#I wish my ARFID was accommodated

[all-i-do-is-try1]

I hate how ARFID is treated by so called ED specialists. Like yeah it’s an Ed, in a sense that it’s abnormal, and can get severe if someone doesn’t have access to safe foods or has very limited things. But I think it’s absolutely ableist to be thinking this can be cured or treated in the same way that other Eating disorders are. It can be managed. But not cured bc it’s often the manifestation of neuro developmental differences like autism, adhd or sensory disorders.

you genuinely do cause more harm if you force somone with ARFID to eat things they can’t. And you often need a Occupational therapist or someone who has awareness of autism, adhd and other sensory stuff.

ARFID safe foods aren’t even things you eat all the time, just when you are feeling unsafe and need something predictable. Which is often the case if you are forced info treatment

[bylersboy]

no one asked but it’s my blog and i’m posting what i want :))

ABYWAYS

here’s a list of things i’ve been doing to help my transition back to school as an autistic person (i don’t really get the whole person first language i am an autistic person autistic can be used as an adjective and i’m talking specifically abt myself so i don’t mind) and also someone with anxiety and arfid!

i’m picking out all of my outfits for this week down to the socks i’m wearing and making sure it’s all of my favorite clothing and clothes that will not trigger sensory issues: included but not limited to, my fav band t shirt and my favorite pairs of cargo shorts (i am an outfit repeater and i do infact wear the same outfit just in different variations because it’s makes things easy and it makes me happy)

i’m meal prepping to make the mornings easier and to feel comforted knowing i have food that will be safe to eat with my arfid! sheet pan pancakes and my favorite cereal‼️‼️ also i want to note that with arfid sometimes my safe foods aren’t safe and it’s hard to eat anything so it really is a challenge 😒

going grocery shopping at my favorite store to make sure i have safe foods and lots of snack options to help me stay energized throughout the day and avoid headaches from hunger and overstimulation (being hungry can make me feel more overstimulated than normal)

creating a solid night time routine ‼️ and incorporating my hobbies and special interests into my routine to help keep myself happy and calm. i’ve been in a reading slump so instead of reading before bed i’ve been watching tv shows and knitting :) the tv show i’m currently watching is called “a kind of spark” and it’s got great autistic rep

lots of mental and physical checklists and making sure i have all my school supplies packed in my bag as well as my lanyard with my keys, student ID, and earplugs

ALSO talking to friends about what days i’ll eat lunch with them and where! it helps me to have a schedule and routine because it’s something that is predictable and in my control

when i was in 7th grade and i realized i might have autism it was scary and now entering 10th grade it’s something that is still hard to accept but i’m learning to find ways to accommodate myself even if my anxiety tells me that i’m being dramatic or that i’m excessive and burdening the people around me. because if i’m to much then people can go find less and if i’m not enough then people can go find more :)

wishing everyone as smooth as possible transitions into back to school we can be scared together 🫡🫡

[khizuo]

is it possible for me to be vegan when im so picky? i hate most all beans due to texture issues etc but i really wanna be vegan, im just worried I will hate most of the things and struggle to get enough calories

Hi anon! I'm really happy you want to make the choice to go vegan. While I personally never struggled with picky eating, I know that many vegans have, and it's totally possible to be vegan with food-related sensory issues.

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, I am just some vegan on the internet reading the opinions of other vegans on the internet. Please do not take any suggestions I make as some sort of vegan nutritional law and make sure to do your own research and, if you need further help, talk to a trusted medical professional (like a vegan dietitian).

Here are some suggestions that I've picked up from my personal research:

If you can identify any foods you like that are already vegan, make note of them and look out for them! Even if that list is tiny, it's a great starting point. Remember, vegan food isn't just vegetables — consider doing some research onto accidentally plant-based processed foods you can find in a store, too!

