Autism and anorexia nervosa

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Greetings to all!

I just read an article that people who are on the autism spectrum are more likely to develope an eating disorder, especially anorexia nervosa. Now, I have always had a... well weird relationship with eating. Don't get me wrong, I love eating, cooking, and I eat alot of different foods. It is just that my mother told me that as a kid, I was very, very slim and did not eat enough. Then, when I quit sports in my mid-late teens, I became rather fat, something I still carry round these days. I asked a friend of mine who attends medical school to pass me some medical information about eating disorders, and I find it a little concerning that I exhibit quite alot of symptoms common to anorexia nervosa. I have very ritualized eating habits, cutting things in very small pieces, eating things in order, and I eat very, VERY fast when I eat with other people, since I hate being watched while eating. I recently developed quite an obsession with calories, since I have a bit of time to spare (preparing for my finals, but I don't have anymore courses at college, so I can do things at my own pace), I devert alot of my time to exercising, alot more than I used to. Since I take Ritalin because of my ADD, it also alters my appetite.
Are these just overlapping "obessions" that just coincidently have the same symptoms as anorexia, or should I talk about that with my doc the next time I see him?

It's funny that you bring this up. Not LOL funny, but it reminds me of that post that I typed about that Yoplait commercial. I had a super thin celebrity for a role model and I wanted to have his body type to the point that I was beginning to head down that road. The only thing that stopped me is that a major side effect of both Paxil and Risperidone is an increase in appetite.

I started to slowly develop an eating disorder when I was about 15 but it started with obsessing about my weight first and hating the number on the scale and then it was about not having snacks and eating in between meals and not having seconds no matter how active I was and I just loved losing the weight and then it was about working out until I burned off my whole dinner. Then pretty soon I was eating less at each meal to get my body back down to 130 and then eat normal again and then eat less again and this worked for a while until it stopped and I had an eating disorder so I was starving myself to stay thin to avoid getting fat. It was all about control.

I have always ate fast but that didn't mean I had an eating disorder and I also ate things in order and one thing at a time. I then learned if I have lot of food on my plate, I should not eat one thing at a time or I will get too full and not be able to enjoy my other food on my plate. But I still slip back into this eating pattern and I still eat fast.

Anorexia and autism do share the same symptoms.

Autism is co-morbid with OCD and several restrictive disorders.
Since middle school, I'd say I've averaged maybe 2000 calories a week, sometimes much less.
I'm constantly obsessing about food, and hating myself for obsessing.
I doubt I'd be like this if I hadn't always been fat, though.
I had a few good years of "normalcy", though, before junior high hit and I realized.