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Throughout my life I've often thought, "If only I didn't need to eat."

Nessie

I'm hoping this is an autistic trait that others can relate to.

It annoys me that my body is so dependent on nourishment, when my brain will happily keep going for 36 hours straight (I know that brains need food and water too, but I'm trying to make a point here).

I'm almost always indifferent to being hungry. I'm not anorexic or depressed, and I don't have any sensory issues with food (although I do have a number of intolerances), I just find planning, shopping for, preparing and eating food a real chore. Very rarely do I derive any enjoyment from eating, and I'd be perfectly happy if I never had to eat again. I mean, I can plug in my iPhone to charge overnight, so why can't I do the same with me?

It just feels like such a frustrating, annoyingly-recurrent, time-consuming interruption when I could be thinking about and/or doing other things.

I'd welcome your thoughts and experiences please.

Parents

  • I would prefer not to have to eat - it's a function that just causes hassle for me.

    My health is fritzy due to ulcerative colitis and so when I'm becoming ill, my appetite completely disappears.   I have no interest in food at all and I have to practically forced to eat by constant nagging,    During this time, I can only tolerate things like boiled eggs and chicken.     I also sleep a lot more so I miss meals.   

    When I'm on high recovery-doses of steroids, I have an appetite where I could easily eat a horse - I'm constantly hungry and could pile on a lot of weight very quickly - I have to be vigilant about calorie intake.      When combined with the water-retention caused by the steroids and the massive weight loss when I'm ill (sometimes a stone per week), it's very difficult to work out what my correct weight should be as I yo-yo by more than +/-10kg.

    I also have that typical Aspie trait of eating exactly the same thing every day - food is fuel - I rarely enjoy eating because of the immediate effects it has on my body - the nausea & cramping - similar to terrible sea-sickness.   Some foods trigger all sorts of issues within seconds.     

    The only foods I actually like are a really good steak or a perfect burger - which is surprisingly hard to find.      Everything else is just fuel and is instantly forgettable.

Reply

  • I would prefer not to have to eat - it's a function that just causes hassle for me.

    My health is fritzy due to ulcerative colitis and so when I'm becoming ill, my appetite completely disappears.   I have no interest in food at all and I have to practically forced to eat by constant nagging,    During this time, I can only tolerate things like boiled eggs and chicken.     I also sleep a lot more so I miss meals.   

    When I'm on high recovery-doses of steroids, I have an appetite where I could easily eat a horse - I'm constantly hungry and could pile on a lot of weight very quickly - I have to be vigilant about calorie intake.      When combined with the water-retention caused by the steroids and the massive weight loss when I'm ill (sometimes a stone per week), it's very difficult to work out what my correct weight should be as I yo-yo by more than +/-10kg.

    I also have that typical Aspie trait of eating exactly the same thing every day - food is fuel - I rarely enjoy eating because of the immediate effects it has on my body - the nausea & cramping - similar to terrible sea-sickness.   Some foods trigger all sorts of issues within seconds.     

    The only foods I actually like are a really good steak or a perfect burger - which is surprisingly hard to find.      Everything else is just fuel and is instantly forgettable.

Children
  • in reply to Plastic

    Oh, I definitely understand about "food is fuel". I wonder if it's something to do with not having cravings for certain types of food? I would often hear colleagues say things like, "Oh, I really fancy getting X for lunch today," or "Hm, I feel like a Y takeaway tonight," and I just never really feel like that. Maybe about tea, like  said, but very rarely about food.

    I'm so sorry to hear about your UC, that must be incredibly wearying. I have a lot of intolerances, which prove quite restrictive (and maybe account for the lack of cravings?), but nothing even close to as bad as you, and at least I'm able to avoid things which cause me pain, nausea, vomiting so hard bile comes out my nose etc. Your repeat experience of steroids sounds awful too. Poor you. That must really get you down at times? Worried

    Have you ever come across these burger restaurants?: https://handmadeburger.co.uk/

    We used to enjoy eating at a place called Chalk Valley in Southampton, which did the most amazing burgers and was incredibly popular locally. Unfortunately, it decided to expand into a steak restaurant, and significantly reduced its burger selection, and subsequently went under in less than a year, but the Handmade Burger Co. has been a reasonable substitute, if not quite the same standard. On the plus side, they do have fairly dim lighting and squishy seats (rather than those horrible ones that dig into you), so sensory-wise it's an altogether more pleasant dining experience, which helps.