Advice on eating healthier?

Yeah I ate it when I was young, fresh out the garden and dipped in sugar (the rhubarb not me).

Good idea about rhubarb - I didn't know it could be eaten raw, just avoid the leaves, which are poisonous.

Thanks for letting us know.

There are lots of crunchy/hard/crispy foods, such as:

Protein: Roast chicken legs, crispy bacon, Quorn southern fried bites, fish in crispy batter, beans /lentils.

Dairy: Hard cheese

Fruit & veg: Carrot sticks, corn on the cob, raw cauliflower, radishes, celery, apples & pears

Carbs: Crackers, crispy fries, potato skins, brown rice.

Snacks: Peanuts/mixed nuts, vegetable crisps, popcorn, dark chocolate.

Also you can have milk (any type, including lacto-free/plant milks) to drink on its own, or in tea/coffee/hot chocolate or shakes - if you can tolerate it - which will give you more protein & calcium.

Apples too.

From what I have read some vegetables can be eaten raw. That should mean they are hard and crunchy I would guess though I have not tried many raw vegetables.

From memory raw rhubarb is crispy, crunchy and delicious too.

Salad bowls are healthy and hard and crispy too.

Frozen fruit has a hard texture. You can buy packets of frozen fruit from the supermarket. It's already chopped and frozen for you. You just put the packet in your freezer.

For example I hate banana that is at room temperature because I hate the texture but love frozen banana.

You can also get packets containing frozen strawberries, raspberries, pineapple and other fruit types from the supermarket.

I like sainsburys frozen fruit the best but others may prefer other brands.

Adding onto my post because I forgot - it's mush that I don't like in food. I like crunchy, hard foods and can't stand anything mushy or gritty. 

What kind of textures do you like/dislike- is it the softness of veggies you struggle with (ie you prefer crunchy textures) or vice versa? Some simple additions can really help with activity, you don’t need a huge amount of equipment. I moved my dining table chair to the side and now sit on an exercise ball- the extra movement/stability muscles that are needed to stay still are really useful and you don’t even know you’re doing it! Similar with some resistance band exercises, or using two cans of food as weights- you don’t need fancy equipment. I do an online Pilates class every week, the teacher is flexible (as she is also running it in person) so if I don’t come sometimes it’s ok- this has really helped me find some exercises to do in my spare time as well, and I just do it on the floor of my bedroom at a bit of an odd angle (so a space no bigger than 1.5m x2m).
If you can find a map of your local area, are there footpaths or green spaces near where you live? Would you be able to plan a short safe route, for example in my case there is a cafe 1min from my house (it doesn’t have to be a cafe, it could be a tree, bus stop, particular bench- anything) and does not require crossing any roads to get to, so I could plan to: leave my house and turn right. Follow the curve of the pavement. Keep the lighter coloured bricks of pavement on my left (could use a coloured glove if you struggle with left and right, eg keep the light coloured blocks on the side with the red glove). Walk to the cafe. Sit on chair at cafe for 1min (or get water or tea or similar- whatever takes your fancy). Walk home. Keep light blocks of pavement on right (eg with green glove). Follow curve of pavement. Turn left and enter house. Maybe you could plan it with a support worker or therapist, and text them when you leave and return? Like I say though, there are some good ways to exercise with little space!

Don't get hung up about eating "like a child" - it doesn't matter too much exactly what foods you eat, as long as you are getting all the nutrients you need. So you should be having some protein from meat, fish, eggs, nuts, or vegetarian/vegan products like Quorn, dairy foods (cheese, milk, yogurt), some starchy carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread) some fruit/veg. You can add a little fat in the form of butter/spread and oil.

Protein fills you up, so you are less likely to overeat. Large amounts of starchy carbohydrates can make people put on weight, so carb portions should be small if you want to lose weight. There is some research showing that gut bacteria is important to stop us putting on weight, and fermented foods such as natural yogurt, cheese and vinegar help with that.

I completely understand what you mean about fruit. I quite like bananas, but they have to be exactly the right ripeness, not green and not going brown. These days fresh fruit & veg seems to go bad quickly, which is a waste. However, tinned fruit in juice (Not syrup) tends to be fairly consistent with texture and is still good for you. If you are concerned about the natural sugars in the juice, you can always drain it before eating. Frozen veg also is more consistent in taste & texture than fresh, with no preparation needed before cooking, and no waste.

You haven't told us if there are any foods you cannot eat, or which textures you prefer. Some people like softer foods, some like crispy fries or toast. Here are some ideas:

Breakfast: Natural yogurt or porridge with fruit

Snack: a handful of nuts (crunchy) or a slice of wholemeal bread with peanut butter (soft)

Lunch: Tuna salad with mayo/vinaigrette dressing (crunchy), scrambled egg on toast (soft and crispy) or soup containing meat or beans with a slice of wholemeal bread (soft)

Snack: a few chunks of cheese with some fruit

Dinner: Any protein food - meat, eggs, fish, Quorn, etc, with a sauce if required and rice, pasta or potatoes. Add veg if you can (some sauces contain tomato, which counts) Quorn has a softer texture than some meats and is easy to cook. If you don't like the texture of veg, mash it to make it soft - I like carrot & potato mash better than ordinary mashed potato.

You will see I included two snacks in this meal plan, as I find eating little and often helps me maintain my weight better. But if you prefer just to have 3 meals, you can cut out the snacks and add nuts or cheese to your lunch, and have yogurt & fruit for dessert after dinner.

(If you like nuts but find them too expensive, peanuts are fine - you can usually find cheap supermarket own brand packs. Only have a handful of nuts/peanuts at a time though)

I wouldn't feel ashamed about what you eat or yourself or be so hard on yourself.

Things that i eat thar are healthy are :

microwave wholegrain/brown rice - it is really filling and takes less than two minutes to cook. I like the sainsburys own brand but am not a fan of some of the other brands.

Microwaveable frozen vegetables - I use birds eye steam fresh brand. I find its the same taste and texture all year round. Takes minutes to make.

Frozen fruit- I love frozen cherries, blueberries from sainsburies. Other supermarkets do them too but I don't like the other brands frozen fruit. I find the taste and texture the same all year round probably because they are frozen. I eat them while they are still frozen but you can defrost them first.

Bags of mixed nuts - lots of minerals in them and I like the taste. One big tip is you must keep them in the dark as any sunlight makes them taste bad quick

Natural full fat Greek yoghurt - so filling and tasty.

Tinned mackerel - I eat the sainsburys ones as I find the fish always tastes fresh. The other supermarkets ones I find the fish can taste off. You can get the tins plain or flavoured with a sauce.

I eat the above because its healthy, unprocessed and very little/no preparation required.

It's also very natural food and I find with eating mostly  natural food I  slowly but surely lose weight without even having to try. I also find natural foods improve my mental state which can be very fragile otherwise.

I avoid processed foods because I gain weight and they make my mood more fragile. Processed foods are designed so you never feel full after eating them. So it is very difficult to lose weight when eating mostly processed foods without immense will power.

I think I could give you advice but it would help if you could tell what you're eating at the moment.

Vegetables are healthy, most of them cook well using this method:

Chop them up into bitesize pieces on a plate. Bring a pan of water to boil and once it's rapidly boiling pour the vegetables in. The water will stop boiling. Wait a minute or two until it starts boiling again, then immediately turn the heat off. Wait a minute and then pull the pan away from the oven and drain it in the sink. Now your vegetables should be ready. This works for almost of them. I usually have a few different ones as a side with the rest of my meal.

There's some good advice here, along with suggestions of professionals who could help, via a GP referral:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behaviour/eating/all-audiences