ASD and eating habits ED-NOS

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How do the rest of you eat? For me I can go months eating one or two foods (for example one of mine now is tortillas with peanut butter and raisins rolled into a burrito and the other is yogurt with protien powder smoothies, with an occasional fruit).

I will eat a food for months, sometimes close to a year and then for years I don't want it again and I swtich to another 'food jag'.

I was seeing a therapist this morning and she thinks I have Eating Disorder-Non-Otherwise Specified. Has anyone heard of ED-NOS before?

I have not heard of ED-NOS but I do have a restricted diet. Not so much like you, but my grocery list is short and does not vary much. I like it that way. Most of my life I had a tendency to postpone eating and let myself get really hungry because I want my meals to be just so. Couldn't bring myself to just eat whatever and quell the hunger. This was reeking havoc on my moods, I learned after - oh- 40 years or so (slow learner) that this was a bad idea. Now I make sure to eat more regularly and my moods have evened out.

Sorry if that was kind of off topic...

The one thing I think she mght consier a problem is that I am ok with eating in food jags. I agree that I need to eat more vegeables and fruits (I eat some fruits but a lot of grains and peanut butter).

But I do not plan on being one of those people who eats a perfectly balanced meal. I would be willing to eat a vegetable daily but I know from previous experience that if I did that, no matter the vegetable, I would get sick of it. And I mean I would get sick of all vegetables even if I ate only one in my food jag, if that makes any sense.

She also thinks I have borderline personality disorder. I am not sure about that. I need to read more because I want to make sure she doesn't just like to throw diagnoses at people. (If you have any good links about it, let me know, but I will look on my own anyway.)

I do. And I know a lot of people who eat the same foods everyday, even people who are more normal than myself.

"ED" is when you don't eat, or throw up what you do eat, so you don't gain weight.

I've kind of started to wonder if all this "eat a varied diet' thing is part of the food industry trying to sell more products. Don't get me wrong, it is important to eat fruits and vegetables along with protein and carbohydrates to get all the components you need. But I have a cat, chickens and goats. The cat eats the same cat food all her life plus supplements with gophers and mice and a little grass munching. The chickens eat the same ration daily, plus forage for bugs. The goats eat hay and munch on grass and leaves. All very restricted diets. People in the third world,who are not in malnourished states, live on very limited foods. So I think there may be some industry hype going on in standard nutrition advice.

I just looked it up a little and none of what they say fits me. I don't care about my weight, have never thrown up or been anorexic.

I just don't like vareity in what I eat. Should be an interesting appointment next time since she said she wants to focus on diet. I don't dislike her, but may just tell her I don't want to change how I eat, except for maybe adding some fruits and vegetables. I do ok, not wonderful on fruits. But she needs to understand that if I do eat fruits and vegetables for long, then I go through years where I can't eat them because I am too sick of them.

She will help with coping techniques on things I ask about. I also don't have a choice (insurance reasons) on where I go.

ED-NOS is just a term for "yeah, you have an eating disorder, but we can't put it in any specific category". There are lots of reasons why you might have that diagnosis. Eating the same thing every day for a year is one such example. Other possibilities include people who are obsessed with eating exactly the right way (not just your average vegan, but somebody who spends pretty much all their time on eating exactly right--can result in malnourishment), or the extremes of crash dieting and yo-yo dieting. Pretty much anything that involves disordered eating and can't be called anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating disorder can be put in that category.

Whether ED-NOS is a good description for ASD-related food routines is not something I'm sure of. A diagnosis like that tends to imply that there are emotional reasons for that pattern, as opposed to the mostly cognitive or sensory reasons someone with an ASD might have for it. It could result in doctors not communicating very well with each other about your problem. The treatment for something like bulimia is different from the treatment for a problem like eating the same thing every day because you are autistic and stuck in a routine. That sounds more like a problem for an occupational therapist than one for a psychologist or counselor.

i get really into a certain food and will eat it for months before i move on to something else, sometimes longer. when i was younger i used to eat certain things to the exclusion of all else, but as i've gotten older i've made a point to incorporate more variety into my diet. a person can totally survive on one food.

