I can only eat ice cream!

[Joanna319]

I’ve had varying degrees of food obsession all my life but it’s been manageable until recently.

I always have a favourite food that becomes more and more prominent in my diet until it’s all I eat, for months on end. So, I’ve lived on cereal for 9 months, and until last month was eating nothing but tinned ravioli & cheese. In an attempt to break it, I treated myself to some strawberry ice cream & raspberries to try tempt myself away from the ravioli.
For a few weeks I ate both, but slowly stopped the ravioli last month as all I wanted was the ice cream.
So, that’s all I eat. Every day.

I’ve tried many ways to get my brain to want anything else, ordering my past favourite take aways that were left to rot when I could only eat a few mouthfuls. It’s got to the point where I physically cannot eat anything else, forcing just makes me feel sick like my body rejects it as much as my brain does.

I know from experience how hard it is to break unhealthy obsessions, and this one has me beat. Apart from the health aspect, it’s killing my food budget and I dread my supermarket deliveries and the side eyes I get when it’s 20 odd tubs of ice cream with nothing else. I had to say I had a bunch of kids coming over when the guy said he hoped they weren’t all for me. Oh the shame.

How do I fool my brain to release its grip and accept other food when there is nothing else it wants?

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My brother for a while ate only vegetable soup with a piece of cheddar cheese, got scurvy so be careful.

 

[Tired]

I had to say I had a bunch of kids coming over when the guy said he hoped they weren’t all for me. Oh the shame.

I think that guy should keep his mouth shut. What a jerk.

 

[Tired]

Did you talk to your doctor/therapist about it?

 

[Aspychata]

Do you have ongoing stress in your life, so you feel compulsion to control food? Do you know if you suffer from OCD?

 

[MNAus]

I’ve had varying degrees of food obsession all my life but it’s been manageable until recently.

I always have a favourite food that becomes more and more prominent in my diet until it’s all I eat, for months on end. So, I’ve lived on cereal for 9 months, and until last month was eating nothing but tinned ravioli & cheese. In an attempt to break it, I treated myself to some strawberry ice cream & raspberries to try tempt myself away from the ravioli.
For a few weeks I ate both, but slowly stopped the ravioli last month as all I wanted was the ice cream.
So, that’s all I eat. Every day.

I’ve tried many ways to get my brain to want anything else, ordering my past favourite take aways that were left to rot when I could only eat a few mouthfuls. It’s got to the point where I physically cannot eat anything else, forcing just makes me feel sick like my body rejects it as much as my brain does.

I know from experience how hard it is to break unhealthy obsessions, and this one has me beat. Apart from the health aspect, it’s killing my food budget and I dread my supermarket deliveries and the side eyes I get when it’s 20 odd tubs of ice cream with nothing else. I had to say I had a bunch of kids coming over when the guy said he hoped they weren’t all for me. Oh the shame.

How do I fool my brain to release its grip and accept other food when there is nothing else it wants?

I think the first thing to note is that there are specialists out there who can help with this. If you have the opportunity to access one, it might be worth thinking about. Though this is one group you need to be wary of because, in our experience, a lot of them are beyond useless and struggle with the psychological aspects, or can't even address them at all.

I think another piece of advice would be to address it at those change-over points. One of the things NT and ND can suffer from is their comfort zone shrinking. For many people on the spectrum this seems to be particularly acute. It's a bit of an ongoing battle to keep pushing the boundary back. A couple of weeks of not doing so sees it retreat in, and the things you can tolerate become fewer and fewer. So when you found you were slowly stopping the ravioli, you needed to halt that stop. Because at that point you weren't repulsed by it, it was just a lesser preference.

Your body isn't rejecting anything, it's all psychological, which is kind of good news. That said, it can be tough (hence the point about a specialist) and it costs energy to approach things like this with such deliberateness. So there needs to be balance.

 

[Aspychata]

Supposedly there is a correlation between OCD and food issues, such as restricting what types of food you eat, bulimia, overeating, etc. But that aside, l could live off expresso coffee ice cream for a month tops. And my other fav -bittersweet chocolate ice cream, or gelato.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

When I was working with people with developmental disabilities, it was not unusual to have an autistic person unable to eat but one type of food, every day, every meal for years and years. These were level 2 and level 3.

