toned, even muscular.
Let's face it: America is the laziest, fattest country, and autistics are part of this epidemic.
16 May 2023, 1:44 pm