I had ED-NOS. Now I am just too lazy to eat. When I do eat, it's not very much. I tend to eat the same things over and over because it's easier than deciding what to have. I also don't know I am hungry until I am starving and I love sweets but I don't buy much of them. I know I will eat them up quick and prefer them over healthy food is why. I was once diagnosed with anorexia nervosa because I was starving myself to stay thin but I never even met the criteria. I think they just wanted to place me in a category than in the NOS. I think that is what doctors do here, they don't like to diagnose NOS disorders so they will go for a closest match for a diagnoses even if you don't truly have it.

PS ED also means over eating, it doesn't always mean to starve yourself or throwing up to lose weight. Plus not everyone starves themselves to lose weight, sometimes people have food issues due to sensory issues or tons of food allergies or because they don't have an appetite. Plus sometimes people get too obsessed about eating healthy then end up cutting out certain foods and then they are actually starving themselves. Plus lot of the times people with ED use food for control so it's not always about wanting to lose weight. I wonder if it's also an eating disorder when someone over eats all the time because they are always hungry due to a medical condition or pills they are on. Maybe since over eating is an eating disorder too. So that would mean I had one in 6th grade. I once read in a story online that was fictional that some girls will starve themselves to avoid their bodies from changing into a woman's body and to avoid a growth spurt because they don't want to grow up. I don't know of that is true or just for the story only. Authors can make up anything for their stories.

I eat pretty much the same thing every day but I wouldn't consider it a problem. I can change but I simply cannot be bothered. For me, eating is a necessary chore rather than being any real pleasure. My meals are reasonably balanced and don't affect my health so I can't see anything wrong with it. Binge eating, under eating, making yourself throw up etc are problems but it doesn't sound like they apply to you.

I know my diet is peculiar, it is extremely restricted, and lacks variety almost completely. But, it is complete, and balanced, and healthy, for the most part. I could see having a highly repetitious or restricted diet could be a problem, however, if there was some essential nutrition you were avoiding, for example. But so long as you are maintaining good nutrition, and remaining healthy, does it really matter if it's the same foods every day?

That sounds more like a problem for an occupational therapist than one for a psychologist or counselor.[/quote]

Can you explain that? I thought occupational therapy meant small muscle things. The ones I've seen with kids do more like dexterity things with the hands.

But so long as you are maintaining good nutrition, and remaining healthy, does it really matter if it's the same foods every day?[/quote]

To answer your question, I don't think it does matter. So maybe I shouldn't let another diagnosis matter but it is more that I have a therapist who can see me twice and say that. We only talked about food once. The first time she saw me I will admit I didn't talk much. I didn't know her. The second time, yesterday was when she diagnosed it and was the second time we talked about food.

Can you do two quotes at once? Sorry for the double posting.

I'll admit my nutrition isn't the best, but I don't think it is much worse than people on or off the spectrum. Can she diagnose that after talking about food once?

Another point: Wouldn't it be something more likely to go alone with ASD, to the point where it was commonly associated with it? I mean this is the first I have heard of it.

Also another question: She does know I eat a lot of things with protein. So maybe she thinks I am fixating on that. Could be, what I do focus on is eating things that will keep me full till I am home or have a chance to eat again.

I still don't think I have an ED.

I should also add that I have been in therapy for years with someone else before and he knows me well and never even mentioned either of those.

What do you do if you disagree with diagnoses? Does her mentioning them (I'm still not sure how sure or definite diagnoses she was giving) count as far as SSD?

I have questions for the OP, and others who have a similarly restricted diet.

What happens if you don't have access to the one or two foods that you are eating at that time?

Are you able to eat an alternative meal if what you usually eat is unavailable?

Usually yes. But there are some foods I can't stand the taste or smell of so will refuse them.