I think it has something to do with sensitivity to how the food feels in the mouth and going down. IOW, an autistic sensitivity.

So, it might be more useful to find a therapist specializing in autism.

Another tack would be to make an appointment with a nutritionist who understands autism. A nutritionist could take a look at what you are eating and suggest supplements to make sure you get enough of the nutrients you need.

It may take some time and trying out different strategies to find out what works for you.

 

[grommet]

I’ve had varying degrees of food obsession all my life but it’s been manageable until recently.

I always have a favourite food that becomes more and more prominent in my diet until it’s all I eat, for months on end. So, I’ve lived on cereal for 9 months, and until last month was eating nothing but tinned ravioli & cheese. In an attempt to break it, I treated myself to some strawberry ice cream & raspberries to try tempt myself away from the ravioli.
For a few weeks I ate both, but slowly stopped the ravioli last month as all I wanted was the ice cream.
So, that’s all I eat. Every day.

I’ve tried many ways to get my brain to want anything else, ordering my past favourite take aways that were left to rot when I could only eat a few mouthfuls. It’s got to the point where I physically cannot eat anything else, forcing just makes me feel sick like my body rejects it as much as my brain does.

I know from experience how hard it is to break unhealthy obsessions, and this one has me beat. Apart from the health aspect, it’s killing my food budget and I dread my supermarket deliveries and the side eyes I get when it’s 20 odd tubs of ice cream with nothing else. I had to say I had a bunch of kids coming over when the guy said he hoped they weren’t all for me. Oh the shame.

How do I fool my brain to release its grip and accept other food when there is nothing else it wants?

You asked for help and I cannot, I wish I could. I wanted you to know how much it means to me you are talking about this. This is me too. I cannot do anything about it. People see me buying lots of a food or in my home would see so much of something and always say, "Oh, you must love that!"

No. It is what I have to eat until my brain decides it is something else. I am helpless to it. I always feel alone with this. I ate more than 500 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats. When I had to eat oatmeal I bought 50lbs. The pre-made salads recently were the worst and like your problem because they were so expensive. My whole food budget for the month gone so fast.

When I had to eat soup. It had to be soup. Then Brussels sprouts. The pita bread was really really bad. I do not mean the food, it was delicious, high protein, good for me and very affordable but I could not live without it. I had to buy a food vacuum sealer and buy 20 packages of pita bread. I had to vacuum seal it, number and date each package and I bought a small freezer to keep them all in. I was panicked that I could run out so I had to do all that.

Who would understand having to live that way because your brain says this is what you eat now. But I do not want to. This is what you eat now. When will I not have to eat this any more? Brain: when I decide it is something else and it could be next week or six months and no warning, so if you spend money stocking up you might lose all your money and have food you cannot eat because I will make you say, "I cannot eat that." Money gone.

If something helps you maybe you could tell me about it. I think I have to live with it like other parts of autism for me.

 

[MNAus]

You asked for help and I cannot, I wish I could. I wanted you to know how much it means to me you are talking about this. This is me too. I cannot do anything about it.

If something helps you maybe you could tell me about it. I think I have to live with it like other parts of autism for me.

I really feel for you both. I have a fairly restricted diet but have fortunately not had that level of problem. With respect to my advice earlier, it's something i do need to challenge myself with the whole time, or that group of foods shrinks and shrinks. We also have it with our kids. We have to keep challenging them. They have 1 or 2 foods which don't change, but constantly need to be pushed on other foods to establish a handful of "sometimes" foods. If we forget one of these "sometimes" foods for a few weeks, it's lost as an option. Gone. They won't eat it.

 

[Aspychata]

For awhile, everything had to be crunchy. Before that, everything had to be creamy, right now, everything has to taste good with Cesar or coleslaw dressing. And for eggs, it has to be like a souffle texture, or quiche like with a little cheese. I just came off eating avocados every day for two months. So l hit ruts with food, but new recipes are fun to try.

