Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all. Can anyone tell me if binge eating is an autistic trait? I had a knee injury a few years ago and as a result of not being able to exercise I got a bit down, started eating a lot of crap, and my weight ballooned. Prior to this I was always in pretty good shape. I have in the last 7 months managed to lose 11 kilos, mainly because I felt so tired and lethargic all the time carrying the extra bulk. I did it by going on the keto diet which has worked well as I never seem to be hungry on it and I find it easy to be disciplined during the week. The downside of keto is that carbohydrates are severely restricted, and come the weekend I get this overwhelming urge to eat carbs. You could argue that it's just my body craving what I'm denying it but I have a feeling it's more to do with routine. Friday comes, I finish work early, on my way home I stop at a supermarket to buy myself a little treat because I've worked hard all week, then the minute I get inside the store I just fill my basket with a ridiculous amount of junk food (not all carbs I hasten to add). I sit watching TV on a Friday night stuffing myself until I almost feel sick because I bought way too much. I never leave any of the food for another day because my brain tells me I'm only allowed that one day to have treats. I hate food waste so I never throw any of it away. It's a cycle I've tried to break countless times, and to be fair to myself I am still losing weight despite my single day of gorging, but if I manage to deny myself on a Friday it just seems to roll over to a Saturday instead. If I try to limit myself to say just a bag of crisps, or a chocolate bar I get in a foul mood once I've eaten it because I always wish I'd got more and feel cheated. Anyone else relate?
Hi Twitch
Yes I totally get this. I think it comes from a couple of things - for me 1. being conditioned to view food as reward or something to gain and 2. denial of a huge and (arguably) essential food group.
I crave whatever I am not getting and also I was raised in a house where you earned food rewards for good behaviour, like a dog. I think if we can get out of the habit of saying 'its Friday I deserve a food treat' and start saying 'It's Friday so I'm going to watch my favourite film/see my favourite person/do my nails/get an early night' etc, we might be able to condition ourselves out of it.
I don't know if BE is an autistic thing, but I have an eating disorder and I'm also probably autistic, I don't know if you can draw a line between cause and effect on that though.
Here to chat if you need to talk :)
Hi there,
Definitely agree about seeing certain food as rewarding but not so much the denial of carbs being a motivation for me. I used to do exactly the same thing long before I ever went on the keto diet. I understand that a balanced diet is the ideal scenario but simply cutting down my general calorie intake has never seemed to helped me to lose weight. Keto has been a revelation, and while it may not be the healthiest diet I believe that losing visceral body fat is more conducive to good health at this stage. I've become far more active since I've lost weight so it's become a positive upward spiral. Once I reach my target weight I will return to a more normal diet and try to cut down portion sizes etc. As for the binge eating, I'm hoping that as I lose more weight I will learn to cut that down too. If I can get to the point where I can be satisfied with just a single bag of crisps, or one chocolate bar whilst watching my favourite film, then I would be happy with that. It's so hard to maintain discipline though isn't it. Thanks for your advice. I'm probably the worst person to offer anything helpful regarding eating disorders but always happy to listen if you need to share.