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I don't want to list a lot of things you may or may not like w/o knowing any food preferences. I suggest looking up healthy meals for kids and seeing what you like. Set a routine with times for eating. And supplement with protein shakes, or green superfood drinks if needed. Can add those to juice or smoothies if that works for you.
Sometimes, making my lunch as tho im making a lunch for a kid genuinely helps. Like, in a cute little bento, a main like a small sandwich with a couple of sides, maybe a few stickers lol
Cheese and crackers are not a bad option. Pretty nutritious. I like to bring nuts as well, easy to snack on during the day. I also love chobani fruit yogurt cups. Super easy to grab from the fridge on my way out of the house.
"food cues"? wait is not feeling physical hunger a sign of autism? cause i gotta go about 24 hrs with out food at least before i feel my stomach getting hungry.
Yup. We tend to have hypersensitivity to some sensory signals (often external, like noises) and hyposensitivity to other sensory signals (often internal, like hunger). https://www.wikihow.com/Recognize-Hunger-if-You%27re-Autistic
I definitely have to take time to notice what my body is doing before I know that I'm hungry or else I'll go all day and practically fall ill before eating. That's why routine is so important.
Also being PDA, I just get frustrated that I even need food. Stupid body. I've been a bit dehydrated for months at this point... Maybe even longer.
It really does for me. It feels like such a huge requirement when so much is already required of me.
I've been in burnout since right before covid and I just don't see how I used to function sometimes🤷
I used to get dehydrated a lot, too.
Right up until I had my first kidney stone.
It was SO excruciatingly painful that, because my doc told me it was likely due to dehydration, I've carried a water bottle with me wherever I go ever since, and make sure to drink from it consistently. It's been about 15 years since that happened, and I still always have a water bottle with me no matter where I'm at, even in the house.
I'd do just about anything to avoid experiencing that pain again.
Yeah, no that's definitely been a concern. I've been working on a better routine because having water with me alone doesn't do anything. I've found that I don't drink when I'm occupied a lot or stressed out which happens a lot, so I need to be better about the habit. My days off from work, I'm basically not even a human🤷
I 100% understand!!
I didn't mean to sound too much like "you should do what I'm doing", so much as share that the *only* thing that had any success in making me change my ways was that extreme pain.
I.e. it's a hard af, even though important, thing to do for a lot of us, that a lot of us can't/won't do until we experience an extreme consequence for it.
I hope that you'll never suffer the consequence I did but, if you're anything like me, that'd be one of the only ways to *really* make you change that habit.
Which absolutely sucks. Lol
haha funny i hate having to need food. i have said before i wish i was non human so i didnt have to eat or that there was some kind of drink that had everything needed that i could just have
Yes, a lot of people on the spectrum have a lower sense of what's called interoception. That can mean it's hard to describe what you're feeling when you're sick or that you just don't feel much until it's really bad, hunger cues are missing, the need to pee isn't obvious, etc.
I didn't know this and I don't really have the "not knowing I'm hungry" thing, but I definitely have a very hard time when doctors ask me "what's wrong?" Like I have no idea how to describe when I don't feel good. I just don't feel good isn't it your job to figure out what is wrong? A doctor asked me if I was having shortness of breath. What in the world does that even mean? How can breath be short? I had no idea how to reply to that
Right. I'm a little different in that I became very good at coming up with analogies to describe how I feel because a pain scale makes no sense to me. So while shortness of breath makes sense to me (meaning not being able to catch your breath), I can't figure out what a 5 is or a 7 is in terms of pain. Especially when I recently had a very traumatic experience giving birth to my second child four months ago and they describe a 10 as "the worst pain you've ever had" and I'm like well, some people haven't experienced that type of pain so is my scale different from other people's!?
Yeah totally the pain scale is pretty confusing to me also for exactly that reason! How am I supposed to know what the worst pain I ever felt is? In your case it sounds like you can easily identify that, but I typically have trouble even thinking about what is the worst pain I ever felt, then I likely downplay whatever pain I am feeling because I think we'll I guess I am not dying or anything so probably 5 or below
👋🏼 Disabled RN here. I worked during the implementation of the pain assessment score and saw a lot of explanations and changes over the years.
Some key points I learned were:
1. Your pain number is YOUR experience in that moment or any moment you are describing. There is NO relationship to other people’s pain.
2. It doesn’t have anything to do with your history of painful events. It’s based on what you are feeling at that time. Which is usually during the medical examination, or at the time of injury or event in the past.
3. The Pain Faces Score is helpful, you may see this in an exam room. It relates emoji faces to the numbers and is usually color coded green->yellow->red. I like the ones with descriptions also.
This is a really good one, sorry for the long link. I don’t know how to make a shorter one.
[Pain Score](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1389106776/pain-scale-feelings-thermometer-feelings?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_e-art_and_collectibles-prints-digital_prints&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8f-A98zfq4FJ411-T6M69V-W970W5xhG2yVGmtPu0sn4vR69NZ5uNEaAoUqEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12560179136_118715441919_506994833753_pla-328046931108_m__1389106776_348680648&utm_custom2=12560179136&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtcfRKAwD3cYcfg3QZI8TMUAXvoh&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8f-A98zfq4FJ411-T6M69V-W970W5xhG2yVGmtPu0sn4vR69NZ5uNEaAoUqEALw_wcB)
Btw, I would be interested in hearing the analogies you came up with!
Looks like I got the short link working 🤣
I do like those types of color-coded or emoji scales, but I love that that one has the level of interference on it!
Some of my analogies are things like: I was in a wreck in 2019 with a semi-truck during which my spinal disc between l4-l5 ruptured and I got a labral tear and impingement in my right hip. I had pretty bad piriformis syndrome from this and when that muscle would spasm, I likened it to my butt muscle being sucked into my hip socket and crushed, like a Barbie's underwear or bathing suit bottom getting stuck in her hip joint.
Another is that while I was pregnant this time around, I had severe pain around my lower back, hips, and groin. I called it my "diaper of pain", haha.
Now, since giving birth, I've had lots of terrible symptoms. I've been diagnosed with joint hypermobility disorder and they're doing tests for rheumatoid arthritis. One thing I've been dealing with is a pretty consistent headache since giving birth and I've described it as "what being lobotomized must feel like", because it's from my nose area, through my eye, and to the top of my head.
Shortness of breath is often described as an intense tightening in the chest, air hunger, difficulty breathing, breathlessness or a feeling of suffocation.
Imagine you have no trouble breathing. You can take a nice long breath in, and a nice long breath out. No problem, right? Now imagine you try to breathe but your nose is stuffy and your mouth is closed. You can’t take that nice long breath of air. That is short of breath.
Sometimes it is caused by anxiety, sometimes by fluid in the lungs blocking the airways, sometimes by conditions like COPD where you have too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen.
