Healthy eating requires good planning and then following that plan. Both of these are harder with ADHD. This is why many children and adults with ADHD struggle with eating and maintaining a healthy weight. For example, adults with ADHD have higher rates of obesity and other disordered eating. Even if you don’t have an eating disorder, ADHD can make it harder to eat a healthy diet in a consistent way.
Healthy eating takes planning, beginning with going to the supermarket so you have the basic ingredients at home. Then you need to have enough time to prepare something.
The common struggles with time management with ADHD can squeeze out time to cook, so quicker and often less healthy options fill the gap. If you get hyper focused on work or if you are up against a deadline, you may work through lunch. Once you have time to eat, you may be so hungry that it can feel impossible to choose healthier options, especially if it requires some prep time.
Impulsivity can make it more likely that you reach for options that taste better at the cost of nutrition. All of this can make for more variable blood levels, fewer nutrition-packed meals, and more processed foods. This impacts not just weight, but general health and increases the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular issues, high blood pressure, etc.
Healthy Eating Is a Habit
Every day is a new opportunity to eat a little better. Here are 5 ways to build better habits.
Begin by Addressing Your ADHD. Like many aspects of living with ADHD, the problem is rarely knowing what to do, but rather in doing it. Consistency and follow-through can feel infuriatingly slippery. Promises to finally get your eating on track fade away far too quickly. Therefore, you will be much more successful with your eating if you get on top of your ADHD. This might mean medication, therapy, coaching, or educating yourself about ADHD so you can tackle all of your life with more confidence.
Make a Real Commitment to Healthy Eating. It’s easy to feel that everything is more important or demands your time first. True, life is busy, but you will feel better and perhaps have more energy if you make a point of fueling yourself up well. For anything to be a regular habit, we need to decide that it’s important enough to get our time and energy. This also means that we keep it and let something else go when a hard choice needs to be made. There’s clarity in that commitment.
Focus on Feeling Good Today, Not Weight Loss. Losing weight takes consistent effort over a long time, something that is difficult for everyone but especially so with ADHD. Slow progress feels defeating. Instead, focus on the more immediate payoffs of feeling better today when you eat in a healthier way. This also includes giving yourself credit and feeling good about yourself for doing it.
Set Alarms to Eat. If you lose track of time and miss meals, set an alarm or two to remind you. Then honor your commitment by eating at least something. Also, don’t believe yourself when you say that you will just do a little more before eating because too often that’s not how it actually works out.
Find Quick and Easy Options. Find things you can eat as meals and snacks that are easy enough to prepare that you will make the time to do it. Also make them desirable enough that you will want to eat them. A super healthy option that you don’t wind up eating isn’t actually helpful.
Healthy eating won’t cure your ADHD, but everyone’s brain works better when we give it better fuel. Focus on progress over perfection. Even incremental improvements are beneficial. When you fall off the wagon, just get yourself back on at the next opportunity. Give yourself credit for your successes and a little bit of compassion for your slips.
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