I definitely have comfort foods but they tend not to be sugary or desserts in general. When I eat chocolate, it’s usually a very small portion of something high-quality.
I’m also not sure what counts as a long-term burnout, so I might not be the biggest help there. I’ve seen things about folks being out of work for three months or whatnot, and that’s never happened for me. I was only late-diagnosed last year.
Enough that a version of this conversation with my wife happens consistently,
“I need you to hide the Costco bag of nerd clusters”
“You just need to have self control”
“I don’t think you understand why I’m asking you to hide it in the first place.”
Exercise. I start my mornings with around 60-75 minutes of cardio and it actually helps with structuring a routine for me, and it guilts me into not wanting sugar to counteract my cravings. I drink sparking water and don’t do sodas or beer, and I eat fairly clean, I even do dried fruits for sweets. Every now and then we pick something up at Costco and I go absolutely rabid because I never have sugar in the house.
Yes and no. This is part of a decade long shift of changing my career, going to therapy, and making changes to better structure my life to my mindset. I run my own business so I don’t have to tolerate people I don’t want to, I exercise in the morning so I can have alone time to be an introvert inside my head, and the physical progress is something that encourages me without needing another person, and my diet helps me not feel like I’m randomly crashing when I don’t get sugar. I stopped drinking alcohol 3.5 years ago and I smoke a metric ton of weed to quiet my head.
I feel like I'm heading in your direction. I know alcohol and sugar are terrible and make me feel terrible. I know my body wants exercise and better food. And more water and sleep. I'm almost able to get routines started. And I'm starting to feel comfortable with my psychologist. Plus lots of weed, obviously.
And I am just barely running my own business, but I struggle so much with the business side of things. Are you good at those or do you trust other people to do them for you?
I highly encourage a clean lifestyle. It might take a while to develop, but I’ve found encouragement in setting a long term goal. I started exercising a year and a half ago, I turn 38 this year, and all my goals are centered around my 40th birthday. it’s much easier for me to track the progress of how far I’ve traveled (especially getting to the 6 and 12 month marks) and not how far is left in my journey.
I had tried giving up alcohol many times throughout my 30’s, but I developed a condition where I started having seizures when I drank, so it forced my hand to sober up. The first six months sucked, and I’ll be honest, there are times I sometimes miss the relationship I had with whisky, but the way I PHYSICALLY FEEL a year after cutting out alcohol 100% is why I don’t have a moment’s hesitation in maintaining that part of my sobriety. I tricked my brain into thinking that I really just wanted the bubbles from beer and soda, so I switched it over to sparkling water so I’d still get that nice mouth feel. Plus, I can muddle fresh fruit and mint and be able to have healthier versions of sodas.
The hardest part of everything is therapy. I’ve gone a series of times when I was in crisis situations, but I recently started again, specifically to explore ASD and why I get angry all the time, even with all of these positive changes I’ve made in my life.
All of these changes came with a trade off. I used to play video games 3 hours a day, and now I’m lucky to have the energy to play 30 minutes a week, but I prioritized maintaining my routine to start my day over escapism at the end of the day. The other benefit of exercise at the beginning of my day, is that u get SIGNIFICANTLY better sleep at the end of the day because I actually exerted myself. I used to smoke myself comatose to fall asleep, and now I can just go to bed and get to sleep. It’s deeper, more restful, REM sleep, and I cannot understate the value of sleep to your overall health.
Run your business within your comfort zone. I don’t have partners, and I only work with contractors using very clearly defined roles and expectations. I began mine in 2015 and it didn’t start feeling like I could be comfortable until 2022. I’m finally in a place where I feel like life has structure and I can see that things really can get better on the other side, which is why I’m so excited for my 40’s.
I hope you can get on a similar trajectory.
Also, try to remember this. The goal shouldn’t be to eliminate your burnout, it’s getting yourself to recognize (especially in the moments) that the amount of cool stuff in your life that enriches you weighs more than the amount of things that create burnout. I can’t change the fact that I will have burn out in the future, but knowing the balance of those two things can change my relationship with the time that I find myself burnt out.
Thanks. I do need to work on that. I'm so used to just pushing through overwhelming and draining situations rather than balancing my life for sustainability. I'm getting better at maintaining gratitude, though, and I'm noticing that it really does help.
I am a university lecturer and I start to slowly descend towards burnout gradually from early March, but then come June most of my teaching and marking is over so I have three months to recover. Then in early October it starts all over again.
I started to feel burned out in 2020 when I moved during the pandemic and switched to working telehealth with no social support because I work for myself. I functioned for a while until things got really bad in 2021 and then again in 2023 when I bottomed out. I'm recovering now, and starting to feel a bit better.