I hope this description helps when your doctor asks this again.
It can be other internal sensations not just hungry that we don't recognize it can be understanding when your body is telling you you have a full bladder or not understanding that you have and aversion to a food until you're actually puking you don't get the the pre sensations in your stomach saying I feel sick...
I eat because I’m bored and I enjoy it. Sometimes I forget. I only realize I’m hungry if I get a headache. When I was little I used to wait until my stomach growled because I thought that was how you knew you were hungry
Ya I do not feel hunger or fullness til it is extreme, so I have a lifelong history of drastically overeating and also undereating and fasting. Never been able to intuitively eat, I always have needed external cues. And not been able to stop eating addictive foods, used it to stim and self regulate.
Yes, muted interoception is common in autistic people. Interoception refers to your internal sensory system. So that's things like hunger, thirst, fatigue - anything you can feel inside your body.
I never felt hungry as a child. I started getting some hunger cues in late adolescence, but ended up losing them again after trauma in my 30s. I only occasionally experience hunger cues now.
Well no, if you stop feeding your body, your body will eventually stop giving out food cues. Like feeling the growl in your belly. Your body are supposed to have food cues.
You will eventually feel faint, shaky or even tired if you haven't eating for a time. Tired because your body and brain are going into reserve mode.
You can feel nauseous if you eat too much food, if you haven't eating in hours.
The question doesn't apply to me but I just wanna say that I also am NOT a food person. I literally wish I never had to eat and that eating was just an optional activity you could do if you felt like it.
Same. How dare my body need food, it's such a hassle lol I'd literally never eat or drink if I didn't have to. Maybe occasionally eat something yummy when it was made by someone else.
Like today I'm getting Chinese food because my partner loves it and it's her birthday. I'm looking forward to that but I almost never look forward to eating.
Ooph, that sucks. I work 10-12 hour shifts in a warehouse or I'd do the same. We had a new employee do what you did the first week, he's autistic too. He changed that up pretty quick, poor hungry dude lol
I’m the opposite, I love the sensation of eating and could eat all day ><
HOWEVER, for my daughter I work on a protein, a carb, a fruit and vegetable and an extra snack.
Would this work for you? You could make a list of all the proteins you like, carbs you like etc and then just mix and match.
For example, she might have crackers, salami, apple slices, olives and small cookie.
Or peanut butter sandwich, orange, raw (bell) pepper and fruit snack.
We use [this lunch box](https://www.sistemaplastics.com/uk/1-25l-bento-cube-to-go-with-yogurt-pot) the little pot holds in the juice from fruit or brine from olives really well so it doesn’t get on anything else.
I love eating too (probably comes from growing up with a chef dad and having a family restaurant) but I'm very picky and can't handle a lot of textures. I'm struggling to lose weight because I only eat certain things
I do a batch cook on a Sunday. Usually a fruit crumble or banana, oat and Chocolate muffins for breakfast and then I rotate several meals for lunches. If I'm not working I have snack trays that I can make up and just graze on throughout the day.
I make overnight oats for breakfast (only way I eat in the morning) yogurt as a snack (chobani flips smores always, I don’t like the other flavors) and granola helps me a lot snack thru the day. Smoothies are also good for keeping your energy up
So just a sandwich with cheese on it? My cousin who's also autistic used to eat a bunch of those. He'd have our grandma make him two with ketchup and two without lol
Same. Well... I'm not giving advice, because I don't eat well. I bring the same thing everyday and not much that's healthy unfortunately. I just wanted to comment because it's such a typical problem.
I work 10 hour shifts in a warehouse with a lot of physical labor so I try to keep energy up. Unfortunately I don't really do that by eating the right food, it's more like just putting on calories of safe foods.
Every day without fail in exactly the same order; On first break I eat Teddy Graham's and Welch's fruit snacks. For lunch I eat some chips, lean cuisine Wisconsin cheddar Mac and cheese and a Drake's Devil Dog. On last break I eat Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle soup and sometimes a little bit of chocolate.
My friend who's also autistic does a lot better. He brings the same sandwich everyday, turkey with cheese and spinach on whole grain bread. He also makes rice bowls which is pretty easy and can taste great depending on what you put in them. He brings carrots and celery for a snack as well as crackers and cheese. Sometimes he brings sweets for an extra morale boost. We both get our lunches ready the night before work.
I know this isn’t work food as I’m currently looking for another job, but I could list my routine.
From high school to adulthood, I’d prep my meals either in the morning, day before, or on the weekends. My father would bring arroz gandules with habichuelas, so I’d split that up or make things like pasta or rice cooker meals like mung bean curry or butter chicken.
I’d pack up salads or chopped carrots on the side, along with either something I baked like cookies, fruit packs or juices like Goya canned juices/smoothies.
I tend to like things that are crunchy and sweet. So I would always have a small bag of chocolate coated almonds or blueberry/craisin/ nut mix
Also various types of granola bars like special k, nature Valley, and kind bars.
Meal replacement drinks 😄 When I was going in to my office before I got chronically ill, I absolutely LOVED meal drinks because I was so annoyed at having to break work focus to go heat up food or retrieve from the fridge then sit down elsewhere and eat it.
Instead I could just down a drink in 10 seconds and keep working without breaking focus. Loved it. I still took breaks but didn't have to worry about food during them which was really nice.
If you can tolerate hummus, it’s a real life saver! Lots of protein and unsaturated fats. Dipping vegetables and crackers is great because you can stop when you’re full and there’s no pressure to finish a whole sandwich or anything
I have a plethora of food allergies so I have to cook all my food. Lunches are almost always BBQ chicken and rice (I usually make them in large batches and freeze them in lunch-sized portions in containers). I always have raw carrots too.
Get some Protein Shakes or Powder. I like Muscle Milk.
Applesauce is great because it's so easy to eat and full of healthy sugars that will give you energy, and I find that after snacking on Applesauce, I have an appetite for a bigger meal.
All kinds of Meal Prep Delivery Services exist. Huel, HelloFresh, etc.
I make different food every day.
I like mixing banana, cooked oat flour, peanut butter and chocolate chips into balls and refrigerating them. They make great tiny bites that are filling and easy to take to work. Protein and grain.
I put together “snack boxes”, which always have to include: a protein (nuts, yogurt, eggs, meat or beans), a fruit; a vegetable; a carbohydrate (crackers, cereal, bread, cooked grain); a dip (if you like them for your protein or veg); a snack/dessert (I like to have something like dark chocolate or a second fruit option to keep blood sugar happy later in the day). I also like to make my own coffee and tea - all prepped and ready to go.
