Autism and Obesity

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Being fat is a popular problem, but in people with any type of autism it could be even a bigger problem sometimes. Since we tend to have less friends, have less social skills, and tend to suffer from shyness, social isolation, and so on, we also might have a tendency to spend time at home more than outside. Spending time more at home means less physical exercise or tend to spend alot of time on watching TV, playing video games, using a computer, and other such activities. This also can lead to eating more and gaining more weight. So Autism might have an effect on chances of having obesity sometimes. Can you explain if your weight is okay or are you possibly overweight or even obese? For me unfortunately, the answer is yes, I have obesity. My height is about 185 cm and weight is about 102 kg. I'm trying to get down to 90 kg at least right now. It will take some time, but I will get there.

The autistic people I know are usually underweight or normal weight, partly because of sensory aversions to certain foods and a lack of EF for cooking complex meals. Many autists have a "same foods" mindset and eat the same simple things daily like a routine or ritual, without having excess money to splurge on restaurants or junk food.

I can't speak for everyone, but that's a pattern I've noticed.

I was underweight until a doctor in hospital had me take Seroquel (quetiapine) "for sleep". It had a number of effects but most notable was weight gain. I gained so much weight. I was at 54kgs and went to 90kgs in what was a little more than six months. Every time I look in the mirror, I get a shock because of how fat I've become. Deep down I still feel slim.

On the medication front, I take haloperidol and lithium which are not helping me lose weight. I try to keep fit and active but I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia which causes a lot of pain. I have discovered, though, that being active doesn't make any difference in how I feel compared to resting. So I may as well stay active.

I'm starting to feel like Weird Al parodying Michael Jackson.

I used to always be really thin despite eating a lot, but when I hit my mid-20s I started gaining weight and got quite fat for the first time in my life and I had to introduce myself to dieting. I don't really like exercising and I don't walk out much because of agoraphobia. I used to walk to work and my job is very active (mopping 30+ buses and carrying heavy buckets of water about sounds more than it is) but I still wasn't losing any weight, so I became despondent of exercising and just stuck to dieting instead, and that way I lost nearly 2 stone in 2 months. But I have to keep at the diet for the rest of my life otherwise I will put it all back on again.

Coming from a thin family I always thought thinness would be part of my biological/physical structure but I was wrong. Maybe being on Sertraline slows my metabolism down, as I did start putting on the pounds when I first started taking Sertraline.

I see quite a range when it comes to people on the spectrum and weight. I know a lot who are overweight. Some have trouble recognizing feelings of fullness.

I suspect that we have similar issues with obesity as the general population. It could be that fewer of us are at an ideal weight and are more likely to be under or overweight.

I'm 5 ft 11 inches (180 cm). At age 69 I am 175 lbs (79kg). 4 years ago (age 65) I was 306 lbs (139 kg). I was worse than fat. I was morbidly obese (it's a real medical term).

I think my autism affects my ability to regulate things in my body. Things like circadian rhythm, sleep, metabolism, mood and emotions.

I often had trouble recognizing when I was hungry and would wait too long to eat and then I would over eat.
And I wasn't exercising. I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was eating and got into a habit of eating easy fast food (burgers, pizza). That'll do it.

I now am on the Mediterranean diet (mostly plants) and my autism actually helps with that because I eat the same thing every day but it's all healthy food. I create routines and habits out of making the meals in advance so there's always something healthy to eat in the house.

I know they say the Mediterranean diet isn't very restrictive, but I need to make it restrictive so I can keep it the same every day. I think that helps my body regulate things and keep me stable (so I'm less likely to backslide on the diet). I can't be adventurous with my diet. It's risky.

I'm trying to take advantage of my autism and use it keep me in healthy routines.

I think it goes both ways. We can also tend to forget to eat for prolonged periods of time as well. Not to mention how difficult it has become to know what we should and shouldn't be eating because of the way that food has been engineered to be as addictive as possible in many cases.

I lived on ice cream for about a month as it's all I could stomach.
Now I've graduated to popcorn but I don't even enjoy it.