Anyone able to help with eating better?

[lockedonyou]

I struggle with textures and I am terrible at meal planning. I find cooking so so overwhelming

Does anyone have any tips at all?

Hi (I’d get that other thread pulled).

I haven’t seen a dietitian for autism reasons but DD did and one thing she was great at (apart from doing completely personalised calorie calculations) was embracing weird combinations and unorthodox schedules and just looking at nutrients.

So I’d start with making a list of your favourites and another list of what gets in the way of cooking/eating/good habits and go from there.

Youll get great advice on this board anyway. Good luck.

Good advice from Hinchcliffe.

I would suggest looking at how processed the foods on your 'edible' list are - that is, how many added ingredients they have - and try to build your diet more around the less processed foods, as they will make you feel fuller and less likely to crave sugar. Also look at how you are cooking and preparing meals - if you can do it without impacting texture, can you grill/boil/bake instead of frying, for example. An air-fryer if you can afford one enables you to use much less fat in cooking.

So I’d start with making a list of your favourites and another list of what gets in the way of cooking/eating/good habits and go from there.

Yes, this sounds like good advice. Don't force yourself to eat things you don't enjoy or that feel too complicated to prepare. Try to focus on what you like and then try to tweak those things as needed to lose weight. If you want, you could maybe share what foods you do enjoy and then people would be able to suggest some easy and healthy recipes.

If for example eating three meals a day or eating at set times feels like too much stress and prep, that's absolutely fine. From a health perspective, it's perfectly fine to just eat once or twice a day (this is what I do and I've lost a ton of weight that way) as long as the things you do eat are reasonably healthy. Less planning, less meal prep, less washing up, less mental load and a longer fasting window is actually healthy and very useful for weightloss.

Don't worry about not eating fruit due to allergies, it's really not a problem. Most fruit has more sugar than anyone needs anyways and will just give you unnecessary blood sugar spikes that will make you feel tired and more hungry. You will get just as many or more vitamins from vegetables. Add some protein and healthy fats and you'll be fine.

Hey  haven't seen your other thread but hope I can help!

What foods do you like? Are you up for trying new ones?

I turned my diet around in the last few years. In the old days I used to pretty much exist on jam and cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets and chips, pizza, coca cola and chocolate; several cups of tea with three sugars each. I can't believe it looking back.

I was anxious and ill all the time. I was convinced I was allergic to most foods and hated the sensory feel of them, so chose things which were trustworthy and easy to swallow.

Then lockdown hit and I thought I'd die unless I lost weight, so researched diets for the first time in my life. I tried tiny bits of new foods over and over again, sometimes crying as I made myself swallow them, reprogramming myself.

The diet helped me lose 3 stone but more importantly gave me eons more energy and made me feel mentally much better. I also found that my old food anxiety issues vanished (I ate an almond croissant the other day without thinking or being terrified of being allergic, that would have been unthinkable in the old days!)

Now I think that ultra processed foods are genuinely bad for us, I can't believe how addicted I was, I just didn't look after my body at all.

These days my staple meals are:

• All bran for breakfast (I measure the same amount by putting it into a cup first).

• Tea with almond milk instead of cows milk (way fewer calories) and a latte.

• Tuna, beetroot and sweetcorn mixed quickly in a bowl

• Boiled or pickled eggs (the latter can be kept in storage for ages and eaten quickly whenever) with salad

• Veggies thrown into a microwaveable "steamer" and microwaved for 12 minutes (I have a mix of four or five whole fresh carrots; with servings of frozen veg including peas, broccoli, cauliflower beans, spinach) alongside some chicken or salmon. Minimal prep or skill needed, I just empty stuff quickly in, put in microwave, and stir halfway through.

... hope some of this helps?

I'm here to cheer you on.

Oh god I've just seen your other thread. I won't derail this one with my feelings about your arsehole GP but I'm so sorry for what you've been through.

I hope we can all help you a bit

Hi OP,

I've seen some good tips from a Facebook group called 'Executive Dysfunction Meals'.

Hi OP, I posted on your other thread but I've now found the laptop so can post in a bit more detail!

