I Prep All of Meals In Advance To Minimize Potential Energy Costs Later (Autism Energy Savings)
I work Tuesday,Wednesday, and Thursday at the warehouse job every week.
Sunday is my prep day. For food to eat at work,ensuring my light sensitivity glasses and earplugs are in my bag, and more.
What I Actually Do
Starting at roughly 9 AM (After my 1 hour and 20 minute run is over), I spend 3-5 hours:
- Make 16 sandwiches (4 per day for 4 days)
- Wash and chop russet potatoes to make potato fries (4 batches, 1 per day)
- Cook chicken tenderloin batch for 4 days (1 batch per day = 4 chicken tenders)
With my app energy slider scale in mind (1-10) This usually brings my energy (Which is around a 3 or 4 at the start of the day most cases) to around a 2 consistently from what I've noticed.
Same foods everyday, same exact routine, same exact costs. Both financially and energy cost.
Why I Can't Skip It
Without Sunday prep, each work day costs me far more energy since I'm constantly thinking about what to eat. Buying unhealthy bars with added sugar at work. (Which has a minor boost in energy but major downside hours later and makes it more difficult to fall asleep) Financial strain. (Foods and items here are often overpriced and barely fill me up) and unpredictable wondering if I'll have enough food for the next meal. (If I only made enough to eat for 2-3 days rather than the full 4.
Also, the executive function demand of figuring out meals every single day when I'm already drained destroys me. Meal prep removes all those micro-decisions. So eating the same thing every single day keeps my energy baseline to around a 3 instead of a 2 or 1. A marginal increase, but if I'm more than okay with that given how much energy I'd likely would have to spend anyways at work dealing with unpredictable work expectations and demands (Both mentally and physically) which helps than just being been exhausted of everything.
What Happens If I Don't Prep At All
If I don't prep for the next day I have to go to work (Not a big issue on a non work day since I can order what I need then make everything for the next day or two which takes roughly an hour or 2) I'm rushing home to make dinner with only 1 hour to spare before I need to go to bed. I depend on eating junk food at work because I didn't eat enough to sustain myself for the day, or not eating at all since I know the foods there have lots of added sugar, which would impair my sleep quality anyways and keeps me in autistic burnout even longer)
The Cost of Prepping For All 4 Days
It drains most of my energy for sure, and I intentionally make an effort to not do anything else for that day since most of my cognitive energy reserves are gone.
I spend the rest of the day stimming or walking outside (Roughly 20-30 minutes, just enough to help with sleep onset=Falling asleep faster)
Tracking my energy also helped to notice the cost on the days I prep, and on the days that I do prep the savings for those particular days. Even on following days when I don't have work, the energy cost on not having to cook everything and just simply put it in the microwave to eat is a significant energy saver and I have far more energy to play any games I want to play or engage in some minor voice chat check-up's with friends, not full on conversations yet. Still not enough energy to do that.
I plan on Launching this app, Spoons, on April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam. Your more than welcome to check my website or even join the waitlist if your interested and have the energy. :)
— 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.