WEIGHT GAIN for the Autistic with food troubles.

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Hi,

Hard to fine what part of the forum to put this in, but now I'm living independently I want to increase my quality of life and good living.

Long story short:

- Male Aged 18 (6 months ago) got diagnosed with multiple things, including ASPERGERS.
- Weighed 38kg/85lbs/6.2 stone whilst being 180cm+ / 5'9".

Upon hearing that this is why I only wish to eat once or twice a day / only eat about 3 things all my life, adapted my diet:

- Aged 19 (present, 6 months on)
- Weigh almost 50kg / about 110lbs / about 8 stone

Huge difference. Literally unrecognizable to most who haven't seen me. Almost a third of my own body weight put on


I still have food issues and I GET that no matter how much I want to have 4000 calories a day to complement my gymming lifestyle I'll either get mad sick, can't eat more than a meal a day, pack up when I have most foods.

I am positive and do everything I can,
- Protein shakes to complement not being able to eat like I wish to
- Gym keeps on going, keep weightlifting
- Very positive human being who wants to do well.


So my question as a first time poster and someone who every day is still learning how to live knowing I have this disorder... How do you bodybuilders / weightgainers eat if you have similar problems of large willingness to eat / no appetite / food texture-allergy and more things preventing you eating?

Like I say, only diagnosed, and come a huge way in things other than just body weight. And I feel at home now.

SACROSANCT

Just continue to eat a healthy diet, and you'll be okay, probably. Don't go into any of these "supplements" or whatever--unless they're vitamins and minerals. All the other stuff is questionable, and might not be good for you, even though they're good for others.

If you continue to weigh 110 lbs at 5 foot 9, after eating a healthy diet for six months, and exercising, I'd go see a doctor; there's probably some sort of metabolic issue at work here.

Eating one meal a day seems to be your most likely cause of being underweight. I tried eating 4000 calories a day for over 6 months in 2014 and that required me to have 7 meals a day. At 5000 calories a day I was eating 9 meals a day, which meant my entire day was pretty much spent shoveling food down my throat. I can't conceive how one would eat 4000 calories in a single meal. Even if you did eat something extremely unhealthy and calorie dense to be 4000 calories in one meal, just because you swallow 4000 calories worth, does NOT mean your body can digest 4000 calories worth, and a portion (how much who knows) will just end up passing right through you.

You need to eat more than 1 meal a day. Lifting weights alone should fix any low appetite problem you have but I don't really know what advice I would have for being picky. I used to be really picky as a kid, I just slowly expanded my taste palet as I got older. It gets easier when you have a strong appetite backing you up. Maybe try to try new foods that are similar to those you already enjoy/tolerate? Body building is going to be impossible for anyone without the diet to go along with it. At one meal a day, I don't even know how you can keep your essential vital functions running in your body let alone have anything to spare for exercise.

I'm not sure I understand why you only eat one meal a day. You seem to suggest that you eat a very large(although doubtful anywhere near 4000cals) in your one meal that you do have, so I don't know if you mean that the experience of eating is just so unbearable that you can''t psychologically go through that multiple times a day?

I have celiac disease. Most foods will make me throw up now because of gluten content because most foods have it. I also enjoy to the point of making my stomach discomfort, shoveling food into my mouth so I've only been underweight for maybe a year of my life.

Most Celiac's are undiagnosed. It's less common than autism. But non celiac gluten intolerance exists also but numbers of that are unknown. Unlikely but maybe worth a look.

Sounds like you just need to find the right foods and get a steady supply of them. It will require changing your lifestyle. That's the hard part. Eating once a day to 5 times a day will take effort.

wow, i'm 5'7 and looked emaciated when I hit 9 stone, at your weight I would just shove as many calories as you can down your throat.... don't even worry if its healthy or not.

Drink more calories. Exactly the opposite of what people are told to do when they want to lose/stop gaining weight. Add fruit juice to sparkling water, drink fruit juice or milk or kefir if you tolerate any of these well. Take in smoothies with vegetables and fruit when you don't want to eat. Make sure you drink liquid if you're eating 'dry' foods, too.

Also, if you're having any kind of discomfort after eating, even just aches and pains or anxiety, you should consider trying an elimination/challenge diet. Some of your issues with eating may be due to unsuspected food sensitivities. The elimination/challenge diet protocol allows you to identify those foods for yourself. It is not a weight loss diet, so be sure to eat enough of the 'allowed' foods during the 'elimination' phase and to test the 'challenge' foods one at a time, with at least 48 hours between each challenge.

This is how I discovered that I had been living with a severe reaction to gluten and dairy, after years of not connecting eating those foods with full body pain, spasms, GI tract problems, depression, anxiety and heightened sensory issues. It's also a good way to become more attuned to what is going on in your body, and how you react to other events or stressors in your life.

A very late reply but thank you to all of the kind responses. Still battling but in this time have seen docs. Most have passed it off as something ASD related and haven't given any help but I guess I'd need to find someone who understands my condition a bit more (?) and see if I can see a specialist who might be able to give advice. Eating is better but not good things, mainly ready meals, find that cooking less and being 'presented' with food helps me so much more, might look lazy to some but really isn't. I'm a well motivated man so willing to keep on cracking. Cheers so much for all your help

I've been having a similar problem.

It's hard. I started with blitzing new foods so that they were barely noticeable, making myself eat it send then over a few years building up the size of them.

I still struggle with new foods bird gained some weight finally, though I do think not exercising has contributed so I will have to watch for that when I go back.

I was told to eat lots of avocados but I can't stand the texture, plus they're expensive. Nit a fan of nuts either.

I tried to be a mid week vegetarian recently but that fell through because it was too difficult for me to do without nearly starving myself until Saturday.