I find it easier to use the key nutritional rules I've picked up from reading health websites (including NHS). So, I always try and get 5-7 portions of fruit and veg a day. A portion is what you can hold in one cupped hand (ignore what it says on the packets - I find that super confusing). I try to get 1-2 portions of fish a week. Usually tuna mayonnaise, or maybe mackerel pate (DH likes tinned mackerel in tomato sauce, which I think is disgusting, but tinned fish all counts). I was overweight because of snacking too much, so now I try and focus on making sure I have extra protein and green veg in meals, to keep me full so I snack less.

It is easier when you have a larger budget (to cheat with shortcuts), but a week might look like this:

Breakfast - same breakfast every day (banana, pecan nuts, 2x dessert spoons Yeo Valley 0% kerned yoghurt (I choose this because it has 0% fat, no added extras, but a lot of protein - normal Greek yoghurt will also have the protein, but will have more fat in it), frozen fruit of some kind. You can blast frozen fruit in the microwave for 30 seconds to change the temperature / texture. The yoghurt and nuts are expensive but worth it to me (due to allergies / need for extra protein) and I try and keep the rest of the meals cheaper.

Mid morning - very milky coffee (calcium intake very important in women, to protect against osteoporosis later on)

Lunch - cheese sandwich, 2-3 vegetables, e.g. raw peeled carrots, tomato, cucumber sticks, pepper sticks, cooked beetroot, cooked broccoli / green beans / spinach (sometimes with olive oil, or lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar on). Green veg are very important. Adding olive oil to them (not loads, just a small drizzle), or eating them with something like cheese helps your body absorb the nutrients better.

Dinner - I eat a jacket potato at least twice a week (wrap in a bit of kitchen paper, microwave between 8 and 10 mins until it feels done when you stab a fork in it (should go into the middle softly)). You can do loads of different fillings. Pizza is fine (had pizza this evening - I added 2x handfuls of chopped lettuce on the side).

I realise I've gone on. I wasn't joking when I said I'm a bit obsessed with food, meal planning, cooking etc. If you have any questions, or you want to share what you like / dislike in a bit more detail, then I can give some more tailored ideas and provide links to recipes or books you can get in the library?

When I've been really struggling and living by myself I usually ate a lot of tinned soup, vegetable sticks and rice cakes. Not the best diet in the world, but not the worst either. And a lot of pasta salad, which you can make hot or cold and add all sorts to.

Oh and tinned and frozen fruit and veg also count towards your fruit and veg, so pudding could be half a tin of a fruit you can eat, for example, and the texture of that is often different to fresh. It depends what textures you prefer / avoid?

I've just seen your thread on AIBU 😡Please don't take the awful posts on there to heart. The GP was completely out of order.

I'm sorry for your loss 🌸 You are dealing with such a lot and it's really positive that you want to tackle your weight, so give yourself a pat on the back for that!

I would make an appointment with a different GP and ask for blood tests just to check that your weight gain is due to increased calorie intake and not an underlying/undiagnosed health condition.

I have huge issues with food re: texture and smell and also around what food looks like. I might be denying myself culinary experiences of a lifetime due to my rigidity around food, but I can't change the fact that my food issues are related to autism, so instead, I choose to accept my limitations and work with them.

My way of eating would not work for everyone as I eat the same things most days, but I've lost a fair amount of weight in the past 12 months, so I must be doing something right. Perhaps this way of eating would work for you - accepting that you can't force yourself to eat certain things that are 'healthy' and need a lot of preparation; instead put the focus on eating food items you enjoy that are non-processed or low processed, and ditch all other processed stuff, including all sugar products. Would this be something you could manage - having a list of what you like and sticking to that? In time, you could introduce new things that you enjoy, but initially, so as not to be overwhelmed, sticking to the same things is a good starting point.

Hi OP

Let's start where a dietitian would. What foods do you like? We'll see what we can work round based on those. I'm thinking you probably want easy to eat food that you can graze on through the day.

Your other thread has been referred to, I think it would be worth repeating some of what you've said on here - your allergies and time constraints for example. There's been some fantastic advice on here already, but from your other thread maybe some of it can't apply to you.

Hi Op, I saw your other thread so sorry for the response you’ve had. The GP is not right at all. Keep trying until you get a referral and blood tests to check for health issues. The way the NHS is at the minute though I’d expect a long wait to see anyone.

I have ASD and sensory issues around food. I’ve been called ‘picky’ my whole life but actually it’s not and part of realising that I’m not picky it’s part of my ASD has been a revelation.

