Why do us apies tend to gain weight?

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I can't put on weight. I've been just under or around eight stone (times it by 14 for total in pounds) for the last eight or so years (gain a pound or two, lose a pound or two). I don't have a huge appetite, though, and I tend to have to be obsessively careful about my eating (particularly WHAT I eat) because I have a dicky digestive tract and nothing I seem to try does anything to help it settle down. So I can't generally eat a whole lot anyway - and I've been like that my whole life.

I eat just about enough to keep me healthy

It drives me mad though because I have serious problems finding clothes. Particularly trousers. I'm a UK size 6 (US size 4?) and the options are limited, especially since the clothes stores keep moving the goal posts on size definition. (I have trousers from New Look 2 years ago that still fit me, but trousers in the same rack size at that store now are way way too big around the waist. Sigh).

I'd like to be a bit heavier :S

Apple

I fall into the "can't put on weight" camp...very very skinny. Heh.

id actually like to agree with that last comment except for the fact that i got heavier when i got older bcz i was on steroids because i have a tumour and to keep the swelling down i was on steroids.

laura

We develope many different obsessions. For some of us, Food could end up being one of the things that we're obsessed with.

the biggest problem is lack of self-esteem and pessimism that sets in. The next thing is that they might not know "how" to lose weight, they really need to talk to someone who's lost actually lost weight to know how to lose it, it's one thing to read, its another thing completely to actually do the mathematics and calculate how much food/calories you eat, and the calories you burn for the exercises you do.

I'd say that overweight aspies gained weight while still in school, and as the teasing increased they ate more or developed such bad self-esteem they gave up on themselves.

The other factor is Aspies taking things too literally and seriously because they take it literally, they will take a concept and APPLY it on a "gobal" scale, or nearly global, to all situations... i.e. "it's what on the inside that counts"... see we learn sooner or later that's a load of s**t but some don't fully come out of their naive perceptions. The more beautiful, well dressed, and groomed you are the better people treat you without you having to do anything. The more slob like, anxious, and just generally clueless about fashion and grooming you appear, the more you get teased/exlcuded/ignored, etc... it's a vicious cycle, it happens because of stupid mom's and dad's who are generally clueless, and an aspies tendency towards black and white thinking... "i.e. if people dont want to be around me just "being myself" then screw them! but many aspies simply have no fashion sense or "radar" when they are overweight or look like / dress like / groom like slobs.

Aspies are never taught to be their best possible selfs, they can "be themselves" but they need to learn that when one doesn't take care of how one looks, its sends the message that one doesn't care about onself or respect oneself at all to look presentable. It sends the message you dont think much of yourself or don't invest much in yourself.

I've had some troubles with it all my life.
Altough whenever i got close to becoming overweight id go on a verry strict diet.
I would never allow myself to get overweight.

At times id ate 3 full plates during diner.
When we did the weekly grocerys i ate all the candy and chips or crisps whatever u call it within like 1-2 days.
At times i was just uncontrolable and had no control over mysekf.

Atm due to work i have gotten it pretty stable.
I work in a restaurant in a kitchen and trust it's verry intense work.
I also walk to and from there from the railway station wich is about 2 kilometres. (4 back n forth).

Atm i'm 183 centimetres and 72 kilos, or 6 foot tall and 159 pounds.

I've heard the storys about people with anti deppresion medication gaining 20 kilos in 1-2 years.
They rly should stop giving those in most cases because they do ALOT of long term damage for a person.

For me, part of the problems with weight started in childhood, when my parents put me on my first diet at age 10, when I was likely going through the early stages of puberty. There are people on both sides of my family who are on the heavy side, so there's also the genetics. Then, I was on Paxil for 2 years and Zyprexa for a month (nasty side effects), both drugs caused me to gain weight. Now that I've made major lifestyle changes such as stopping the Paxil, eating less junk food, and excercizing regularly, I've lost over 30lbs, with maybe 20 more to go.

