What is it like to be obese and aspergers

Post Reply New Topic

Indeed it is. If there's some healthy or otherwise good habit you haven't practised for years, it seems you have no business adopting it. I tend to feel guilty of trying too hard to be better than I really am and thus a hypocrite and even a would-be traitor---would-be because I obviously fail miserably to fool anyone.

Teaching individuals to feel this way is probably one of the many refined mechanisms society has for weeding out the weak.

I hated it at first when I've gained most of my weight in my late 20s - early 30s. I've adjusted to my rotundness. I've also found a way to have fun with it. The only thing I don't like is having fat shamers in the family who think that all younger people should be capable of being ultra-thin. I've always liked larger people and characters anyways. I've grown up to be one of those large, cuddly people. :O)

There's more of me to love.

For me, food, especially junk food, is the only thing that doesn't fight back. It's the only way I coped for most of my life, as most people didn't give a sh!t about how I felt.

You've hit the nail on the head for me. Food has always been a solace and a coping mechanism. I won't bore you with details of my dysfunctional childhood (not just a little bit so, I will add), but food was the one pleasure I could count on. That's stuck with me throughout my adult life.

For those who think it's just a matter of "letting yourself go," you really don't understand what it's like to struggle with a lifelong addiction to food. I'm not lazy, and I love to go hiking. In fact, I just ordered some new hiking photo gear to go along with the nice hiking shoes I bought last Fall. I have a great deal of endurance, and can go for many miles when I get into the mountains.

The problem is that I like to eat and don't know when to stop. I've been working on it lately, and I'm about 60 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight a few years ago. But it will always be a struggle to balance health with the pleasure I get from (over)eating.

Most of my siblings are/were fat, and always were when we were growing up. I've always been regular-sized. They didn't eat any differently than I did and didn't exercise any less. If they DO eat more and exercise less they gain way more than I do if I do the same thing. Where I might gain 10 lbs they would gain 50. It's not fair and it was hard on them.

I'm glad my husband is happy with himself and has good self esteem. Life is too short to waste it feeling bad about yourself or punishing yourself doing things your body rebels against. As long as you are healthy and can get around, what's the problem?

I agree with that sentiment entirely. In my specific case, the driving factor behind my desire to maintain a healthier weight is diabetes. When I limit my overall caloric intake (especially carbs) and exercise, it helps keep my numbers down. So far I've been able to ward off needing insulin injections. But it's really, really hard to manage blood sugar that way for someone who loves eating.

Losing weight is really just a beneficial side effect of maintaining acceptable glucose levels. If I didn't have diabetes to worry about, I wouldn't care as much about my overall health and weight.

I may not know what it's like to struggle with a lifelong addiction to food, but I've had trouble controlling my weight for more than a third of my life so far, so I know how frustrating it is to struggle with what used not to be a problem. I'm still mentally adapted to having very little choice on what I eat and very few chances to exercise without getting in trouble some way or other.

But, no matter how I try to justify it, I'll suffer the consequences of my weak will all the same and the only solution is to correct my habits and lose weight.



Congrats then. I have trouble realizing I'm overeating before I've already overeaten a lot and suddenly feel really full.

I also tend not to notice that I'm hungry till my stomach rumbles a lot, that I'm thirsty till my tongue is dry, and so on with any physiological need.

Spiderpig: I have that same problem. I don't recognize hunger till I'm dizzy, and won't know I'm full till I'm nauseous. Ive always been that way. When I was 3-5, I could eat a family bag of chips (not fries, I'm in the US), so I have been told. I also have the problem that once I get that hungry, I will just gorge.
Additional metabolic issues don't help. Long undiagnosed hypothyroid disorder and being insulin resistant sucks.

I keep reading the thread title as "What is it like to obsess and have Aspergers."

Pretty typical, I'd say.

Honestly, I really hate the term "obese." It's an ugly word, and when some people say it, it sounds like they're using it as a synonym for ugly or disgusting. If you read the comment boxes under any news article about obesity in mainstream media, there's typically a flurry of comments about how lazy or disgusting fat people are seen to be. If anyone used similar terms to describe almost any other subgroup in society today, they'd be shouted down. But hating on fat people seems to be OK for a broad segment of the population.

I can sum it up in two words: it sucks.

Also I hate the word "obese". It's supposed to mean extremely fat, and it seems these days people say you're obese when you're like over 5 lbs overweight.

It's bad enough society sees you as being weak, disgusting and entirely at fault for your weight problem if you're NT. When you're an aspie exercise is even harder because of the disgusting smell and feeling of sweat, and having to jump in the shower right afterwards. "Healthy" foods often taste too sour or bitter. Shopping for clothes is awful, but it's even harder finding clothes that actually fit as well as not making you look and feel completely gross.

When I was in my late 20's I actually started working extra hard to lose weight. I must have walked for at least three hours and drank enough water to fill a bathtub every day, and snacked on carrot sticks and flavored rice cakes. I lost a lot of weight as a result, but then I became so fearful of gaining it back I was afraid to eat anything. I thought getting any emotional pleasure from food was wrong, we're supposed to only eat to satisfy our physical hunger and nutritional needs. I thought I was still fat when people said I wasn't. One time after weighing myself on the scale and seeing I'd gained a few pounds I became so upset I grabbed a hammer and hit myself on the arms and legs causing swelling and bruising all over.

Obviously, that was no way to live. But because I've stopped living like that I've gained back a lot of weight. Of course I'm in my 40's now so losing weight is even more intensely hard and when I hit the big M I'll probably look like a small elephant.

I'll try to draw inspiration from you.

A few weeks ago, I starved myself during a weekend. The only reason it seems a bad idea now is that my throat and the roof of my mouth became so sensitive they hurt and bled when I ate again.

I am a sexy beast of a man. So it's great.