Eating Rant (trigger warning: eating habbits)

I suggest discussing these issues with your GP, who can then refer you to the most appropriate NHS service(s) for this particular area of difficulty.

I suspect that might include a referral to your local NHS dietetics / dietetics and nutrition team, who can provide advice and care, tailored to meet your needs.

There's some related advice here:

NAS - Eating

No problem, I have an interest in nutrition and I'm glad to help.

Vitamin D supplements are a good idea, as this vitamin supports our immune system and helps us absorb calcium to make our bones strong. We can't get enough from food - it's absorbed through our skin from sunlight in the summer months and our bodies should store enough to last through the winter, but many people are deficient. Try to get into a routine of taking it with either your breakfast or evening meal - if you still forget, set an alarm or reminder on your phone.

I’ve screenshot your suggestions to save for later. Thank you so much i can’t express how grateful i am for this. 

I can’t express how helpful this is and how grateful i am that you took the time to compile these meal ideas. Thank you so much. I already take vitamin D but i’m not very good at remembering to take them :(

Your diet is a bit restricted if you don't eat meat or fish and can't have dairy, and you might be tired due to not having enough protein, iron or vitamin B12.

You say that you eat cereal, so I take it that you use a plant based milk substitute? Soy milk has the highest amount of protein out of all the plant milks, plus added calcium,  so its the best nutritionally (if you can tolerate soy)

It's important that you get enough protein from vegetarian sources such as quorn, tofu, beans, nuts, eggs & non dairy milk & yoghurt, and there is iron in veggie foods like beans, broccoli, dried apricots, dark chocolate, soya, tofu and nuts.

You don't say what textures you like or dislike, but here are some ideas for quick meals & snacks:

Meals:-

Quorn sausages, with baked beans and oven fries

Frozen veggie lasagne with a bag of ready made salad & a dressing of your choice

A ready made pizza base that you add your own toppings to - Tomato puree, Vegan cheese, mushrooms, veggie sausage, etc

Quorn nuggets in sweet & sour sauce (from a jar) with microwave rice

Veggie chilli made with veggie mince & a jar of sauce, served with rice

Quorn chicken style pieces in a sauce of your choice (curry/ white wine, etc - Sainsbury's do a tomato pasta sauce with hidden veg) - serve with veg/rice/pasta 

Veggie burgers in buns with slices of tomato and a side of oven fries

Lunches/snacks:-

Scrambled eggs on toast

Toast and marmite/vegemite (for B vitamins, including B12),

Nuts /peanuts

Fruit - dried/frozen/ canned in juice (more consistency of taste & texture than fresh, + keeps longer)

Oat cakes 

Vegetable crisps

Non dairy fruit yogurts

Dark chocolate (small amounts only - but contains iron and fibre)

If you are only eating a few types of food, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor to see if you need tests for any vitamin or mineral deficiencies, and whether you need to take supplements.

sapphic princess said:

i don’t have anything to plan a routine around

I found it most effective to make job hunting a routine. I used to schedule 6 hours a day of applying for jobs, looking for potential direct application routes, working on my interview skills and networking.

Another few hours of study to update my skills were added to this in the evenings and it gave me the structure to be effective at job hunting while still having time to get to the gym, catch up with friends and work a 4 day week.

It requires self discipline which is the point most people fail with - having some sort of reward dependent on actually achieving your plan each week (eg going to the cinema or having a meal out) is a good way to motivate I found.

The transition from education to work is a hard one and comes with its own culture shock, but if you can make it a positive experience then it helps tremendously with your mental state and energy reserves - at least it did for me.

Good luck with the job hunt.

You definitely make some good points to consider so thank you. Especially regarding routine and reward. I think A lot of my issues stem from the fact i don’t have a solid routine in place as i don’t work and graduated this year, so i don’t have anything to plan a routine around. and food especially safe and ‘bad’ foods have been seen as rewards throughout my childhood and present day. 

i am in the process of trying to get therapy specialised for autism on the nhs, especially as private therapy isn’t an option financially for me. 

thank you for reading and taking the time to respond

sapphic princess said:

i hate that my safe foods are so unhealthy and bad.

There is a lot of psychology around eating and what we crave and I have had some experience in what you are talking about here.

To understand it a little helps you realise why you do it and what you can do about it.

I would really recommend speaking to a psychologist for a few sessions about this, but find one who specialises in autism and eating disorders as they should be able to find an approach that is likey to work for you.

My understanding (please do your own research on this) is that we use these "safe" foods as a comfort item - something to sooth us when we feel bad in some way. The origins of this are based deep in our primal brain where we seek the dopamine hit of having something we like. It may be food, booze, sex, drugs or rock and roll or whatever, but the fact is that our brains have a well defined "reward" response that has buit up from repeated use.

This response is often near immediate and makes us feel good, even if only for a little while and without regard for the consequences, but because it if from a very primal structure in out brain it is strong and well established so is hard to break.

A good therapist should be able to help you identify when you are falling for one of these cravings, will help you find a substitute, healthier response that still gives you some of the pleasure you are craving and will help you build a new path for the response to the cravings.

Also I would suggest finding ways to prepare much of the "good" food in advance so the time to prepare it is greatly reduced. Perhaps consider things like:

- roast a batch of veg and freeze in portion sized containers. Roast peppers, aubergine, corguette, onions and carrots are good options for this (I use lots of herbs to add flavour).

- create a routine so you start making a meal when you get in from school / work and get used to doing it on auto pilot.

- for some dished like veggie lasanga, make it and freeze it into portions straight away.

- consider setting aside one day a week for preparing these dishes that you freeze - it get it all out the way at once, keeps the oven hot for the next think and gets all the washing up done and out the way. Maybe have a playlist on the go for this and plan a treat after as a reward.

etc

I think it will be key to work out a meal plan based on what foods you can face, and work with your therapist on the eating issues you have.

All in my opinion of course, feel free to ignore.