For me, AS has nothing to do with my weight issues at all, it's a combination of yo-yo dieting starting at 10, antidepressants, genetics, and enjoying junk food too much. Chances are that if I had been NT, I still could have a tendency to gain weight.

I inherited a large body structure from my mother, and although I exercise and look after my diet I will always carry a lot of weight. In fact I'm probably a lot healthier than a lot of slimmer women. This is why I have no issues with my weight and don't have to make any excuses to anyone. Disregard for anyone else's bigotries is the greatest thing my parents ever instilled in me.

Any rules as to what a fat woman should wear, how she should act or how she should see herself are totally arbitrary, and one of the most positive aspects of AS is our ability to question social conventions and reject them when necessary. While I've had my share of being confronted by both male and female image nazis (yes...I'm serious. You Brits have a lot to answer for, inflicting those what-not-to-wear slags on humanity. No smilie.), I'm proud to say I've sent them off with their tails between their legs, every time.

God, Mum and Dad... they were both ratbags in their day too...

I was like that (except for the healthy food). Before i had meds, i ate tons of food. And i burned it off. but once i starting taking meds for ADHD, i ate little food. i was praticly eating no food. i just had snacks. i..... sorry, getting depressed.... i'll contiune later

Yup, I can certainly see that in me - after I stopped growing, I gained almost 50 pounds without changing my diet *enough* to justify that weight gain, and that coincided with rising anxiety levels (more responsibility, more interactions expected etc.).

But I finally found a medication (Bupropion) that brings my chronic anxiety to an acceptable level at a lower than normal dose, and I lost more than 20 pounds so far without as much effort as I would have thought it would take. (I mean yeah I eat less and tend to eat a lot more veg and salads - because I actually crave these things - but I don't eat *that* much less than I used to, certainly nowhere near what you would expect)

Edit: I know this medication has weight/appetite loss as a side effect, but I actually gained a few pounds on the higher dosage (the one that didn't solve my anxiety issues as well), so I don't think it's that.

Last edited by Noetic on 23 Jul 2006, 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

I've been very underweight most of my life, mostly due to issues with food textures. For most of my life, there have been very few things that I will eat.

I've learned to expand my diet in the past 5 years, and as a result have put on 20lbs. I'm sure aging has slowed my metabolism a little too. Even after gaining 20lbs, my BMI is only at 19, though (average being 18.5 - 24.5 ).

OK, about Risperdal, how exactly does it make you gain weight? Does it give you a bigger appetite?


I'm pretty pudgy right now. But before high school I was a real skinny kid. I started on Risperdal right before my Freshman year, and started weight gain during my Sophomore year. I'm starting my Senior year now, and I am still on Risperdal. And I have a huge appetite, and I've got a rounded belly now.

At the end of 8th grade, I weighed 180 pounds, and now I weigh 213.

But is a bigger appetite the actual factor of Risperdal?

IF there was any sort of AS link to obesity, it might also be due to staying in and watching television. I'm having a hard time getting my son outside and now that he's off the stimulant for ADHD, he's gaining a lot of weight. He tends to watch cartoons inside and would do that most all day if he could. Combine the inactivity with the commercials for food, and he's hungry all the time.

I don't know if there are any studies or anything, but the constant presentation of food on television seems to tell him to eat. With childhood obesity at an all time high here, I think it must be related to kids (AS or not) choosing electronics over physical entertainment/recreation.

We're getting out walking, walking the dog, trying to do outside things as much as possible but if he's in shut-down, self-protective mode, it can be very difficult to get him going.

i have a very hard time gaining weight, i eat loads of unhealthy stuff and i never get fat

the best way to lose weight is to eat hardly anything, it really is not any more complicated than that..

Ever since I was a teenager I had been slightly overweight, BMI around 27 range. SInce I stopped growing when I was 17 or 18, I weighed around 80kgs, I am 173cm tall, That was due to me not exercising, my eating habits aren't great, but they aren't bad either. When I started being more active late last year my weight dropped to 73kgs and it has been about that since then. I am working out regularly now and more active than I used to be.