If there are foods that you like that aren't vegan, try making vegan substitutions for the animal-based ingredients. Some swaps are pretty easy to make—dairy butter for plant-based butter, for example. Some may be a little more difficult and require more experimentation. I can't promise you that every vegan substitution will always taste exactly the same as the non-vegan version, but, keeping that expectation in mind, I think they still may be able to help with the cravings for those foods, and lots of meat/cheese substitutions are pretty good. Also, the options and recipes out there for foods often conceived of as 'non-vegan' (i.e. burgers/cheese/creamy pastas/desserts) are endless. As with everything, take it slow and find what you like!

If cooking is a pain, try looking for convenient vegan foods. I'm personally a big fan of the vegan Nongshim ramen as a quick meal. Lots of store-bought breads are accidentally plant-based—add some nut butter for protein and that's a meal for me. If you're a soup person, look for for vegan ready-made soups.

Take supplements if you need them! Lots of vegans take a B12 supplement. Consider adding protein powder to some dish that you like if you don't like beans and you're worried about your protein intake. (Of course, please stay safe, do your due research, and talk to a doctor or dietitian if you can.)

Finally, this isn't really a tip, but I do want to say that not liking certain foods is something that's perfectly fine. You might try something and dislike it and that's okay. Vegans have no obligation to like every vegan food ever and diet culture can go to hell.

Above all, make the transition in a pace that is sustainable and healthy for you. It's much better for you and for the animals if you make a slow, sustained shift rather than trying to go vegan overnight and getting overwhelmed. Make gradual swaps, do your research, talk to a trusted medical professional, try to cook some vegan versions of your comfort meals, and of course, stay educated on animal liberation and anti-speciesism.

Below are some articles that I read that were helpful when researching this topic:

Here is a pretty straightforward article with tips on going vegan as a picky eater. Fair warning that parts of this article promote the anti-fat and ableist misconception of "vegan for weight loss/health", which is of course harmful diet culture stuff unrelated to veganism's literal stated intent. Fat vegans and disabled vegans are awesome and a vital part of the community. I really wish there was an article with this information out there that didn't promote these ideas, but I couldn't find one, so I will share this article with this heavy disclaimer. Take the good tips and leave the rest.

Here is an article by a vegan woman with ARFID about accommodations she's made to make eating more accessible for her. I know that ARFID is an eating disorder and not every instance of picky eating is ARFID, but I'm sharing this because I still think it was quite insightful and because I'd love to hear more from vegans with ARFID, as someone who doesn't have ARFID myself.

Also, not an article but I read a lot of stories from vegans on reddit who shared their experience going vegan as a picky eater. I'm sure there are also vegans on tumblr who also have food-related sensory issues, and if anyone who has wants to share their experience or add on to this post please feel free. As stated above, I personally did not really struggle with picky eating when going vegan so I'm very much open to receiving constructive criticism and other additions to this post.

[rawbins-undertale-blog]

This is a slight TW question, so feel no obligation to answer:

How would horrortale Sans react to an S/O with an eating disorder?

TW for eating disorder(s) (nearly only ARFID is spoken about, anorexia is mentioned)

If I missed any tags you think I should've included, please tell me.

This may sound a bit strange, but I’ve actually been wanting to write something for this, specifically because I suffer from an eating disorder. I’m not comfortable writing anything with an eating disorder (or any disorder in general) I personally don’t have, mostly because I don’t have the time to give it the proper research it deserves, so I’ll be writing about a lesser known eating disorder, that being ARFID. Let me explain it so people who don’t know what it is will, uh, know what it is lol

ARFID - also commonly called “Selective Eating Disorder” - stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. A lot of people with it are characterised as being “picky eaters”, but it goes to a point where it’s seriously unhealthy and crosses a line that makes it into something more serious. It has to do with sensory processing issues, rather than self-image issues (though self-image issues could also play a part in it I'm pretty sure, but it’s not the main “motivation”). Most people with ARFID actually wish they could go up in weight, but can’t because they can’t make themselves eat. I, for one, desperately wish I could just eat like a normal person, both because it’s very… not convenient to only have around 20 or less meals I can eat (and that list is slimming down as I grow tired of my safe foods*) and also I’m skinny enough to match Papyrus in looks, which isn’t very confidence-inspiring when you’re supposed to be a human and not a sentient magical skeleton, believe it or not. Whereas a person without ARFID could eat most things, including things they don’t really enjoy eating, somebody with ARFID might not be physically able to. For example, I literally throw up food that I don’t like (and I’ve gagged while eating food I do like due to seeing somebody eat something I don’t like and/or just smelling other food nearby). When I'm to try a new food, I have on more than one occasion gotten anxiety attacks. That’s how bad it can be.