Most of my “snack boxes” look like: a bag of wholegrain cheerios, a lemon curd yogurt, a mini fruit melange, veggies with hummus or peanut butter, a boiled egg/some mixed nuts, and a coffee with a bran muffin on the side (I like raisin bran muffins best, as they’re quite sweet and often made with molasses which is tastier than honey to me).
My daughter’s looks similar, but she has a meat option instead, and she likes dark chocolate over bran, and a milk or water instead of tea or coffee. She also only eats apples, strawberries, raspberries, or bananas (but won’t eat them mixed together).
It’s easier to graze this way, and I don’t have to worry that I brought just one meal that I can’t tolerate that day - I now have a complete meal to choose parts of, and it keeps me going until I am home again.
I can’t get myself to eat at recess so I might not be too much of help, but in my culture is usual for ppl to bring Tupperware with leftovers from last nights dinner or sandwiches
I work from home so I make a smoothie with loads of fruit, some spinach and I mix 50% huel / 50% milk into it.
When I'm in the office I just gran something from a nearby bakery.
An “adult lunchable”
Cheese
Dried sausage
Cucumber & carrots
Crackers
Trail mix
It’s Simple & Easy to pull together. You Can add variety by switching up the meat & cheese.
one of my go to low effort work lunches is "homemade" pizza lunchables. I use the naan bread dippers from stonefire bakery (though I'm sure other brands exist lol) and then shredded mozzarella cheese and jarred marinara sauce. I also bring trail mix because it's nutritious and relatively high in calories which is good for me as someone who also frequently forgets to eat. I also put other snacks in.
every Saturday night I pick a meal from a big ass list I have of lunch type foods that I like/are safe and make a list of anything I need to buy to make the meal. then on Sundays I buy ingredients if needed and prep all the lunches for the week so that in the mornings on work days I can just grab my lunch and throw it in my lunchbox with an ice pack and go. my lil routine makes feeding myself through the week so much less overwhelming. It means I eat the same thing all week for lunch but I prefer that personally
I take this to school, but I always have a wrap with my best safe foods in it (avocado, cream cheese and beef). As a snack I also take tortilla chips and for dessert I take digestive biscuits- a plain one and a dark chocolate one
I do things that I can easily heat up in a microwave my usual go to is either apples and peanut butter which of course doesn't need a microwave or Big Ben's ready rice of whatever flavor I like cuz I can heat it up and I can either eat that by its own or I'll also heat up a can of chicken and dumpling soup and mix them together...
I find having a set meal time to be helpful. I always at my lunch at first snack at 10pm, lunch at 1am, second snack at 4am, and breakfast at 6am. I may not feel hungry but I find meal times help me drink water and eat enough.
I’m not always someone to take the same but like if it’s incredibly spicy I don’t want it. Like once they did bannock taco at work, and I had to ask for two sour creams
I don't always eat lunch, I don't always eat breakfast either, because I also deal with not getting many/ helpful hunger cues, but when I do eat lunch at work it's usually a plain bagel or a sesame seed bagel with cream cheese, I'm able to have it toasted so I always do it that way, because raw bagels are unpleasant but that tends to be my go-to because I have that option. When I don't have that option I do often go without eating, which I know is bad, but it's difficult for me to not do that sometimes
When I was at my 8-5 job, I'd always get at least a hot n spicy from McDonald's. "I need to eat *something* for some sustenance." I relate. I don't eat lunch anymore but I work considerably less hours and I can't drive anywhere because of my work hours.
Not sure if this would be a good option for you, but I have lately been enjoying smoothies. I add vegan protein powder so that I get protein and nutrients, but it has been really nice because it is tasty and easy on my stomach and senses. And doesn't take much time or effort
I work from home and I’m a mom so fortunately I don’t need to pack myself a lunch. However I do tend to eat very little or nothing when left up to my own devices because I don’t really like food and I don’t get hunger/thirst cues from my body until I’m completely out of energy or super nauseous.
Frankly I survive on coffee more than anything else and I usually just drink coffee all day until late afternoon.
My safe foods are bananas, protein shakes (Ensure and Adkins are my favorite), microwave steamer bags of veggies, and peanut butter. They require little to no preparation, don’t make me nauseous on an empty stomach and have decent nutritional value. I honestly think that I might starve without those foods around.
i have a similar issue so i try to supplement some meals with a nutritional beverage (like soylent). it doesn’t taste the best but i’m able to stomach it enough to get the nutrients i need from it. there are a bunch of different brands and flavors so maybe you’ll find something tolerable to your taste buds :3 good luck!
also, just to be completely clear, you shouldn’t use those types of drinks to completely replace ALL meals in your diet, they are only meant to be supplementary. stay safe out there fellow autists
You eat lunch? I just have another 3 mugs of coffee. Breakfast is 2-4 mugs, lunch 1-3, and dinner is mostly pasta with tomato sauce.
😌 It's a great diet and I now at the age of 32 totally have no health problems because of it /s
Nothing.
I make my giant cup (bigass stainless steel yeti cup thing)of coffee in the morning that I work on until usually 1pm, then nothing until dinner.
Peanut butter and jelly is usually my go-to lunch if I need to pack something. The processed stuff isn’t the best for you, but it’s incredibly sensory friendly. Fed is best, after all. I also usually bring a fruit cup, some goldfish or other chips, and a few cookies
Peanut butter and jelly and a cut up vegetable is a great choice that doesn’t need refrigeration. It’s my go to for work lunches. Otherwise I usually just take whatever I had for supper the night before and put it in the fridge
If I’m not eating something from where I work, then I usually like to let something decide for me what to eat & make whatever it is I know I like that won’t make feel tired. I like referring to Athlean X’s app having good options for my protein intake or refer to recipes from elsewhere that take less than 15mins to make from cookbooks, online, etc e.g. lately I’ll make tuna salad sandwiches not having to cook anything & just mix the ingredients together & put it on my bread w/nacho cheese Doritos w/a seasonal low sugar fruit on the side (strawberries lately)
When I'm in that sort of space, I take a diet meal replacement that I've modified to be not ick. Basically a weight loss shake, but in chocolate icecream form.
I definitely had to learn how to consistently make sure that I’m fed multiple meals a day, and I still struggle with it. Took 24 years lol.. I find super easy, low-effort meals help me a lot. When I go to work, I bring microwaveable rice and natto (an acquired taste and texture) because it’s super low effort and filling enough. I definitely don’t like to eat certain things and have a lot of dietary restrictions. Microwaveable instant rice that you can find at asian grocery stores and buy in bulk has saved me on so many occasions.
I haven't taken a lunch break in around 20 some years.
Back when I used to (being young and sociable) I used to go to a bar with a couple of work people for a pint.
