What Autism is Teaching Me About Weight, Inflammation, and Food

Welcome to my Unmasking Autism series. This is where I share what I’m learning as I begin to understand my autistic experience and gently come home to myself. These posts are personal, honest, and written with tenderness for the parts of me that have spent years surviving.

This is a hard post to write, but it’s part of my story and part of my healing.

My weight has swung severely throughout my life. I’ve lived through seasons of major weight gain and major weight loss. At one point, I reached close to 200 pounds, and I carried not just the weight in my body, but the weight in my mind too. Shame. Confusion. Frustration. The constant feeling that I was doing everything “right” and still couldn’t figure out why my body wouldn’t cooperate.

For years, I believed a simple thing.

If I just exercised hard enough, it would fix it.

So I did.

There were seasons when I worked myself to death in the gym. I’m talking up to nine workouts a week. I was chasing control. Chasing results. Chasing the promise that if I could just be disciplined enough, I’d finally feel okay in my skin.

And sometimes I could keep the weight off for a while. But it always felt like a fight. A grind. A punishment.

And when my body would swing again, I assumed I was failing.

Now I’m learning something I wish I would have known a long time ago.

Exercise wasn’t the missing piece.

Food was.

And more specifically, inflammation, dysregulation, and nutrient dense food were the missing pieces.

What I Thought Was “Laziness” Was Actually a Dysregulated Body

After learning I’m autistic, I’ve learned how much autism affects the whole body, including the nervous system, digestion, cravings, energy, sleep, and regulation. When my nervous system stays in survival mode, my body doesn’t just feel stressed mentally.

It shows up physically.

I’m learning that chronic dysregulation can contribute to inflammation. And inflammation can make everything feel harder. Harder to lose weight. Harder to recover. Harder to sleep. Harder to feel energized. Harder to feel steady.

So I wasn’t just fighting “weight.”

I was fighting a body that was overwhelmed and inflamed.

And I didn’t even know it.

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The Food I Thought Was Healthy Was Still Wrecking My Body

This part is humbling.

Because even when I was trying to eat “healthy,” I was still eating a lot of processed foods. I didn’t understand how processed my choices were because the labels sounded good. The marketing sounded good. The packages were convincing.

But my body was still reacting.

It didn’t matter how many workouts I did if what I was eating was keeping my body stressed, inflamed, and depleted. I was trying to out train what I was feeding myself.

And I didn’t know that’s what I was doing.

Fresh Food Changed Everything

Here’s where I have to give credit to someone who genuinely helped change my life.

My private chef has taught me so much about food, nourishment, and regulation. He has helped me understand what my body actually needs, and he has recipes for everything. He helped me learn how to eat in a way that supports my nervous system, not fights it.

Sidebar / Private Chef in DFW

If you’re in the DFW area and interested in private chef services, you can reach out to Chef Sloan here.

He’s been a huge part of helping me build meals that support my sens

When I started eating more fresh foods, my body changed entirely.

Not overnight, and not in a magical, superficial way. But in a real, foundational way.

My inflammation improved. My energy stabilized. My cravings shifted. My digestion got better. My nervous system felt less “on edge.”My body started responding differently.

And I realized something that hit me deep.

I had been working so hard to “fix” myself with workouts, when what I really needed was nourishment.

What I Wish I Would Have Known Sooner

I wish I would have known long ago that being autistic made it even more important for me to eat fresh food and nutrient dense meals.

Because my body is sensitive. My nervous system is sensitive. My sensory world is intense.

And when I feed myself in a way that supports regulation, everything works better.

I’m not saying exercise isn’t good. I still love movement. I still believe in strength and endurance and sweating and feeling capable in my body.

But I no longer believe exercise is a punishment for eating.

And I no longer believe the answer is always “do more.”

Sometimes the answer is: nourish more.

Sometimes the answer is: slow down.

Sometimes the answer is: support your nervous system.

Sometimes the answer is: eat food that loves you back.

I’m still learning. I’m still healing my relationship with my body. I’m still letting go of old beliefs that told me thinness was the only proof I was okay.

But I’m grateful for what I know now.

Because now I can care for my body with compassion instead of control.

And that is a different kind of freedom.

xo,

jd

Thank you for being here. If any part of this resonated, I hope you feel a little less alone. I’m still learning, still unmasking, and still choosing compassion over shame one moment at a time.