Is a fast metabolism commonplace with aspies?

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That's interesting. As a T1 diabetic I've always been told that T1 is an autoimmune condition and unaffected by lifestyle, which as far as I know is true. You inherit a genetic weakness but it takes illness or trauma to trigger it, and then your immune system cripples the pancreas.

BUT if athletes develop insulin-dependent diabetes after retirement, that is a direct lifestyle cause. Or is it that they develop T2 but it's severe enough to warrant insulin not just diet and tablet control?

I believe a lot of autoimmune conditions and opportunistic infections triggered by high carb diet and correlated intake of gluten-like proteins. When you eat a lot of sugars, microorganisms like candida thrive in your body and although it might be asymptomatic, it takes a toll on your immune system. T2 is much more likely to develop as a direct result of conditioning your body to manage blood glucose by energy expenditure year after year. But T1 probability also increase as a result of abusing fast carbs and stressing your body on regular basis. There is still a lot of research to be done, but there is some data of t2 diabetes even in active lean people who were trying to lead healthy lifestyle following "high carb low fat" approach.

Yes. I have noticed that most autistic people are either skinny or overweight. But the overweight ones are usually on meds that cause weight gain. I believe autism makes the brain work extra harder so it burns more calories than a typical person.

I used to be very skinny too in my early 20s and def. Had a Fast metabolism. Ate a lot of sweets and had trouble gaining weight.

Now i gain weight a lot easier and it has started to become a problem

My metabolism is pretty slow.

I have to do at least 20,000 steps a day just to maintain my weight.

Yes, that is something I have been told by non-medical people when they saw the way I ate and didn't gain weight. In studying ASD, I think it is more complicated than that and still not well understood. There has been a lot of research into the connection between ASD and mitochondrial dysfunction. The case zero of mitochondrial dysfunction was a woman with an inability to gain weight.

Here is some of the research:

Evidence of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism

This article examines kids with ASD/Mito comorbid diagnosis:
Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis

I was always able to eat whatever and however much (granted I have a small appetite) I wanted, and not gain any weight (as an adult, I stayed around 110 pounds). I did not exercise on a regular basis for very long, either. Still seems I can do whatever I want and not have my weight change, except that I gained 40 pounds when I had chemo last year, so that is now a frustrating thing because nothing I do makes it go down, either.

when i was a pretty young thing, nobody could outrun my fast metabolism, it was smokin'! i would eat a french-fried pony and a whole cheery cherry and cream pie for dessert, chased down with a mug o' ice-cold hard cider. still was 6'3" and 150#. in basic training i was the only one who was told to "sit your skinny ass down and EAT!" but when i turned 30 somebody, some mean person see, they flipped the switch to the low metabolism position and i started gaining weight and had to start watching what i eat and floggin' my donkey to keep the pounds from accumulating. that worked a bit but my weight slowly climbed to 180, which i charitably self-describe as muscle weight. then when i turned into my 5th decade i REALLY had to start the hard exercise and eat a specific "nutritarian diet" [eat mostly salad] and my weight slowly climbed to 190# and beyond but my waist was still <35" until my hips went out, then i ballooooooned past 240# and my waist went to danger territory past #40. now that i got some alternate treatments for my hips and elsewhere, i am back down to 35"/200#. but it is WORK and DIET always. i wish i had my youthful metabolism back.

Or maybe autism makes the brain work extra harder so it ends up burning more calories than a typical person

LOL....I wish autism would burn more of my calories!

Even though I've run at least 3 miles a day for a few months (before my surgery), I didn't lose a pound.

It could be age in general also. As you get older your metabolism can slow down

Metabolism slowing with age is more to do with lifestyle.

Older people are able to be to fit. But most just prioritize their time other things in their life (i.e. kids, career, house maintenance, obligations, or other hobbies, etc.)

Getting fit for the sake of looks is less of a motivator. Younger people care more about popularity, but older people settle into a smaller social circle of people.

And marriage. When people are single and dating, they want to be fit to be more attractive. But then they find a long-term partner who loves them for who they are, and they go out to eat a lot.

In most cases, this is because people are less physically active when they were younger. They stop playing sports and other athletic activities. They settle into sedentary jobs and sedentary lifestyles.

It's true that people lose muscle mass as they get older, and this hurts metabolism. But older people who eat protein and lift weights 5-10 hours a week can still retain their muscle mass.

I wish I had a slightly easier time gaining weight. My weight is often just at the borders of normal, sometimes dipping into the underweight category. It would be nice to have a little more strength and energy. There are times where I'm full of energy, but a lot of the time I'm running on low. My main issue is that my sleep schedule is off, I wake up late at the weekends and as a result don't eat as much, and I quickly lose weight if I don't keep that in check. Which leads to a lack of energy and it just ends up spiralling and influencing my mood.

Really I should get more exercise so I'm actually tired at night and actually hungry when I'm meant to be. University really messed up my sleep schedule and I'm a little ashamed that I haven't fully got it back on track yet. It's improved, I'm good at getting up on time on the weekdays usually, but weekends are still a mess. Not too long ago, I found out that I have IBS and I'm still learning how to manage it. Fully fixing my sleep schedule would definitely be a good first step.

i need to have an easier time losing weight.

I think that this is what applies to me more than anything specific to my metabolic rate.

I could list all the things that I wont eat as stand alone items or in combination with others due to their origin, appearance, texture etc but I suspect that you would fall asleep before you got half way through.

Food is little more than fuel to me - I cant really get that excited about it. If it were possible to eat some kind of small protein bar thing once a day and have that meet all physiological requirements (impossible I know) I would be more than happy.

In consequence, in my 60's I am about the same waste size (32") and weight that I was as a 20 year old.