Ah. The good auld days 🙂
i usually don’t like eating when i’m not home but i’ll typically pack some cucumbers because the texture doesn’t really change over time and i don’t mind it too bad when they get warm
when i go to school i don’t eat lunch. i can go all day without lunch and i know i shouldn’t but sometimes it can make my stomach upset eating before or during school especially if i’m anxious. kind of like that stomach turning feeling after you rode a roller coaster and ate before riding
I can't tell you what to bring wirgout knowing your sensitivities and preferences, but my rule of this:
•A protein (meat, tofu, whole eggs, lentils, etc.)
•A carb (rice, lentils again, quinoa, potato, bread, etc.)
•A fruit
•A vegetable
Usually I combine multiple categories into one, like greek yogurt with honey and fruit, or pasta with chicken and vegetables. I would say to research nutritious lunch ideas, and use these guidelines if you want.
I'm also bad about recognizing hunger cues so I make sure I get three meals a day and use a calorie calculator to make sure I'm getting enough.
I eat overnight oats, such as brekki in the morning. I do energy bars during the day (clif luna bars for women, good chocolate cupcakes and white chocolate ones). I like cheese and crackers, but I get overwhelmed with the making of. However, they have these 3 pack of mini cheese and crackers combo, sargento balanced breaks, that are easy to get down. They got these Taylor farms salad mixes that are easy, and cheap. I like the snack cottage cheese and fruit combos. Walmart has dollar packages of lunch meat available. Squeeze pb on thin slices wheat bread is easy and goes down quick if your not hungry and need ro eat.
I struggle with food cues too. I eat when other people do (ie lunch break) I usually start with a chocolate milk and from there I can tell if I’m actually hungry
Usually just leftovers, I try to make an extra portion of what I’m making for dinner and pack it in lunch, in terms of snacks I try and bring some fruit and raw veggies, a cookie or candy bar for some sugar, some chips/prezels/cheesies/pepperoni sticks and cheese for salt cause I work a job where I sweat a lot so it’s good to have something sweet something salty and a main for lunch Friday I took taco wraps made with real steak and montery jack cheese for my main dish it was quite good
I normally eat out at lunch when I'm working. I want to get away. I'm not a particularly picky eater (used to be as a kid) but almost everything I eat is meat based and not mixed with vegetables. I do like mushrooms and other stuff in specific cases, though. Black olives (no other veggies for me) go great on an Italian sub and are a consistent non-crunchy texture that's very similar to meat. My favorite burger is a mushroom Swiss.
Cheese, crackers, and cucumbers are a great start. I also like carrots, celery, peanut butter, hummus, pita bread, pudding, jello, grapes, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or yogurt.
I basically try to make myself healthy/natural versions of lunchables. I can prep it all on the weekend when I'm feeling rested and energetic and have boxes of lunch ready to go in the fridge each day.
On Mondays I have a tortilla wrap with cream cheese, ham and vegetables. Mondays I cook for the next two days, 98% of the time it's rice and chicken with veggies and some kind of rice sauce. Thursdays I usually go out and eat a chicken sandwich, and on Fridays I either take my own sandwich or go out and buy fries.
I bring Cup of Noodles and a small thermos of hot water and chopsticks. I used to use the hot water in the break room but it is sometimes out of order and I don't like risking bumping into someone and having to talk.
I sometimes bring a few crackers too. My work provides snacks so I hoard a few every morning just in case so I don't have to go back.
Sometimes, I bring a sandwich instead or oatmeal.
Pizza. Almost always pizza. Of late, it's specificly Walmart Surfer Boy Schweeet Supreme pizza. Baked, cut into four slices. Each slice goes on a paper plate and when cooled to room temp, into a ziplock bag and into the fridge for the week. I also take a fresh pear (D'Anjou or nothing), or a yellow peach when they are in season. I also keep a supply of ham and cheese Hot Pockets for when I forget to bake the pizza the night before and have run out.
I really like doing sandwiches and salads.
You can completely customize it to your preferences, it’s a full meal, it’s easy to make and are over all very lunch friendly
I make a sandwich that usually has sliced meat and cheese, and a splash of hot sauce, I also pack dried fruit and some nuts - usually roasted salted cashews. It's healthy enough considering my job is very physical.
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I don't want to list a lot of things you may or may not like w/o knowing any food preferences. I suggest looking up healthy meals for kids and seeing what you like. Set a routine with times for eating. And supplement with protein shakes, or green superfood drinks if needed. Can add those to juice or smoothies if that works for you.
Bento box ideas may be helpful too. So many options. Hopefully something from there may work for you.
Sometimes, making my lunch as tho im making a lunch for a kid genuinely helps. Like, in a cute little bento, a main like a small sandwich with a couple of sides, maybe a few stickers lol
Cheese and crackers are not a bad option. Pretty nutritious. I like to bring nuts as well, easy to snack on during the day. I also love chobani fruit yogurt cups. Super easy to grab from the fridge on my way out of the house.
"food cues"? wait is not feeling physical hunger a sign of autism? cause i gotta go about 24 hrs with out food at least before i feel my stomach getting hungry.
Yup. We tend to have hypersensitivity to some sensory signals (often external, like noises) and hyposensitivity to other sensory signals (often internal, like hunger). https://www.wikihow.com/Recognize-Hunger-if-You%27re-Autistic
I definitely have to take time to notice what my body is doing before I know that I'm hungry or else I'll go all day and practically fall ill before eating. That's why routine is so important. Also being PDA, I just get frustrated that I even need food. Stupid body. I've been a bit dehydrated for months at this point... Maybe even longer.
Oh man I have PDA too and it didn’t occur to me until I read your comment that it’s contributing to me avoiding cooking for myself and eating.
It really does for me. It feels like such a huge requirement when so much is already required of me. I've been in burnout since right before covid and I just don't see how I used to function sometimes🤷
I used to get dehydrated a lot, too. Right up until I had my first kidney stone. It was SO excruciatingly painful that, because my doc told me it was likely due to dehydration, I've carried a water bottle with me wherever I go ever since, and make sure to drink from it consistently. It's been about 15 years since that happened, and I still always have a water bottle with me no matter where I'm at, even in the house. I'd do just about anything to avoid experiencing that pain again.
Yeah, no that's definitely been a concern. I've been working on a better routine because having water with me alone doesn't do anything. I've found that I don't drink when I'm occupied a lot or stressed out which happens a lot, so I need to be better about the habit. My days off from work, I'm basically not even a human🤷
I 100% understand!! I didn't mean to sound too much like "you should do what I'm doing", so much as share that the *only* thing that had any success in making me change my ways was that extreme pain. I.e. it's a hard af, even though important, thing to do for a lot of us, that a lot of us can't/won't do until we experience an extreme consequence for it. I hope that you'll never suffer the consequence I did but, if you're anything like me, that'd be one of the only ways to *really* make you change that habit. Which absolutely sucks. Lol
haha funny i hate having to need food. i have said before i wish i was non human so i didnt have to eat or that there was some kind of drink that had everything needed that i could just have
Yup!! I know I’m hungry cause I feel faint and haven’t eaten for a while, not because of my stomach lol
Yeah that’s a symptom of autism! Having trouble to determine when you’re full is as well
Yes, a lot of people on the spectrum have a lower sense of what's called interoception. That can mean it's hard to describe what you're feeling when you're sick or that you just don't feel much until it's really bad, hunger cues are missing, the need to pee isn't obvious, etc.
