Success with ADHD/ADD? Or success with building good habits?

natajane · February 2022

Hello,

Give me some hope people haha - has anyone with ADHD or poor organisational skills successfully managed to stick to myfitnesspal and lose a lot of weight?

I have so much weight to lose. I do well, lose like 14lbs, and then forget myself or give into impulsivity and jack it all in. I never get further than the 14lbs! And then I put it back on again.

I have zero food routine. I can do it for like 2 months and then I'm off it. Its such a shame because I am a good cook and I enjoy the healthy foods too and I'm good at fitting it all into my calories and macros when i take the time to plan - so why can't I just create a routine and stick to it?! Frustrating brain.

Any tips, advice, success stories, photos - throw em at me.

Natalie

jeanarroyo786 · February 2022

You answered your question. You do great when you plan. You can't execute what you don't plan. If you want to improve your health, lose weight and achieve your goals planning is essential. If you drive your car without a plan, you end up nowhere or possibly lost. Same for your diet. Every Sunday I plan my food for the week-a a realistic menu, check that I have the ingredients, use the slow cooker on my late work nights and have my lunch containers ready for the week. I don't makeup all my meals ahead but I'll do 2 days at a time. Have your bottles of water iced and ready. A protein shake for the drive home so you're not starving when you walk in the door and log in your food on the My Fitness Pal app. Hold yourself accountable so you will achieve your goals. ADHD increases the risk of distractibility but plenty of people create an organizational plan, a scheduled routine, so they can achieve success. You can do it if you plan, prepare and execute. Let nothing keep you from your goal and you will achieve not only improved health but the desire to push yourself further!

sexforjaffacakes · February 2022

Honestly the only thing that has really helped is *hyperfocusing* on MFP/weightloss so the point where it was obsessive and annoying haha.

Okay no there are a few other helpful things;

- trying to stay in an environment which helps me avoid snacking on food in house (e.g. going out and about or going to the office)
- Getting a locked tin to keep sweets and chocolate in (my partner is in charge of the key so I don't go overboard looking for a dopamine hit)
- drinking more cups of tea during the day (probably not healthy but the caffeine helps suppress appetite/snacking urge and doesn't make me crave more food like fizzy juice does) (I drink plain mint tea - no milk/sugar)
- having easy-access backup foods for days when I've been unable to cook or prepare food (like turkey dinosaurs or pepperammis - not the best food in the world but not the worst either!)
- this is fitness more than weightloss but I finally sucked it up and accepted I'm rubbish at self motivation so I now pay a personal trainer to force me to exercise (I know that is a privilege not everyone can afford but if it can be budgeted it has really helped)

AlexandraFindsHerself1971 · February 2022

What has worked for me is locking in good habits a few at a time. I'm dual diagnosis with autism, so I'm sort of "weaponizing" the autism to make breaking the habit feel WRONG. (And yes, I frequently pit the ADHD against the autism so that I can do something out of routine without an anxiety attack.)

I have taking my meds and drinking my tea and eating a small breakfast in the routine. and also I lay out workout clothes the night before. I just had surgery so I can't go to the gym, but normally I just leave everything out and ready and go to the gym right after pills and the first cup of tea. And then it's all done and the day is ahead of me.

I also plan my meals. It's not that I can't have something else instead if I want it more, but usually I just want to eat something and so I look at the menu, and hey, I like that, that'll do fine! And it also means that I get my partners fed and that's something that matters a lot to me. I like to be able to say, "Oh, we're having this or that," and know that they're going to be taken care of. So I sort of use my deep drive to take care of them to help me too.

In fact, that's a main driver for my weight loss; if I want to be in good condition as I age to continue to take care of them, I need to lose weight and get stronger now.

tindavione · February 2022

So glad I found this ! I have a houseful ( yup, all 3 of us! ) that are dual diagnosed ( ADHD / Autism) and we all struggle with this ~ Cant seem to keep a plan going to save our soul! And we do have one who refuses to measure....

makes for a rough go ! There are a few nuggets in here though thank you ! "taking care of them by taking care of me " might be a good place to start ( restart?) and being able to tell them ( instead of asking , "what's for dinner ?) might just make things abit easier .

THUNDER5453 · February 2022

I too am glad i found this... Yes I am clinically diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD. I work with a nutritionist and a PTSD counselor to maintain a plan. I am also a retired war dog handler, savory chef and culinary arts instructor so menu planning is a walk in the park for me.

