Being creative…

There was never just one thing that sorted my eating issues. It was a lot of stuff, and a lot of small breakthroughs. Never underestimate the small things! They all build up until you suddenly realise you’ve built something strong.

I’m going to list some of the key things I remember, because even if just one thing is useful to you, I’ll be happy!

• Pizza-making workshop: I once went to a pizza making workshop at a local restaurant. I really enjoyed it and liked the people there. I’d refused to eat anything with tomato puree (or anything tomato-ey) on before then but we added ham to the pizza (which I liked) and I ate pizza for the first time! This was good as tomatoes are in so many things.

• Using hand-held scanners in supermarkets: I only got to like (most) supermarkets when they introduced hand-held scanners! What great tech! I focused on using the scanner and blotted out the other distractions around (like noise). We visited the stores at quieter times (autism hours are great but off peak also worked for me). It meant that I got used to being in a supermarket and was later willing to pick out new products to try.

• Trying out meal delivery boxes: I had a phase of trying these out, using their introductory offers. I liked receiving the new parcels and was more likely to try the food that came in these boxes. I also helped with the cooking and liked the step by step recipe instructions.

• Using educational food apps: I learned about healthy eating from games on food websites (such as those of the US Dept of Agriculture). That made me understand healthy choices more and fuelled my desire to be more healthy.

Thinking about this, a lot of the progress came from giving me some control over my environment and tapping into my interests. Maybe also the timings had to work. I had to be ready, or old enough to understand, before things worked. So persistence was important - if something doesn’t work now, it still might later!

Let me know if you’d like me to write more on this subject - my road to becoming a foodie was a long and winding one…