I calorie count, I appreciate that you won’t have time or inclination for that. When I’m super busy with work and kids I eat the same things over and over because I know the calories so it doesn’t take any effort to know I’m eating in a deficit.

What foods do you like?

Thank you all so much

My other thread had me crying at one point, and I'm not easily upset. There was a GP who came on and said she too would've 'told me how it is'

When I was a Size 10, I was not healthy really. I ate nothing all day, beyond maybe a banana or occasionally a tin of soup, and then in the evening I'd eat a pizza with ketchup on the side

Healthy foods I like include -

Chicken breast, salmon (most fish really but strangely I've never found it filling?), I like the taste of veg but it has to be puréed otherwise I won't eat it... it's texture related. I will however happily eat things like fresh cucumber, carrot sticks, hummus

I love fruit but I'm allergic to a lot of it, and anaphylactic towards a few

I don't like potatoes unless they're pure mash

Some people on the other thread were, frankly, being a bit shit and expecting someone with ASD to act like a NT person (an attitude I, weirdly, find more on MN than in real life).

Your list of foods is great. I would eat a banana every day, plus any nuts that you aren't allergic to (realise that may be none!), for protein (which will keep you full).

For fruit & veg I would use as much of your 5-7 a day allowance on the raw veg that you are happy to eat as those are fastest to eat and prepare. Try cutting up several carrots at once, or half a cucumber, as these keep well in the fridge for a few days if you are time poor. For the rest, have you tried mashing other root veg in with potatoes? Good veg for this are: sweet potatoes; swede; parsnips; carrots. You can boil them altogether, doesn't matter if they go a bit mushy because you're mashing them anyway.

Pureed veg is fine, if you have the time. I really like a mint pea dip made of: 500g frozen peas, 6 tablespoons olive oil, juice of 1-2 limes (depends how much you like limes), small handful mint leaves. Boil the peas for 2 minutes and drain, add everything to a blender, blend until smooth, then eat as a dip or on the side of a meal.

Have you tried making your own green veg smoothies? Generally people are meant to steer clear as if you drink blended fruit / veg any sugars in it a) are broken up by the blending into a form that damages teeth and b) drinking straight from a glass means people tend to hold the food in the mouth for longer, as opposed to chewing and swallowing. But, you can use a straw (so food is not hitting your teeth like it would with a glass) and that is better than not having veg at all. You can look at the cartons of smoothie mix, or packets of frozen smoothie mix for ideas on proportions / ingredients and there are a lot of recipes online. Be careful about buying the frozen packets though - I tried it for a bit and they had weird things in that set my allergies off (nothing obvious on the labels, so must have been cross-contaminated). Chia seeds added to smoothies can add extra bulk and protein, as can yoghurt or oat milk, although for a veg smoothie I would probably recommend apple or orange juice.

You could have, e.g. mashed potato (with or without the extra root veg above), salmon fillet and then a green smoothie afterwards. You've still had all your nutrients, but in a different form.

Are there any nuts you can eat at all? You can buy nearly any nut butter nowadays (e.g. cashew) and that would add extra protein.

Have a look at this BBC list (here) of protein to see if there's anything on that list that you like and could eat more of.

If you like houmous, have you ever tried draining a tin of chickpeas and roasting them in the oven? They go crunchy on the outside and smooth on the inside. A nice filling snack. Easy recipe here if you're interested. It's american so you will need to Google the oven temperature conversion.

Do you like curry flavours? You could make daal / lentil curry very easily (slow cooker or hob), add veg like spinach and then blend it smooth to make more of a filling soup? The lentils have protein so are filling. Spinach is also very filling if you like it blended.

PS: if you like mash have you tried gnocchi? They are made of potato and quite squidgy and soft when cooked (like mash), and that opens up blended veg pasta sauces (if you don't like pasta).

PPS (and then I'll stop!) - I would really recommend a portion plate like the one I linked in the other thread. I find portions really difficult to get my head around and tend to struggle with overeating (ASD means I struggle listening to body signals, like being full). A plate that is already divided up may be easier to use until you get used to regular patterns of eating.

Your list of foods is a bit vague but I'll try. Based on what you've written here and on the other thread you either don't mind or actively prefer eating mostly the same things and you don't have a lot of time to prepare (or eat) a meal every day.

