Eating Habits

[ASD_Geek]

I have a question for the community. Whenever I am eating anything that has a meat entree, and either rice, pasta, or vegetables with it, when I get closer to the end of the meal, I divide up the meat into 4 different pieces and try to divide the noodles, etc. into portions with each piece. These end up being my last 4 bites of the meal. I'm attaching a picture for clarity.

My question is does anyone else do this? I'm thinking it may be due to some OCD or something similar. I've done this my entire life and have been asked about it by my family, but I don't have a reason.

 

[Judge]

No- not at all. Though I certainly have OCD and tend to eat one entree at a time.

 

[Hylian]

I did things similar to that when I was a child, but now I don't necessarily think I do. My routine for eating as an adult is more vegetables first, meat second, etc. and for specific meals it's always the same order. In my case it might honestly just be more that I have a routine for eating.

I have had symptoms of OCD since I was a child, but my habit of dividing everything into groups of four, even my food (with that picture I would have put the meatballs together and then probably spent time dividing all the noodles into groups of four as I ate them), and doing everything four times, etc. that I had isn't really a thing anymore. It died down when I started high school.

 

[Karamazov]

I do eat food according to particular patterns: varies depending on what, but it’s always planned out to ensure I have the preferred flavours and textures in my mouth last... to linger.

 

[Soleil]

I've never done this. I usually eat sides first before moving on to the main course. Fries/ chips are eaten last, as I consider them more of a snack than a side.

With sandwiches, I tend to cut them like \ and eat the lower left half first. Both halves I eat the crust first.

 

[Aspychata]

Okay - sometimes l am guilty of this. Sometimes l like to see everything perfectly sized in exact portions at the very end. But sometimes l feel OCD, sometimes not. Do we have to confess this?

 

[Jumpback]

I have a slight tendency to save what I like best for the last thing, but that’s about it

 

[dragonfire42]

I eat the entree, starch, and vegetables separately, usually in that order. If it’s something where everything is mixed together, for example a stir fry, I pick out all of the meat, then all of the vegetables, then eat the rice. And I have to have an even number of bites so each side of my mouth chews the same amount of the same thing, alternating which side I chew on. No OCD diagnosis, I suspect I’m very near the borderline on that.

 

[Progster]

When I was a kid I used to eat candies according to colour, the lighter ones first then the darker ones. Now I tend to leave my favourite food items to last. I'm more fussy about texture than anything else when it comes to food.

 

[Ezra]

Dividing / organizing your food is a very typically autistic thing to do.

 

[Karamazov]

Dividing / organizing your food is a very typically autistic thing to do.

I take it wanting all the different foodstuffs clearly separate from each other on the plate would come under that?

 

[Ezra]

I take it wanting all the different foodstuffs clearly separate from each other on the plate would come under that?

No that's just weird. I mean yes. I think that is the most typical thing with autistic food habits.

Personally if I am eating meat, potatoes and veg I keep them separate on the plate, but like to have a bit of all three together on my fork each bite.

 

[SusanLR]

Dividing the different food group in thier own seperate section has always been the norm for me.
As a child, I had to eat from a divided picnic plate so nothing ran together.
I still prefer my foods arranged like that, but, do not require seperate sections.

I also eat one section at a time. Usually the meat first, then going around to the different vegetables.
Mixed foods like stir fry bowls I rarely eat, but, if I do, I am still picky at eating the meat out of it first
then the vegetables. Some vegetables I don't like and I will push them into a stack to themselves
and not eat them. Best examples are celery and red peppers.

 

[Karamazov]

No that's just weird. I mean yes. I think that is the most typical thing with autistic food habits.

Personally if I am eating meat, potatoes and veg I keep them separate on the plate, but like to have a bit of all three together on my fork each bite.

Presunctly! The purpose of separation is to have full and complete control of what combinations enter the mouth in which order.

(And the order which they are stacked on the fork for that matter)

 

[Alexej]

(And the order which they are stacked on the fork for that matter)

Another new things for me today - never come across that one before

 

[Juliettaa]

Yes, I do separating/organising of food on my plate, giving consideration to how it's arranged on the plate and what goes on the fork AND in what order.

I have a big thing about certain textures and also, due to synesthesia, I sometimes taste colours when eating, so I have to factor that in as well.

Childhood eating/mealtimes were horrendous, very traumatic due to abusive parents having zero understanding, but as an adult, I get to choose

 

[BraidedPony]

I always portion my bites so that everything is finished at the same time. I've been doing this so long I don't even think about it. But I like everything to be even.

 

[Aspychata]

l am the opposite, l like things to disappear evenly on my plate. Like protein and carb can get smaller in a uniform fashion, however l can let go if needed. It depends on boredom, stress, or meh mood that helps me feel in control.

 

[ASD_Geek]

No that's just weird. I mean yes. I think that is the most typical thing with autistic food habits.

Personally if I am eating meat, potatoes and veg I keep them separate on the plate, but like to have a bit of all three together on my fork each bite.

Yes! I do the same thing when I can.

I always portion my bites so that everything is finished at the same time. I've been doing this so long I don't even think about it. But I like everything to be even.

Exactly! When I start my meal, I tend to eat everything in a clockwise fashion, unless there is a food that I don't like, then I eat that first so I can enjoy the rest of the meal. If I run out of something on the plate, I'll go get a little bit more so the bites balance right to the end.

 

[Aspychata]

l bet we could write a 500 page thesis on food on our plate, that would follow 500 page thesis on how we pick out clothes to wear for the day. Sometimes l think am l anal or just bored or just delirious or a out of control childhood, (not allowed to leave table until Cornish game hen was gone, that made me sad, it had the body of a bird sitting on my plate) but that would require a good month to figure out supporting arguments for each and every possibility, so l will just go with a little of all. If they made burgers in the shapes of cows, less people would eat them probably, unlike cow cookies.