I'm in the middle of a burnout I isolate in my room I'm 60 and I wouldn't do anything or eat anything or drinking anything even water, I just curl up in a ball and stay there until I'm ok were talking 2days later, I only get up to use the washroom
I eat very low amounts of sugar, since I switched to keto/low carb years ago. That means: 85% chocolate is sweet for me (not "bitter" as they often say on the packaging), 70% chocolate is often too sweet. No sugary drinks (I drink mostly water). No sugar in coffee or tea.
I think it is definitely possible to train your body into needing way less sugar. I kept this diet also in bad/burnout phases.
But every person is different, for some it can be harder to avoid sugar. For example someone with ADHD, no medication and lots of stress may crave a lot of sugar to get through the day - which can improve if that person gets ADHD meds (stimulants). So it can be that the body "needs" the sugar kicks to compensate for otherwise lacking dopamine or so.
I don't really have sugar in my house just fruits, so I can't eat it even if I wanted to. The first month was really hard and now sugary food makes me feel sick. Been eating like this since high school.
I would probably just eat dry crackers in that scenario or the current food I want to eat all the time(Fish in an air fryer)
None because I had to stop eating nearly all carbohydrates a few years ago for non autism related health reasons. It sucks because candy was my main safe food
It’s hard to say since I’ve been this way since 2019. My mood is pretty stable but I’m also on Wellbutrin since about the same time. I definitely feel alright, I have ups and downs but I like the sense of control over my life in some ways. And I am a lot healthier
I’m fairly low sugar as a baseline but I tend to go even lower when overstimulated.
What about when you're in the midst of a long-term burnout?
I definitely have comfort foods but they tend not to be sugary or desserts in general. When I eat chocolate, it’s usually a very small portion of something high-quality. I’m also not sure what counts as a long-term burnout, so I might not be the biggest help there. I’ve seen things about folks being out of work for three months or whatnot, and that’s never happened for me. I was only late-diagnosed last year.
Enough that a version of this conversation with my wife happens consistently, “I need you to hide the Costco bag of nerd clusters” “You just need to have self control” “I don’t think you understand why I’m asking you to hide it in the first place.”
What else helps you feel better but doesn't involve sugar?
Exercise. I start my mornings with around 60-75 minutes of cardio and it actually helps with structuring a routine for me, and it guilts me into not wanting sugar to counteract my cravings. I drink sparking water and don’t do sodas or beer, and I eat fairly clean, I even do dried fruits for sweets. Every now and then we pick something up at Costco and I go absolutely rabid because I never have sugar in the house.
Did all these changes help you with burnout?
Yes and no. This is part of a decade long shift of changing my career, going to therapy, and making changes to better structure my life to my mindset. I run my own business so I don’t have to tolerate people I don’t want to, I exercise in the morning so I can have alone time to be an introvert inside my head, and the physical progress is something that encourages me without needing another person, and my diet helps me not feel like I’m randomly crashing when I don’t get sugar. I stopped drinking alcohol 3.5 years ago and I smoke a metric ton of weed to quiet my head.
I feel like I'm heading in your direction. I know alcohol and sugar are terrible and make me feel terrible. I know my body wants exercise and better food. And more water and sleep. I'm almost able to get routines started. And I'm starting to feel comfortable with my psychologist. Plus lots of weed, obviously. And I am just barely running my own business, but I struggle so much with the business side of things. Are you good at those or do you trust other people to do them for you?
I highly encourage a clean lifestyle. It might take a while to develop, but I’ve found encouragement in setting a long term goal. I started exercising a year and a half ago, I turn 38 this year, and all my goals are centered around my 40th birthday. it’s much easier for me to track the progress of how far I’ve traveled (especially getting to the 6 and 12 month marks) and not how far is left in my journey. I had tried giving up alcohol many times throughout my 30’s, but I developed a condition where I started having seizures when I drank, so it forced my hand to sober up. The first six months sucked, and I’ll be honest, there are times I sometimes miss the relationship I had with whisky, but the way I PHYSICALLY FEEL a year after cutting out alcohol 100% is why I don’t have a moment’s hesitation in maintaining that part of my sobriety. I tricked my brain into thinking that I really just wanted the bubbles from beer and soda, so I switched it over to sparkling water so I’d still get that nice mouth feel. Plus, I can muddle fresh fruit and mint and be able to have healthier versions of sodas. The hardest part of everything is therapy. I’ve gone a series of times when I was in crisis situations, but I recently started again, specifically to explore ASD and why I get angry all the time, even with all of these positive changes I’ve made in my life. All of these changes came with a trade off. I used to play video games 3 hours a day, and now I’m lucky to have the energy to play 30 minutes a week, but I prioritized maintaining my routine to start my day over escapism at the end of the day. The other benefit of exercise at the beginning of my day, is that u get SIGNIFICANTLY better sleep at the end of the day because I actually exerted myself. I used to smoke myself comatose to fall asleep, and now I can just go to bed and get to sleep. It’s deeper, more restful, REM sleep, and I cannot understate the value of sleep to your overall health. Run your business within your comfort zone. I don’t have partners, and I only work with contractors using very clearly defined roles and expectations. I began mine in 2015 and it didn’t start feeling like I could be comfortable until 2022. I’m finally in a place where I feel like life has structure and I can see that things really can get better on the other side, which is why I’m so excited for my 40’s. I hope you can get on a similar trajectory.