So here are some suggestions:

Can you spare half an hour once or twice a week after the DC is in bed to cook a few chicken legs or breasts according to preference, in whichever way you like best? Put them in a container in the fridge, and grab one every day.

You haven't mentioned eggs, how are you with them? While you're doing the chicken could you hard boil a few, peel them and store and eat them the same way as the chicken?

Buy some frozen mash. It's very good and if you felt like it you could do a bit with a piece of chicken. A squirt of ketchup, if you can eat it, would liven it up and add a few extra nutrients.

Bought houmous with carrot sticks (and any other raw veg you like) is good nutritionally.

How are you with cheese (you used to eat pizza)? Pears are reckoned to be the least allergenic of the fruits, a pear and a piece of cheese is easy to grab and eat.

Greek yogurt has a lot of protein. The full fat version keeps you fuller for longer, the 0% fat obviously has fewer calories. A splodge of yogurt and a handful of nut free granola could be put together in seconds.

The above lacks some nutrients I know. But if you can switch between them a bit it's not dreadful, and much better for you than pizza every night while being lower calorie than what you're currently eating.

How are you doing today OP?

I love all the tips here.

One thing about calorie counting: you only have to do it a few times for the things you eat and write it down, and you can then use those to guesstimate roughly your calorie intake.

If you really don't want to do any counting, the biggest "simple" thing you could do which might be easiest to remember is just cut out all processed foods and sugar.

I’m glad you’ve come over here. That thread was just awful.

If I picked it up correctly, I think you saw a dietician for one of your dc? What kind of tips and tricks did you find useful?

I can’t meal plan either because if I don’t feel like eating when the time comes I just can’t. So I freeze things in ziploc bags as thinly as possible and in single portions so I can defrost easily. Or cook from frozen.

I saw another tip about always eating a protein when you eat a carb, regardless if they would conventionally go together.

Are you taking a good multi vitamin or some supplements?

I’m not really one to talk because I can’t manage to take mine daily!

You have had lots of advice on food above, I thought I would add a little about meal planning.

I use a week-to-view diary to plan in.

Then it's clear and easy to see every day, make a relevant shopping list, make changes as there is space too (mine can get a real mess sometimes).

It doesn't have to be epic new recipes every day, or elaborate plans.

It can be really simple. We have the same breakfast 4 days a week, always eggs somehow on a Saturday, always roasted vegetables + a protein one night, usually curry when we need to get ready for karate early.

It's finding a routine that suits your needs and wants and making it work in a way you can manage.

And this space is safer, lot's of NT's have zero clue about being autistic and what that can mean. Even if here we don't experience the same difficulties, we can sympathise and not judge.

filling?), I like the taste of veg but it has to be puréed otherwise I won't eat it... it's texture related. I will however happily eat things like fresh cucumber, carrot sticks, hummus

In this family we all eat a lot of raw veg/salad type things and crudités. Things like mange tout, baby corn, sugar snap peas, along with carrot batons and sliced peppers. Do you like any of those? Also raw spinach and pea shoots are reasonably crunchy.

(I mean in the sense of just building a bit more bandwidth into what you already like.)

Also raw spinach and pea shoots are reasonably crunchy

I can't stand anything like that at all, but I'd eat spinach if it was boiled or cooked etc

If you can easily get hold of washed, bagged spinach, that can be cooked easily by opening the top of the bag s big and then microwaving (for about 3 minutes in my microwave). It steams it and it shrinks down and is very easy to swallow. I like it with lemon juice on.

It is one where you have to eat it the same day you bought it though, or maybe a day later, otherwise some of the leaves can go slimy.
Which might be difficult when you have a hectic schedule. But hopefully there are some days it would work as a healthy side dish.

I'm not a dietician or anything, but I've developed my own rules of wellbeing. One of which is eat three meals a day that consist of a protein a carb and two types of fruit or veg. What this looks like varies due to time constraints, how anxious I am or how my physical health is. Today I am exhausted, so breakfast was toast with peanut butter, orange segments and apple juice. Lunch was cheese, pasta, chopped raw tomato and tinned peaches. Dinner was Quorn nuggets, sweetcorn and peas. All safe foods for me. When I'm better, I eat what everyone else eats, but the same rules.