*a "safe food" is food you know you can eat without panicking/throwing up/getting triggered in one way or another

I’ll be basing these HCs off of myself, so keep that in mind. You’re free to point out misinformation (and I, in fact, encourage you to point it out if I somehow got something wrong) but I ask that you stay respectful and don’t make fun of this. I doubt it would happen, but this topic means a lot to me and is really serious. So yeah please don’t be rude or invalidate people. Anyways onto the headcanons (which aren’t in the usual format, sorry if that bothers you)

Dusk (HT Sans) wouldn’t really understand. He’s able to eat pretty much anything (not like he had much of a choice for a while) and food is important… But he’ll try to understand. Especially because he can accommodate you. He’ll be fine eating the same meals, however “boring” they are, over and over because like I said: not a picky eater. Any food is good in his book. So long as you’re not restricting him and his food intake and so long as you aren’t dying from starvation and/or malnutrition, you’re free to do whatever.

It does annoy him when you go to social gatherings and you can’t eat the food because it’s not one of your safe foods. He’s not going to let you just starve yourself when there’s perfectly fine food just waiting for you. Not gonna lie, he’s pretty insensitive the first time this happens. Basically, he’ll pull you over when he notices you’re not eating anything and try to convince you to eat. Starts out really gentle and encouraging, but when you don’t budge he becomes increasingly agitated and insistent until he hisses that you’re making a fuss over nothing. Needless to say, you aren’t thrilled and it starts a pretty serious argument that probably ends with you either leaving, starting to cry or blowing up at him. He feels bad when it’s all said and done and apologises, because he realises after some thought that he wasn’t being helpful and he decided to do more research again. Even if he forgot it all like he did the first time he tried researching ARFID, it would have been worth a shot. After that, he’ll instead pack food with him for you whenever you go somewhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s “socially acceptable”, because like I said, you’re not starving if he’s got something to do with it.

He’ll also, after coming around to realise the best he can do to help you isn’t trying to push you out of your comfort zone forcefully, try to make sure there’s always at least one of your safe foods available. Don’t get me wrong though, he’ll still encourage you to expand on your list of safe foods. He’s got memory issues so he sometimes forgets, which he feels really bad about, but he has multiple alarms set to make sure you eat properly for the most part. (He’s got an alarm for nearly every minute of the day and he has his calendar full of things as mundane as “make sure s/o eats” and “do laundry”, by the way.) I have a tendency to skip lunch because I simply don’t like food, but he’d put a stop to that lol

To summarize, the whole thing with you having an ED starts off with the two of you having a rocky start before Dusk comes around to be really good at handling it.

Anyways sorry if you meant an ED like anorexia. I know most people write about things like that, but like I said: I’m not really up for writing things that I have to pour hours of research into to make sure I portray it respectfully and accurately because I don’t have that time or patience. (Or attention span, tbh.) Also, I literally hadn’t heard of ARFID for like… the majority of my life, I’ve only known it’s a “thing” for like. A few months. I really thought I was the only one who was so picky with my food and it made me feel alone and isolated (ESPECIALLY after I went to a "specialist" (not sure if she was actually a specialist anymore because her technique to get me to eat was to give my a small glass that I'd pour sauce into to try it every time it was served which obviously didn't work lmao) to help me when I was like six and she said she’d “never seen somebody this bad” before not giving me a diagnosis (as far as I know)), so if anybody with undiagnosed ARFID is reading this:

you're not alone. I know it’s difficult to deal with this - it can be humiliating and embarrassing and horrible and terrible in so many ways - but you can do it. It’s so hard, so fucking hard to step out of your comfort zone and try to expand on your list of safe foods, but you can do it. I believe in you. You aren’t alone and you can learn to have a healthier diet, please just try. I’ll be honest in that you’re probably never going to completely overcome this, ARFID is something that likely stays with you forever, but you can make it into a smaller problem. You can turn it into something so much smaller and inconsequential that you won't encounter any more embarrassing situations where you can't eat what you're given. To a point where you won't have to use the excuses "I already ate", "I'm not hungry", etc anymore. It’ll take time and patience, but you can do it. Don’t give up, okay? <3

