Struggling

[Aspie88]

Hi all, new here.

So I'm about 6st overweight. I've managed in the past to lose 2st but get the lot back on very quickly. I've done sw but can't stick to it. I'm ASD and when things go wrong for me (routine change, mood issues) I binge. But it's not just one, it's repeatedly for months and so gained everything back. It's a true compulsion. I'm kind of picky on food (texture plays a big part) so even trying to work out what to eat is hard. Exercising doesn't come naturally and I really, really struggle. Just feel totally lost and despondent.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello and welcome, Aspie88 😊

Are you up for gathering some more information about compulsions and bingeing? It's often put down to psychology (lack of willpower, poor motivation etc) when, at the heart of it, it comes down to physiology. When you make changes to what you eat - particularly reducing carbohydrates - those impulses to binge can start fading. This explains more well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013...

I suggest you look at this way of eating, based on fresh ingredients, home cooked, avoiding processed stuff (which includes anything labelled low fat or diet or light) phcuk.org/wp-content/upload... I take your point about being picky so look for what you can eat, rather than thinking about what you want to avoid.

You'll find all the information you need about the forum in our Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... including a Welcome message, the Daily Diary and the current weigh in: a good place to start is by joining a weekly weigh in on the day of your choice (why not today?) and using the Daily Diary, where members share their meal plans.

Take your time exploring. This gives you a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true and, along with Pinned Posts, will show you how things work. I hope you'll become an active member and we will see you joining in around the forum 😊

[N-o-r-d-i Maintainer 64kg]

Hi and thank you for sharing. It must be hard to choose how to change food you eat, when textures affect you... I’m thinking that as a first little step it could potentially be useful to make the list of the foods that you can eat, rank them in terms of how healthy they are and try to find substitutes for a few of those that are the most unhealthy. I believe trying to change things dramatically may cause way too much stress - because that in itself would be a huge change to your routine. Good luck finding what suits you!

[SofaJockey]

If you've followed a model that you can't stick to, it may be that the foods you were eating induced hunger or cravings. There are approaches that allow weight-loss whilst reducing those.

When I started losing weight - I hate salads - I focused on the veggies, unprocessed meat and fish and healthy fats that I do like, and surprise, because I liked the foods I stuck to the diet.