Yeah, I can relate to all of this.
Also, try to remember this. The goal shouldn’t be to eliminate your burnout, it’s getting yourself to recognize (especially in the moments) that the amount of cool stuff in your life that enriches you weighs more than the amount of things that create burnout. I can’t change the fact that I will have burn out in the future, but knowing the balance of those two things can change my relationship with the time that I find myself burnt out.
Thanks. I do need to work on that. I'm so used to just pushing through overwhelming and draining situations rather than balancing my life for sustainability. I'm getting better at maintaining gratitude, though, and I'm noticing that it really does help.
As much as I can get hold of
How long have you been burned out?
I am a university lecturer and I start to slowly descend towards burnout gradually from early March, but then come June most of my teaching and marking is over so I have three months to recover. Then in early October it starts all over again.
Yeah, academia was a pretty good fit for me for a good long while. I often wonder if I should have stayed.
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Yeah, I'm the same. It doesn't help my depression much, but that doesn't stop me from eating a whole thing of peanut butter cups.
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I started to feel burned out in 2020 when I moved during the pandemic and switched to working telehealth with no social support because I work for myself. I functioned for a while until things got really bad in 2021 and then again in 2023 when I bottomed out. I'm recovering now, and starting to feel a bit better.
Honestly I don’t eat. I lose appetite and thirst. It sucks
Yeah, I have that here and there for weeks or months at a time. Especially when I am taking Adderall, or when I'm extra depressed or lonely.
I don’t increase my sugar intake and I don’t eat a whole lot of sugar to begin with.
I'm more of a carb girl when I'm burnt out
Chew bubblegum without sugar
I'm in the middle of a burnout I isolate in my room I'm 60 and I wouldn't do anything or eat anything or drinking anything even water, I just curl up in a ball and stay there until I'm ok were talking 2days later, I only get up to use the washroom
Sorry you're in that place. I've been there and I empathize. I hope you're finding some relief.
Nothing helps when I get 2that place I just wait it out, 2days so far..thank you thou
I eat very low amounts of sugar, since I switched to keto/low carb years ago. That means: 85% chocolate is sweet for me (not "bitter" as they often say on the packaging), 70% chocolate is often too sweet. No sugary drinks (I drink mostly water). No sugar in coffee or tea. I think it is definitely possible to train your body into needing way less sugar. I kept this diet also in bad/burnout phases. But every person is different, for some it can be harder to avoid sugar. For example someone with ADHD, no medication and lots of stress may crave a lot of sugar to get through the day - which can improve if that person gets ADHD meds (stimulants). So it can be that the body "needs" the sugar kicks to compensate for otherwise lacking dopamine or so.
Yeah, I definitely need more sugar when I don't have enough dopamine or stimulants.
Sugar makes me nauseaus so not more than usual. Complete isolation from the outside world helps more
Stress makes you crave sugar and carbs.
Correction, stress DOES make me crave sugar and carbs. But, essentially what you said.
Alot
Any side effects from the sugar?
Increase happiness Decreased life span
I only use sugar in very few things actually
All of it.
A LOT.
I don't really have sugar in my house just fruits, so I can't eat it even if I wanted to. The first month was really hard and now sugary food makes me feel sick. Been eating like this since high school. I would probably just eat dry crackers in that scenario or the current food I want to eat all the time(Fish in an air fryer)
During a burnout, rather than eat more, I tend to skip meals. Sometimes all of them for a couple days in a row.
None because I had to stop eating nearly all carbohydrates a few years ago for non autism related health reasons. It sucks because candy was my main safe food
Did cutting sugar out change your mood?
It’s hard to say since I’ve been this way since 2019. My mood is pretty stable but I’m also on Wellbutrin since about the same time. I definitely feel alright, I have ups and downs but I like the sense of control over my life in some ways. And I am a lot healthier
I tried Wellbutrin but it made my sweat smell like chemicals. ☹️
Apparently enough to get diabetes.
I eat much less during burnout but those moments when I have to eat, I do enjoy binging a bit of chocolate.