Why I Forget to Eat at Work as an Autistic Adult in Burnout
A couple minutes after my break ends, my stomach is growling hard. I'm unable to focus. My exhaustion curve steepens even higher when I realize I haven't ate enough to fuel myself.
My warehouse job has scheduled breaks. 9:15AM-9:30AM. 11:40AM-12:10PM. 2:40PM-2:55PM.
Often I only eat a sandwich or two, or nothing at all. I don't feel hungry, so most of the time I just lie down or go back to work 1-2 minutes before my break is over.
Interoception Is the Invisible Drain
Interoception is my body's ability to sense internal signals—hunger, thirst, fatigue. Since I'm already in burnout, detecting when I'm hungry or thirsty doesn't faze my mind until a few hours later. Moving my attention from one thing to the next when I'm constantly monitoring all of these signals while being very mentally exhausted really frustrates me.
Interoception was the subtle but significant drain that made my other drains more impactful. Sensory overload due to transition costs—moving from station to station constantly every time I finish a package. Masking—dealing with coworkers that take my friendly attitude as a signal that I'm "available."
It's not something I'm ashamed of. I'm clearly exhausted and my mind is trying to compensate by reducing as many signals as possible to help my recovery.
What It Actually Costs
Normally, despite using earplugs with an NRR rating of 33 decibels which helped a lot but didn't completely solve the problem, my hunger levels being low elevated that exhaustion. I was drained about 6-7 energy before my second break arrived at 11:40AM. Compared to 2-4 by the time my shift is normally over.
The combination of the ongoing sensory overload despite the precaution I took combined with my hunger levels being low contributed to more energy being used just to focus and not have a meltdown.
Since I was thinking about how hungry I am, that drew less attention to my hydration levels too.
I'm often lifting packages to my station weighing 20-30lbs, so this impacted me just as much if not more than my hunger levels did. My job expects me to be active all the time throughout the 10 hours I am there.
The Cascade When I Get Home
Once I get home at around 6:00PM, I often end up binge eating a lot of sandwiches or preparing some basmati rice in my microwave. I pick up on the signals far too late. I end up eating a lot more to compensate for the little I ate during the day.
I wind down at around 6:30PM and go to bed strictly at 7:30PM. Eating too late and consuming too much often wakes me up during the night and degrades my sleep quality.
This gives me less energy to recover for the next day. On top of feeling more hungry regardless since my sleep quality wasn't good enough to restore my energy completely. I end up having to consume 400-600 more calories than I usually do.
This makes my burnout recovery slower and more tedious.
About Me
I'm Omari, a 23-year-old autistic adult who's been managing chronic burnout for 5+ years while working warehouse shifts.
This is one of my many reasons I built Spoons. I prioritize rest which helps improve my executive function. My hunger and hydration signals get stronger. Allows me to catch them sooner to help improve my energy levels & my recovery without exhausting myself further.
Launching April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam.
— Omari
Note: I'm sharing my personal experience as an autistic adult, not medical advice. If you're experiencing severe burnout or crisis, please consult a healthcare provider familiar with autism.