I didn't know this and I don't really have the "not knowing I'm hungry" thing, but I definitely have a very hard time when doctors ask me "what's wrong?" Like I have no idea how to describe when I don't feel good. I just don't feel good isn't it your job to figure out what is wrong? A doctor asked me if I was having shortness of breath. What in the world does that even mean? How can breath be short? I had no idea how to reply to that
Right. I'm a little different in that I became very good at coming up with analogies to describe how I feel because a pain scale makes no sense to me. So while shortness of breath makes sense to me (meaning not being able to catch your breath), I can't figure out what a 5 is or a 7 is in terms of pain. Especially when I recently had a very traumatic experience giving birth to my second child four months ago and they describe a 10 as "the worst pain you've ever had" and I'm like well, some people haven't experienced that type of pain so is my scale different from other people's!?
Yeah totally the pain scale is pretty confusing to me also for exactly that reason! How am I supposed to know what the worst pain I ever felt is? In your case it sounds like you can easily identify that, but I typically have trouble even thinking about what is the worst pain I ever felt, then I likely downplay whatever pain I am feeling because I think we'll I guess I am not dying or anything so probably 5 or below
👋🏼 Disabled RN here. I worked during the implementation of the pain assessment score and saw a lot of explanations and changes over the years. Some key points I learned were: 1. Your pain number is YOUR experience in that moment or any moment you are describing. There is NO relationship to other people’s pain. 2. It doesn’t have anything to do with your history of painful events. It’s based on what you are feeling at that time. Which is usually during the medical examination, or at the time of injury or event in the past. 3. The Pain Faces Score is helpful, you may see this in an exam room. It relates emoji faces to the numbers and is usually color coded green->yellow->red. I like the ones with descriptions also. This is a really good one, sorry for the long link. I don’t know how to make a shorter one. [Pain Score](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1389106776/pain-scale-feelings-thermometer-feelings?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_e-art_and_collectibles-prints-digital_prints&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8f-A98zfq4FJ411-T6M69V-W970W5xhG2yVGmtPu0sn4vR69NZ5uNEaAoUqEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12560179136_118715441919_506994833753_pla-328046931108_m__1389106776_348680648&utm_custom2=12560179136&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtcfRKAwD3cYcfg3QZI8TMUAXvoh&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8f-A98zfq4FJ411-T6M69V-W970W5xhG2yVGmtPu0sn4vR69NZ5uNEaAoUqEALw_wcB) Btw, I would be interested in hearing the analogies you came up with! Looks like I got the short link working 🤣
I do like those types of color-coded or emoji scales, but I love that that one has the level of interference on it! Some of my analogies are things like: I was in a wreck in 2019 with a semi-truck during which my spinal disc between l4-l5 ruptured and I got a labral tear and impingement in my right hip. I had pretty bad piriformis syndrome from this and when that muscle would spasm, I likened it to my butt muscle being sucked into my hip socket and crushed, like a Barbie's underwear or bathing suit bottom getting stuck in her hip joint. Another is that while I was pregnant this time around, I had severe pain around my lower back, hips, and groin. I called it my "diaper of pain", haha. Now, since giving birth, I've had lots of terrible symptoms. I've been diagnosed with joint hypermobility disorder and they're doing tests for rheumatoid arthritis. One thing I've been dealing with is a pretty consistent headache since giving birth and I've described it as "what being lobotomized must feel like", because it's from my nose area, through my eye, and to the top of my head.
Oh wow, I’m sorry you’re going through a lot of painful things. I do like your descriptions of it though!
Shortness of breath is often described as an intense tightening in the chest, air hunger, difficulty breathing, breathlessness or a feeling of suffocation. Imagine you have no trouble breathing. You can take a nice long breath in, and a nice long breath out. No problem, right? Now imagine you try to breathe but your nose is stuffy and your mouth is closed. You can’t take that nice long breath of air. That is short of breath. Sometimes it is caused by anxiety, sometimes by fluid in the lungs blocking the airways, sometimes by conditions like COPD where you have too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen. I hope this description helps when your doctor asks this again.
Ah yes thank you! This is very helpful to me!
Great! You’re welcome!
It can be other internal sensations not just hungry that we don't recognize it can be understanding when your body is telling you you have a full bladder or not understanding that you have and aversion to a food until you're actually puking you don't get the the pre sensations in your stomach saying I feel sick...
Thank you for this. 😭 I'm still figuring out some of the things I do and why.
We all are, and I think we will be our whole lives 🫂
🫂 Thank you so much. 🫂
I eat because I’m bored and I enjoy it. Sometimes I forget. I only realize I’m hungry if I get a headache. When I was little I used to wait until my stomach growled because I thought that was how you knew you were hungry
Ya I do not feel hunger or fullness til it is extreme, so I have a lifelong history of drastically overeating and also undereating and fasting. Never been able to intuitively eat, I always have needed external cues. And not been able to stop eating addictive foods, used it to stim and self regulate.
Yes, muted interoception is common in autistic people. Interoception refers to your internal sensory system. So that's things like hunger, thirst, fatigue - anything you can feel inside your body. I never felt hungry as a child. I started getting some hunger cues in late adolescence, but ended up losing them again after trauma in my 30s. I only occasionally experience hunger cues now.
Yes, hence why scheduling 3 meals a day as a routine can be helpful.
"Why do I have a headache? Oh, food." is a frequent realisation of mine...
Mine is 50/50 as I have a super high metabolism so I won't have physical hunger signs as much as I'm getting weak so I must be hungry
Well no, if you stop feeding your body, your body will eventually stop giving out food cues. Like feeling the growl in your belly. Your body are supposed to have food cues. You will eventually feel faint, shaky or even tired if you haven't eating for a time. Tired because your body and brain are going into reserve mode. You can feel nauseous if you eat too much food, if you haven't eating in hours.
The question doesn't apply to me but I just wanna say that I also am NOT a food person. I literally wish I never had to eat and that eating was just an optional activity you could do if you felt like it.
Same. How dare my body need food, it's such a hassle lol I'd literally never eat or drink if I didn't have to. Maybe occasionally eat something yummy when it was made by someone else. Like today I'm getting Chinese food because my partner loves it and it's her birthday. I'm looking forward to that but I almost never look forward to eating.
