Published on 12, July, 2020
Haven't posted for a while as I have been trying to just get on with my life and trying to ignore my autism, FND and a host of other issues.I've pretty much accepted my issues and the fact that there is very little, if anything, that can be done to "fix me".
Anyway, hello to all of the folks that I have engaged with in the past and hello to all the newer people.
I've asked a similar question before, but want to have another stab at it.
One of the things that I REALLY struggle with is my autism and food.I do not (read that as "cannot") eat so many of the things that health professionals keep telling us to eat.For me, the list includes
Its not just that I dont like them....I absolutely hate them and really cannot eat them due to taste, texture and smell.It's so bad that even if I am sitting next to my wife while she is eating a salad, I feel physically sick / nauseous - especially the smell of cucumber, celery and the like.
Last week I had a routine health check (blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, etc). My cholesterol was on the high side (6 ish) and my BMI puts me on the lower end of obese.The thing is, I am quite fit and I exercise regularly (yoga x 2, spin x 2, weights x 1 and cardio x1 per week). I have built up my muscle mass and only really have fat around my stomach.Around 3 years ago I was 117kg and am now 103kg, but haven't been able to go below that for the past year or more.I had a trail session with a PT at the gym, but that almost sent me into meltdown because the PT had little to no understanding of Autism or FND, or other issues that I have (I'm in my 50's so there are limitations as to what my body is able to do). I've spoken to other PTs, but none of them have heard of FND before, so that gives me zero confidence in their ability to support me with my fitness / weight loss journey. All of the PTs seemed to put a lot of emphasis on nutrition / diet - things that I cannot do.
My diet isn't terrible (apart from not eating the "good stuff") - I rarely have takeaways and I drink in moderation (another massive reduction from several years ago). I drink plenty of water.
I know that other autistic people struggle with eating veg, salads and fish, so I'm not alone in that.What I want to do is somehow
Any advice?Anyone facing similar challenges?
I would suggest changing your exercise regime - the yoga does not burm much in the way of calories so I would suggest 5 sessions per week of resistance based workouts (upper body + core alternated with legs + core) for about an hour followed by as long a cardio session as you can sustain (upwards of 40 mins ideally).
This will build muscle that burns calories even when they are not being used and the cardio has a secondary benefit of burning calories and improving your stamina.
Eat some carbs (oat based cerial perhaps) about an hour before the workout and within an hour after have some protein (chicken is a nice, lean meat).
For the veg consumption, how about cooked veg? For example:
Steamed broccoli
Boiled runner beans
Roast pumpkin (high in fibre and carbs too so have in place of chips)
Roast ocra (sprinkle some paprika for extra flavour)
Roast obergine slices
Raw tomatoes (beef tomatoes have lots of flavour and contain no cow)
Try to avoid much in the way of oils, salt and cheeses to be added to these as they don't help. For flavour, coat in a little olive oil, a little salt, pepper, garlic paste, chilli flakes, paprika or whatever spices make them taste nice to you.
For protein, chicken is the best option - you can roast one and it will last for days in the fridge.
For shakes etc, use skimmed milk and artificial sweetener (sucralose is the best option I hear) and add in things like strawberries, banana and apple - all pretty low in calories although not zero.
Avoid the likes of nuts and peanut butter - these are calorie heavy. maybe consider adding a finely chopped date into smoothies for a similar depth of flavour.
In the end you are best speaking to a nutritionist, getting a diet plan that works around your food hates and use this in conjunction with your own exercise plan that has lots more resistance and cardio than you currently have.
GPK26 said:I'm in my 50's so there are limitations as to what my body is able to do
I can't agree with this I'm afraid. I'm doing much more now than when I was in even my 20s and I'm in my late 50s now. It is down to a combination of will power and planning. Age alone will not give these limitations. I'm much stronger than I have ever been and am close to getting a six pack back that I haven't had since I was 20.
If you have an underliying health issue (eg osteoperosis) then that is a different story but is not down to age alone.