Can't choose from fast food menus

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Does anyone else get this.

I took myself and my daughters to KFC, I get so stressed by the menu choices, I can't imagine what they are, I get into a mental panic and I always end up ordering us the same thing because I don't know what else to choose.

It's like my brain can't focus because there is this brightly lit display of colours, with so much stuff, I feel enormous pressure from the person at the till waiting for me to say what I want so I just end up choosing the same thing every time because I can't make a different choice, it's too much information.

Yes, I often have that, too. I thought it was my OCD trait - being indecisive. I usually think ahead so that I won't have to feel the pressure by the people around. I usually end up ordering the same thing most of the time, too. Decision making at restaurants is quite stressful in general.

That also happens to me. Now before I go to most restaurants, I make sure to take a look at the menu or specialty foods online, and then I look up reviews on which food items sound like they could be good so when I order I have a better idea of what I'm getting. I've done it with KFC before, KFC appears to have a small amount of menu items when looking at their site, which made it easier for me, and if I remember right, about a decade ago they had way much more on the list!

I struggle too. We don't often go to McDonalds, as my husband's vegetarian and the only meat my daughter and I eat is fish. But, we went on Saturday. There's only 2 items that my husband and I will have there and we couldn't spot them on the menu, so we both started to get into a panic that the menu had been changed. The place wasn't busy and there wasn't a queue behind us, so there shouldn't have been any pressure. But, I'm aware that most people know what they're going to get, before they even walk in, so I was sure they must have been thinking we were a right pair.

But, compared to my Mum, we're fantastic. She seems to lose the ability to read, when she has to choose from a menu. She often ends up ordering the same as someone else, because she's just gotten so confused. Sometimes she'll pick something, but I realise she can't have noticed the word 'spicy', in the description, as she doesn't like spicy food, so then she has to look at the menu again. Annoyingly, she'll walk right up to the counter and the person will look perplexed as they wait for her to speak. She hasn't worked out that she should stand far back, so they know she hasn't decided yet. We were in a food court, in a mall, on holiday. My husband, Dad and I decided we were going to have wraps, made to order. This was too much pressure for my Mum, but she just said she didn't fancy that. So, she went to another concession stand and bought a pre-made wrap, with my help, as she can't even do that without someone telling her when to say 'Yes' or 'No'. It cost a lot more and she didn't get to choose exactly what went into it, so ended up with a sauce she wouldn't have chosen. Often, when she's supposed to be looking at the menu, she ends up just staring into space. I do feel sorry for her.

I even tried looking up online first too, and I still had the problem. It's somehow very different when you actually get there.

Do you think wearing a pair of sunglasses or glasses with tinted lens inside could help you some?

This happens to me all the time. I am actually better with changing things up a bit at KFC and Subway, but most everywhere else I default to the same thing, or the same small list of things. A big problem is just not knowing if I will like something or not, so I buy the familiar orders.

I sometimes eat in cafes in supermarkets. Some of them really confuse me, so I don't tend to eat there and it's all down to the way the menu is presented (or not). One supermarket (Morrison's) has a menu at the outer part of the ordering area. You can stand there for as long as you like, looking at the hot food on offer, then take a look at the cold food in the fridges, before you go anywhere near a member of staff. It's all very relaxed. But, there's a couple I really hate eating from (usually Asda and Tesco, but they are all different). Many don't even appear to have a proper menu. They have posters on their walls, with pictures of meals that you might be able to get, if they have any, but no indication of whether it's always available. Then they have a meagre selection of hot food on display and you don't know if that's all they have. So, you have to ask the server what they have and what you're told is really dependent on what they can remember or be bothered to tell you.

Thank you, thank you for sharing your stories. So nice to know I'm not alone!

I also have problems in restaurants and fast food places. Problems with the noise and lights, and not being able to imagine what I will like- I have to stand and taste it on my tongue individually which takes way too long. We used to get in such arguments, with people trying to hurry me up.

Since my diagnosis, life is much simpler. I usually go for a walk outside while my husband chooses for me, or I close my eyes and point to the menu to choose, or I get what he is having!

Funnily enough, I do wear a pair of red-tinted glasses when I go out, because I am very sensitive to the light and my chiropractor (of all people) recommended them. I do get some funny looks though, and I took them off when I went into KFC. They also get steamed up when I go into a warm place from the cold (it's ruddy freezing here in the UK at the moment!) so I can't see properly with them when that happens.

It is more than the colours and lights I think, it's the pressure, and I've read that people with AS have trouble making choices when there are too many options. Both my daughters are like this too (you should see them in a sweet shop trying to choose a bar of chocolate!)

I can't bear raisins/sultanas/currants, and I asked the server a cafe if their carrot cake had sultanas in because some do and some don't. I almost had a panic because they didn't know and they made such a fuss of searching for some information in a book - you'd think the servers would be told what they're serving. It made me feel as if I shouldn't have asked and that I was putting them to a lot of effort.

Last edited by whirlingmind on 25 Feb 2013, 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have this problem everywhere. I even have it when food shopping. At this point I just order off of a mental list. The biggest problem with this however is with food shopping, because sometimes they just don't have the things I'll eat. It usually makes me have a meltdown and then just eat bread until next food shopping time where hopefully there will be the things I eat.

I don't really like eating and I'm very, very particular about what foods I will eat. I used to have meltdowns and shutdowns as a kid when they'd try and get me to eat new foods, or use a knife and fork. Worst was when they tried to get me to mix different foods on the same fork because apparently it 'tastes better' - personally it just makes me itchy, panicky and nauseous.

Easy solution. Stop eating fast food. Learning to cook is fun and healthy and a great gift to your children. Cook at home for your kids and with your kids. Jamie Oliver has a fun easy to follow style so I'd recommend his books and television programmes to get you started. As an added benefit many people with anxiety and depression report improvements in their condition when they improve their diet so you can't go wrong!

I don't know what I said that led you to believe that we don't eat cooked meals at home, just from describing a couple of outings to a KFC, which in fact were a treat that happens once in a while and is actually a new thing that we never used to do. We probably eat far less fast food than most other people. We never eat meat burgers or meat sausages or meat pies etc. even at home - letalone out. We don't eat curries out, and even to eat a pizza out is a rarity for us. It's interesting how you reached that conclusion without there being anything to indicate that this was the correct scenario. As for cookery books, we have loads.

This happens when I go somewhere new, because I get slightly overwhelmed by the amount of item to choose from, but also because I'm afraid I won't like an item and I'll have a bad experience because of that. At the places I know and eat often, I typically get the same three items over and over again, so I never have that particular issue. It has happened before that my typical choice has been removed from the menu or changed... and that's a different story.

When in doubt, I just buy something, and hope it's good. Sometimes it stinks, but there have also been times where I found a new favorite this way. Being in that cramped and bright establishment, looking up at that big board menu far away, while the cashier is in front of you staring you down, waiting for your order is a bit stressful to say the least... So I like to get it over with quickly. The KFC menu is fairly small, albeit quite yummy, it's mostly fried chicken and side dishes, so I don't think you would have a problem if you were to just try a new chicken and what not. I will warn you, if you like spicy stuff, you may want to skip the hot wings they sell. IMO, they are very mild, in no way should they be marketed as "hot", because they are not. Still tasty though...