[ambrosiholic]

My experience as a person with ARFID

 The main feeling I get from ARFID is guilt. It seems ridiculous because it’s not a mental illness based on the feeling of guilt (Like Anorexia Nervosa, people often feel guilty for eating/eating too much or any trauma related illness can stem from guilt too.) But I feel guilty about when people try to offer me food I can’t eat or when I go to someones house and they don’t have anything to eat. I’ll go to events at my boyfriends house (like a barbecue or something) and he’ll always have to make something extra for me because I can’t eat the stuff everyone else eats. And I know I should feel happy because he and many of my friends are openly willing to help accommodate me and support me even when they don’t really know a lot about this particular mental illness. But I feel guilty nonetheless. Like, why do I have to be so complicated? Why can’t I just quit being so fussy and eat normally? I know why, but I still feel bad.    About a month or two ago, a good friend of mines date cancelled on her so she decided to take me someplace to eat instead. She wanted to go somewhere nice instead of the usual fast food places we go to. She suggested sushi. I can’t eat sushi. She suggested korean barbecue. I can’t eat that either. She suggested one thing after another and we drove all over the city looking for a place that I could eat before settling on Red Lobster because they offered fries. She convinced me to try one of their cheddar biscuit thingies and I didn’t like it and I felt guilty. My friend was trying to do something nice for me and trying to help and support me and I was giving shit in return. I apologized and she told me she understood but I still feel kind of guilty about it to this day. I’m just glad she is a patient and understanding person.    Then at my boyfriend brothers 4th of July party there was lots of food being offered but I couldn’t eat a single bite of any of it. And everyone kept asking “Are you going to eat?” “Try eating this” etc. Their intentions were good and I know they were but I felt really bad. Nobody in his family except for him knows about my eating disorder because I struggle to tell people for the worry that they wouldn’t understand and would act aggressively towards me about it (which has happened before.) My boyfriend even told me he felt bad because he wished there was something I was able to eat there. Finally at the end of the night before we had left the event I ended up stealing a cookie and a slice of the individually wrapped cheese for the burgers for dinner but I still felt extremely guilty nonetheless. Everyone showed clear concern for me in the fact that I’m an extremely skinny teenage girl with an unwillingness to eat. 

  The other part of my ARFID is slight anger and annoyance. Why did I have to be like this? Why couldn’t it be my brother? Or anyone else really? Which feels bad because I wouldn’t really wish this kind of illness on my worst enemies. But I can’t help it. Sometimes people get so angry with me for the little inconveniences my illness has and it makes me wish they had it so that maybe, just MAYBE they could understand and not be so harsh and judgmental about it. I would say with full sincerity that if I could control this, I absolutely would and I would eat whatever I wanted. But it isn’t that easy.    I can’t eat meat or tomatoes but my father (who is unaware of this illness as he doesn’t believe in psychology) will get pizza for everyone in the family except for me. And he knows that I’m a “vegetarian” and that I’m allergic to tomatoes (which actually is true) but he still argues and bickers and blames me when I complain about him doing this.    And this girl I was friends with years ago pretended to be accepting to my face but then behind my back she would say I was “trying to steal ARFID from autistic people” which offended her because her brother has Aspergers and she would say I was just really picky and trying to excuse it. Which isn’t true. I know another person who isn’t autistic but has this disorder and him and I have actually discussed the struggles that come from this disorder. 

 Yeah Idk where I was going with this post I’m tired and angsty and will probably add more at another point.