 

[grommet]

I really feel for you both. I have a fairly restricted diet but have fortunately not had that level of problem. With respect to my advice earlier, it's something i do need to challenge myself with the whole time, or that group of foods shrinks and shrinks. We also have it with our kids. We have to keep challenging them. They have 1 or 2 foods which don't change, but constantly need to be pushed on other foods to establish a handful of "sometimes" foods. If we forget one of these "sometimes" foods for a few weeks, it's lost as an option. Gone. They won't eat it.

Thank you. I have tried forcing food, I will not eat it, it goes bad or stays in the cupboard and I lose the money. I tried several times over years and always the same. I would go to the grocery store and tell myself to be open mind, try variety. I always lose the money, it has not once worked out.

For now I am eating green onions, zucchini, celery, white rice all mixed together and cooked a long time. It tastes really bad. I do not know how to cook and there is not flavor. I add Tabasco which is odd but makes it taste like something and also avocado oil. The fat helps. I do not know how long this one will go on.

There are advantages, I usually eat pretty healthy things and my doctor checks my blood once a year and it is good. So I may have a healthy heart longer than my relatives.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

For now I am eating green onions, zucchini, celery, white rice all mixed together and cooked a long time. It tastes really bad. I do not know how to cook and there is not flavor. I add Tabasco which is odd but makes it taste like something and also avocado oil. The fat helps. I do not know how long this one will go on.

I forgot, can you fry things? Those ingredients would be tasty if sautéed (fried) in some oil and seasoned with oregano, a bit of garlic salt. Or with cumin and turmeric. You would need to cook the rice before adding it to the fry pan.

 

[grommet]

I forgot, can you fry things? Those ingredients would be tasty if sautéed (fried) in some oil and seasoned with oregano, a bit of garlic salt. Or with cumin and turmeric. You would need to cook the rice before adding it to the fry pan.

Thank you. That sounds delicious but I cannot fry. Girlfriends used to come over and make such delicious food. On my own I cannot manage that. I do not think. The oil goes all over and it is a lot of cleaning. If there is a way to cook it better in the microwave I would do that.

 

[Tired]

Thank you. That sounds delicious but I cannot fry. Girlfriends used to come over and make such delicious food. On my own I cannot manage that. I do not think. The oil goes all over and it is a lot of cleaning. If there is a way to cook it better in the microwave I would do that.

Can you look for recipes online? There are many with videos and photos of every step.

 

[Tom]

I don't know much about eating disorders but believe they can be very serious health-wise. I would highly suggest you see a doctor about it. I don't know what kind of doctor would best handle this sort of thing but your General Practioner should know.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Thank you. That sounds delicious but I cannot fry. Girlfriends used to come over and make such delicious food. On my own I cannot manage that. I do not think. The oil goes all over and it is a lot of cleaning. If there is a way to cook it better in the microwave I would do that.

I thought I remembered you couldn't fry. Here are some suggestions so that the oil does not go all over.

1. Use a deep pot, like a Dutch Oven. (so the spatters stay in the pot)
2. Sprinkle a few grains of salt into the oil. (absorbs water, even tiny amounts cause splatter)
3. Use an oil with a high smoking point like peanut, sunflower, safflower and soybean.
4. Pat food dry before putting it in the pot. (see #2)
5. Line the work surface with aluminum foil to catch the splatters.

Some people use a wok instead of a Dutch oven. If you quick heat up the oil in the wok, put in the vegetables and cooked rice, swirl them around for a minute or two and you are done.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I don't know much about eating disorders but believe they can be very serious health-wise. I would highly suggest you see a doctor about it. I don't know what kind of doctor would best handle this sort of thing but your General Practioner should know.

A person should let the doctor know about the problem, but most doctors know very little about nutrition. This problem needs a nutritionist.

 

[Rachie]

Joanna319, I don't know much about your situation, but it is making me think you may have some traits there of ARFID ARFID - Beat
I don't know if you've ever heard of it or what you're prepared to do next. Your GP may be able to get you help with that if you want to make changes.

 

[Lemon Zing]

Ice cream from the vans tastes way better for some reason.

But cheers anyway. I have a tub of it in my freezer.