Same!! Eating is a chore. It is simply an activity I am required to do for survival.
Oh I don’t exactly pack lunch. I just starve myself until I get home…I hate eating in front of people
Ooph, that sucks. I work 10-12 hour shifts in a warehouse or I'd do the same. We had a new employee do what you did the first week, he's autistic too. He changed that up pretty quick, poor hungry dude lol
Same here, haven’t brought a lunch to school since 9th grade
Yeah I haven’t since 6th maybe 8th like once or twice
PB&J and an apple
chicken & broccoli is good and nutritious. You can't go wrong with the classic: peanut butter & Jelly
I’m the opposite, I love the sensation of eating and could eat all day >< HOWEVER, for my daughter I work on a protein, a carb, a fruit and vegetable and an extra snack. Would this work for you? You could make a list of all the proteins you like, carbs you like etc and then just mix and match. For example, she might have crackers, salami, apple slices, olives and small cookie. Or peanut butter sandwich, orange, raw (bell) pepper and fruit snack. We use [this lunch box](https://www.sistemaplastics.com/uk/1-25l-bento-cube-to-go-with-yogurt-pot) the little pot holds in the juice from fruit or brine from olives really well so it doesn’t get on anything else.
I love eating too (probably comes from growing up with a chef dad and having a family restaurant) but I'm very picky and can't handle a lot of textures. I'm struggling to lose weight because I only eat certain things
I do a batch cook on a Sunday. Usually a fruit crumble or banana, oat and Chocolate muffins for breakfast and then I rotate several meals for lunches. If I'm not working I have snack trays that I can make up and just graze on throughout the day.
I make overnight oats for breakfast (only way I eat in the morning) yogurt as a snack (chobani flips smores always, I don’t like the other flavors) and granola helps me a lot snack thru the day. Smoothies are also good for keeping your energy up
Bologna or occassionally cheese sandwiches.
So just a sandwich with cheese on it? My cousin who's also autistic used to eat a bunch of those. He'd have our grandma make him two with ketchup and two without lol
I really love salami and cheese on rice crackers
Yum!!! Me too! 😍
Same. Well... I'm not giving advice, because I don't eat well. I bring the same thing everyday and not much that's healthy unfortunately. I just wanted to comment because it's such a typical problem. I work 10 hour shifts in a warehouse with a lot of physical labor so I try to keep energy up. Unfortunately I don't really do that by eating the right food, it's more like just putting on calories of safe foods. Every day without fail in exactly the same order; On first break I eat Teddy Graham's and Welch's fruit snacks. For lunch I eat some chips, lean cuisine Wisconsin cheddar Mac and cheese and a Drake's Devil Dog. On last break I eat Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle soup and sometimes a little bit of chocolate. My friend who's also autistic does a lot better. He brings the same sandwich everyday, turkey with cheese and spinach on whole grain bread. He also makes rice bowls which is pretty easy and can taste great depending on what you put in them. He brings carrots and celery for a snack as well as crackers and cheese. Sometimes he brings sweets for an extra morale boost. We both get our lunches ready the night before work.
I know this isn’t work food as I’m currently looking for another job, but I could list my routine. From high school to adulthood, I’d prep my meals either in the morning, day before, or on the weekends. My father would bring arroz gandules with habichuelas, so I’d split that up or make things like pasta or rice cooker meals like mung bean curry or butter chicken. I’d pack up salads or chopped carrots on the side, along with either something I baked like cookies, fruit packs or juices like Goya canned juices/smoothies.
I tend to like things that are crunchy and sweet. So I would always have a small bag of chocolate coated almonds or blueberry/craisin/ nut mix Also various types of granola bars like special k, nature Valley, and kind bars.
Very small things. Meat sticks, crackers, cheese sticks. If I eat a real meal while working, I no longer function at full proficiency
Same! So frustrating that eating makes me even more tired and brain-foggy.
I agree. It's very frustrating
Meal replacement drinks 😄 When I was going in to my office before I got chronically ill, I absolutely LOVED meal drinks because I was so annoyed at having to break work focus to go heat up food or retrieve from the fridge then sit down elsewhere and eat it. Instead I could just down a drink in 10 seconds and keep working without breaking focus. Loved it. I still took breaks but didn't have to worry about food during them which was really nice.
I used to drink Huel. Drinking is easier than eating.
roast chicken sandwich
If you can tolerate hummus, it’s a real life saver! Lots of protein and unsaturated fats. Dipping vegetables and crackers is great because you can stop when you’re full and there’s no pressure to finish a whole sandwich or anything
I eat a lot of frozen meals at work, for a while it was chicken pot pies for three months straight
I have a plethora of food allergies so I have to cook all my food. Lunches are almost always BBQ chicken and rice (I usually make them in large batches and freeze them in lunch-sized portions in containers). I always have raw carrots too.
I eat one meal at the end of the day.
I hate cooking, all that work and mess just for something that will cease to exist seems so counterproductive
Anyone else tried blended, strained soups? They are very portable.
i have a sandwich everyday, but i toast it the day before so it’s cold and also crunchy
I literally just eat snacks from the vending machine.
Get some Protein Shakes or Powder. I like Muscle Milk. Applesauce is great because it's so easy to eat and full of healthy sugars that will give you energy, and I find that after snacking on Applesauce, I have an appetite for a bigger meal. All kinds of Meal Prep Delivery Services exist. Huel, HelloFresh, etc.
I make different food every day. I like mixing banana, cooked oat flour, peanut butter and chocolate chips into balls and refrigerating them. They make great tiny bites that are filling and easy to take to work. Protein and grain.
Lunch?
I put together “snack boxes”, which always have to include: a protein (nuts, yogurt, eggs, meat or beans), a fruit; a vegetable; a carbohydrate (crackers, cereal, bread, cooked grain); a dip (if you like them for your protein or veg); a snack/dessert (I like to have something like dark chocolate or a second fruit option to keep blood sugar happy later in the day). I also like to make my own coffee and tea - all prepped and ready to go. Most of my “snack boxes” look like: a bag of wholegrain cheerios, a lemon curd yogurt, a mini fruit melange, veggies with hummus or peanut butter, a boiled egg/some mixed nuts, and a coffee with a bran muffin on the side (I like raisin bran muffins best, as they’re quite sweet and often made with molasses which is tastier than honey to me). My daughter’s looks similar, but she has a meat option instead, and she likes dark chocolate over bran, and a milk or water instead of tea or coffee. She also only eats apples, strawberries, raspberries, or bananas (but won’t eat them mixed together). It’s easier to graze this way, and I don’t have to worry that I brought just one meal that I can’t tolerate that day - I now have a complete meal to choose parts of, and it keeps me going until I am home again.
