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What are some slightly eccentric things you do? (self.askbeehaw)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by interolivary to c/askbeehaw

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I'd love to hear about your quirky habits.

One of mine is that when I'm out in nature I tend to collect cool looking rocks, sticks, cones etc. My window sills have become a geology exhibit (and I have zero clue about what I'm collecting, I just go by "ooh shiny") and more often than not I'll have small rocks in my pockets, bags, backpacks etc etc

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[–] interolivary 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I will also eat the same foods for breakfast and lunch, sometimes for years on end.

You wouldn't happen to be neurodivergent, would you? Food hyperfixation is super common in folks with ADHD and/or autism; eg. I've been eating salads for a couple of months straight 😅 There's variation between them but usually the base is boiled whole grain barley, different greens (but almost always including spinach), bell pepper, cucumber, scallion, maybe some sprouts, some vinaigrette, and then this absolutely lovely mirin-marinated tofu you can get from stores here

[–] YourHeroes4Ghosts 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yep, I'm autistic with a side helping of ADHD. I know that not varying my diet is bad for my health, so my dinners are extremely varied and usually plant-based, but I need my comforting sameness at breakfast and lunch.

[–] interolivary 4 points 1 year ago

I should definitely have more variety in what I eat, but I figure that as long as I'm eating I'm doing OK (I've got some health issues that have really messed with my appetite so that bar isn't as low as it may sound.) I'm still mainly eating pretty healthily and with lots of veggies, so it's not like I'm just eating french fries, right? 😅

[–] xintrik@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

I have to work really hard to plan variety into my diet as well. It's just so easy to eat the same meal forever.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) my wife will never eat the same type of meal two days in row so that really puts a damper on my boringness.

[–] surrendertogravity@wayfarershaven.eu 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you know of any papers about this or is it mostly anecdotal?

My partner and I have been eating the same thing for dinner for probably at least 70% of the last two years (marinated chicken breast in curry sauce). I’ve never liked the daily grind of cooking because I always have too many other things I want to do with my time! I do enjoy the act of cooking something complex but that has to be a special occasion for the time investment to be worth it, haha.

[–] interolivary 2 points 1 year ago

Good question. I haven't actually looked into it so personally it's anecdotal, but I do know several people with ADHD and/or autism who experience this, and I've got both of those and I definitely fixate.

Based on a quick Google Scholar search, there does seem to be some research into this but I'm not finding a lot. There's eg. this editorial in Nutrients from 2021 about nutrition and ASD, and it does seem to support the claim that at least folks on the autism spectrum do have "eating disturbances":

However, in addition to the core symptoms, ASD may have strong associations with other disorders and/or be associated with a plethora of behaviors and symptoms, such as those related to food selectivity and the consequent inadequate dietary intake [5].

Although some types of eating disturbances, such as food refusal, are also frequent in the general pediatric population, their prevalence appears to be significantly higher in ASD children, with rates ranging from 51% to 89%