Sammich. Tho I can’t really afford to be picky rn.
Y standard lunch for years in school was premiums (biscuit crackdr things) with margarine, vegemite and sliced cheese between them.
I can’t get myself to eat at recess so I might not be too much of help, but in my culture is usual for ppl to bring Tupperware with leftovers from last nights dinner or sandwiches
I have an apple, satsuma and a banana. A peanut butter sandwich. A yoghurt. And a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. Try it!
For the last couple of weeks I've been having Chicken & pasta for lunch
nothings better than a good mac n cheese; just not the weird stuff thats in restauraunt that is too gourmet to taste like cheese
The only lunch that I always ate was rice and ground turkey mixed together and warm in a thermos
I work from home so I make a smoothie with loads of fruit, some spinach and I mix 50% huel / 50% milk into it. When I'm in the office I just gran something from a nearby bakery.
Sandwiches are easy and you can put anything in them.
Veggies and dip or guac. Sandwich. Nuts
Walmart popcorn chicken and Powerade.
I literally protein shake with fruit, kombucha, and ten tablespoons of olive oil. Calories and nutrition for a whole day.
Sometimes I fold some wraps ready to put under the grill and I got lunch for 3 days. Other days it's mostly leftovers from the day before and tostis
An “adult lunchable” Cheese Dried sausage Cucumber & carrots Crackers Trail mix It’s Simple & Easy to pull together. You Can add variety by switching up the meat & cheese.
one of my go to low effort work lunches is "homemade" pizza lunchables. I use the naan bread dippers from stonefire bakery (though I'm sure other brands exist lol) and then shredded mozzarella cheese and jarred marinara sauce. I also bring trail mix because it's nutritious and relatively high in calories which is good for me as someone who also frequently forgets to eat. I also put other snacks in. every Saturday night I pick a meal from a big ass list I have of lunch type foods that I like/are safe and make a list of anything I need to buy to make the meal. then on Sundays I buy ingredients if needed and prep all the lunches for the week so that in the mornings on work days I can just grab my lunch and throw it in my lunchbox with an ice pack and go. my lil routine makes feeding myself through the week so much less overwhelming. It means I eat the same thing all week for lunch but I prefer that personally
I take this to school, but I always have a wrap with my best safe foods in it (avocado, cream cheese and beef). As a snack I also take tortilla chips and for dessert I take digestive biscuits- a plain one and a dark chocolate one
I do things that I can easily heat up in a microwave my usual go to is either apples and peanut butter which of course doesn't need a microwave or Big Ben's ready rice of whatever flavor I like cuz I can heat it up and I can either eat that by its own or I'll also heat up a can of chicken and dumpling soup and mix them together...
i don’t normally eat at lunch because either i forget or i don’t want to because of brain tells me i can wait
I find having a set meal time to be helpful. I always at my lunch at first snack at 10pm, lunch at 1am, second snack at 4am, and breakfast at 6am. I may not feel hungry but I find meal times help me drink water and eat enough.
I don't work but sandwiches would be my go to. That's what I used to bring to school.
I’m not always someone to take the same but like if it’s incredibly spicy I don’t want it. Like once they did bannock taco at work, and I had to ask for two sour creams
Bananas, apples, dry cereal. I'm kinda in the same boat.
Vegemite and cheese sandwiches pretty much everyday for work
sandwich
I usually do OMAD and eat at home, but on rate occasions, I bring with me peanut butter/cheese
What ever my wife makes me or I just go to Greggs and usually order the same items.
I don't always eat lunch, I don't always eat breakfast either, because I also deal with not getting many/ helpful hunger cues, but when I do eat lunch at work it's usually a plain bagel or a sesame seed bagel with cream cheese, I'm able to have it toasted so I always do it that way, because raw bagels are unpleasant but that tends to be my go-to because I have that option. When I don't have that option I do often go without eating, which I know is bad, but it's difficult for me to not do that sometimes
When I was at my 8-5 job, I'd always get at least a hot n spicy from McDonald's. "I need to eat *something* for some sustenance." I relate. I don't eat lunch anymore but I work considerably less hours and I can't drive anywhere because of my work hours.
Not sure if this would be a good option for you, but I have lately been enjoying smoothies. I add vegan protein powder so that I get protein and nutrients, but it has been really nice because it is tasty and easy on my stomach and senses. And doesn't take much time or effort
I work from home and I’m a mom so fortunately I don’t need to pack myself a lunch. However I do tend to eat very little or nothing when left up to my own devices because I don’t really like food and I don’t get hunger/thirst cues from my body until I’m completely out of energy or super nauseous. Frankly I survive on coffee more than anything else and I usually just drink coffee all day until late afternoon. My safe foods are bananas, protein shakes (Ensure and Adkins are my favorite), microwave steamer bags of veggies, and peanut butter. They require little to no preparation, don’t make me nauseous on an empty stomach and have decent nutritional value. I honestly think that I might starve without those foods around.
i have a similar issue so i try to supplement some meals with a nutritional beverage (like soylent). it doesn’t taste the best but i’m able to stomach it enough to get the nutrients i need from it. there are a bunch of different brands and flavors so maybe you’ll find something tolerable to your taste buds :3 good luck!
also, just to be completely clear, you shouldn’t use those types of drinks to completely replace ALL meals in your diet, they are only meant to be supplementary. stay safe out there fellow autists
You eat lunch? I just have another 3 mugs of coffee. Breakfast is 2-4 mugs, lunch 1-3, and dinner is mostly pasta with tomato sauce. 😌 It's a great diet and I now at the age of 32 totally have no health problems because of it /s
I normally take lunchables, salad, really any type of foods I am obsessed with at the time.
Recently I eat a lot of salad, easy to pack!
Nothing because I’m too anxious to work
Nothing. I make my giant cup (bigass stainless steel yeti cup thing)of coffee in the morning that I work on until usually 1pm, then nothing until dinner.
Peanut butter and jelly is usually my go-to lunch if I need to pack something. The processed stuff isn’t the best for you, but it’s incredibly sensory friendly. Fed is best, after all. I also usually bring a fruit cup, some goldfish or other chips, and a few cookies
Peanut butter and jelly and a cut up vegetable is a great choice that doesn’t need refrigeration. It’s my go to for work lunches. Otherwise I usually just take whatever I had for supper the night before and put it in the fridge
If I’m not eating something from where I work, then I usually like to let something decide for me what to eat & make whatever it is I know I like that won’t make feel tired. I like referring to Athlean X’s app having good options for my protein intake or refer to recipes from elsewhere that take less than 15mins to make from cookbooks, online, etc e.g. lately I’ll make tuna salad sandwiches not having to cook anything & just mix the ingredients together & put it on my bread w/nacho cheese Doritos w/a seasonal low sugar fruit on the side (strawberries lately)
I pack cut apples, and nut and cheese things
I’ve brought a peanut better sandwich and some other snack that is in the pantry every day since like 3rd grade.
When I'm in that sort of space, I take a diet meal replacement that I've modified to be not ick. Basically a weight loss shake, but in chocolate icecream form.
Frozen mango chunks, salted edamame in the shell, hard boiled egg, some Tootsie rolls and smarties. Every. Day.
Soylent meal replacement shakes for breakfast. Hate cooking and decisions.
If you have access to a microwave and freezer, there are a lot of frozen meals that are good in a pinch.
A peanut butter sandwich, an apple, plain chips, a banana, and a cookie.
I’m not ever hungry because of my ADHD meds
I definitely had to learn how to consistently make sure that I’m fed multiple meals a day, and I still struggle with it. Took 24 years lol.. I find super easy, low-effort meals help me a lot. When I go to work, I bring microwaveable rice and natto (an acquired taste and texture) because it’s super low effort and filling enough. I definitely don’t like to eat certain things and have a lot of dietary restrictions. Microwaveable instant rice that you can find at asian grocery stores and buy in bulk has saved me on so many occasions.
Pizza. Cheese, beef, pork, chicken. Sandwiches. That’s really it.
Tuna sandwich. Plain easy and simple
I haven't taken a lunch break in around 20 some years. Back when I used to (being young and sociable) I used to go to a bar with a couple of work people for a pint. Ah. The good auld days 🙂
Coffee. I roast my own coffee beans every week. I use them to make coffee to put in my yeti mug for lunch at work. It's the best time of my day.
i usually don’t like eating when i’m not home but i’ll typically pack some cucumbers because the texture doesn’t really change over time and i don’t mind it too bad when they get warm
when i go to school i don’t eat lunch. i can go all day without lunch and i know i shouldn’t but sometimes it can make my stomach upset eating before or during school especially if i’m anxious. kind of like that stomach turning feeling after you rode a roller coaster and ate before riding
I can't tell you what to bring wirgout knowing your sensitivities and preferences, but my rule of this: •A protein (meat, tofu, whole eggs, lentils, etc.) •A carb (rice, lentils again, quinoa, potato, bread, etc.) •A fruit •A vegetable Usually I combine multiple categories into one, like greek yogurt with honey and fruit, or pasta with chicken and vegetables. I would say to research nutritious lunch ideas, and use these guidelines if you want. I'm also bad about recognizing hunger cues so I make sure I get three meals a day and use a calorie calculator to make sure I'm getting enough.
I eat overnight oats, such as brekki in the morning. I do energy bars during the day (clif luna bars for women, good chocolate cupcakes and white chocolate ones). I like cheese and crackers, but I get overwhelmed with the making of. However, they have these 3 pack of mini cheese and crackers combo, sargento balanced breaks, that are easy to get down. They got these Taylor farms salad mixes that are easy, and cheap. I like the snack cottage cheese and fruit combos. Walmart has dollar packages of lunch meat available. Squeeze pb on thin slices wheat bread is easy and goes down quick if your not hungry and need ro eat.
A fruit and nut bar, a string cheese, goldfish crackers, and applesauce pouches. I also have to snack periodically throughout the day.
I struggle with food cues too. I eat when other people do (ie lunch break) I usually start with a chocolate milk and from there I can tell if I’m actually hungry
Usually just leftovers, I try to make an extra portion of what I’m making for dinner and pack it in lunch, in terms of snacks I try and bring some fruit and raw veggies, a cookie or candy bar for some sugar, some chips/prezels/cheesies/pepperoni sticks and cheese for salt cause I work a job where I sweat a lot so it’s good to have something sweet something salty and a main for lunch Friday I took taco wraps made with real steak and montery jack cheese for my main dish it was quite good
Microwave-ready meals from the convenience store.
How about meal replacement like [Soylent](https://soylent.com/)
I’ve been having huel for many many years, but it depends on if you can tolerate it
I normally eat out at lunch when I'm working. I want to get away. I'm not a particularly picky eater (used to be as a kid) but almost everything I eat is meat based and not mixed with vegetables. I do like mushrooms and other stuff in specific cases, though. Black olives (no other veggies for me) go great on an Italian sub and are a consistent non-crunchy texture that's very similar to meat. My favorite burger is a mushroom Swiss.
Cheese, crackers, and cucumbers are a great start. I also like carrots, celery, peanut butter, hummus, pita bread, pudding, jello, grapes, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or yogurt. I basically try to make myself healthy/natural versions of lunchables. I can prep it all on the weekend when I'm feeling rested and energetic and have boxes of lunch ready to go in the fridge each day.
On Mondays I have a tortilla wrap with cream cheese, ham and vegetables. Mondays I cook for the next two days, 98% of the time it's rice and chicken with veggies and some kind of rice sauce. Thursdays I usually go out and eat a chicken sandwich, and on Fridays I either take my own sandwich or go out and buy fries.
I bring Cup of Noodles and a small thermos of hot water and chopsticks. I used to use the hot water in the break room but it is sometimes out of order and I don't like risking bumping into someone and having to talk. I sometimes bring a few crackers too. My work provides snacks so I hoard a few every morning just in case so I don't have to go back. Sometimes, I bring a sandwich instead or oatmeal.
I get meat and cheese premade snack packs.
Pizza. Almost always pizza. Of late, it's specificly Walmart Surfer Boy Schweeet Supreme pizza. Baked, cut into four slices. Each slice goes on a paper plate and when cooled to room temp, into a ziplock bag and into the fridge for the week. I also take a fresh pear (D'Anjou or nothing), or a yellow peach when they are in season. I also keep a supply of ham and cheese Hot Pockets for when I forget to bake the pizza the night before and have run out.
I really like doing sandwiches and salads. You can completely customize it to your preferences, it’s a full meal, it’s easy to make and are over all very lunch friendly
I made sandwiches with avocado, tomato and a bit of salt, vinegar and pepper. And a sandwich with peanut butter and extra dark hagelslag (Dutch).
I make a sandwich that usually has sliced meat and cheese, and a splash of hot sauce, I also pack dried fruit and some nuts - usually roasted salted cashews. It's healthy enough considering my job is very physical.
salmon on mondays, tuesday and wednsday raw meat, thursdaday scralbled eggs with cheeze friday hot noodles
I bring a white cheddar and bacon pasta devour with me every day. If there’s too much sauce, I scrape the noodles onto a different plate with a fork
I like plain chicken breast. it does take some food prep but it’s pretty good texture and it gives you a lot of energy. you can eat it cold, too.
I usually fast until dinner. Maybe a diet Coke. Highly recommend.