However putting that menu down on paper and executing is well let's say it doesn't go well at times. What i find to be very helpful is practice the STOP procedure
S.... Stop doing what your doing
T... Take a breath
O... Observe what is going wrong and fix it
P.. proceed with that task

I like another person on this Blog make the menu on Saturday and prep on Sunday. I allow myself 4 hours to make my wife's lunch and my breakfast's lunch and 2 snacks for the week. No dinner for me Instead I use a protein shake to sip in the evening. I need to be done eating by 1600 hrs so digestion will not hamper my sleep.

Oh I forgot to say I also have a full non reversible Ileostomy. So protein is a big must for me and lots of liquids to prevent dehydration. I eat 2 large meals breakfast and lunch both high in protein coming from meats and dairy products and 2 small snack also both high in protein. I finish the day with a shake and more re hydration solution which is water powdered Gatorade and no salt. On the average i drink 96 to 128 oz a day.

Lately my Psychiatrist has prescribe me with a new med to help me keep focus better. I also am on Wellbutirn and a over the counter med called Neu-Becalm'd. I am in a much better place with the meds and they have helped me focus not only on my eating and meal planning, but also with workouts.

Yes there are still bumps along the way but they are more manageable when the meds are on board. That my friends is hurdle that I am currently working on is getting the meds on board both times during the day.

Greg

withadventure · February 2022

I have a convenient hack called autism

, so even though I have a tendency to habit hop and struggle to maintain habits, I also really really like routine. So I've built food into my routine and voila! I struggle less because I don't like breaking my routine.

I've had the same toast and jelly breakfast for the past two months, same 4-5 meals for lunch, and dinner can be sometimes unpredictable but mostly I've taken to eating a lot of pre-seasoned frozen fish. I can get lazy and often times if I fall off of my plan it's because I was too lazy to get up and make food so I try to make sure that all of my meals are as low effort as possible so I don't get burnt out.

I know what you mean. I have a history of poor eating habits (both over eating and being too restrictive) and the only way for me to maintain any sort of diet or healthy eating pattern was to hyperfixate on it to the point that it almost becomes unhealthy, and even that eventually fails. But I've found that the better solution isn't to hyperfixate but instead to be so nonchalant about it that I don't care, and that only works if the healthy food you have is lower effort than the junk food.

You said you like your cooking and end up falling off the wagon so to speak when you don't cook for yourself. My advice would be to consider getting food you don't have to cook but that is healthy. You can eat pre-packaged meals. It isn't a sin. Just make sure you look at what you're getting and make sure it's healthy. (This is more expensive than cooking for yourself too, so probably not a permanent solution, but it can probably hold you over when you aren't in the mood or able to cook.)

Especially if you have a habit of breaking routine, make sure that there are options around for that. Pay attention to what it is that makes you break your routine. Is it a feeling? Craving? Laziness? Boredom? Try to identify what it is that pushes you off. Then plan for it.

I also have a water bottle that auto-tracks what I'm drinking. It lights up when I need to take a drink and there's a rainbow light party when I meet my goal. Having this has helped a lot because it's a constant reminder, and also because drinking water makes me eat less so even if I do go off-plan I'm not going to eat the entire kitchen.

If you can't prevent it because it's part of your brain chemistry, then try to plan for it rather than against it.

I definitely know the struggle. Sorry to hear that you're stuck in that cycle.

candysashab88 · February 2022

Thank you for this post. I have Add throw in a bit of imposter syndrome and depression. It is tough to sometimes break out of it but I find if I just keep tracking no matter what. it doesnt have to be perfect, just even one meal is better than nothing. Im still in the game.

beccaboo1276414 · February 2022

I have ADHD and log everything I eat on most days. I went gluten free due to necessity, but it is the main act I did for myself to be able to lose weight and keep it off. I also eat lower carb, under 150 grams of carbs per day which keeps the appetite beast under control.

I shop and eat natural foods (rarely any processed foods) and my best friend is the crockpot.

I have learned to develop certain routines as I have to control my blood glucose. Routines can really help, or otherwise, I forget the important stuff. For example, I will take my vitamins after lunch. A routine as simple as that can help. Another routine is I take my diabetic meds in the morning after testing my blood glucose, and have my meds in a basket by the bed. It's a visual reminder plus a timing issue.

I was also prescribed ritalin from my doctor which helps me some what. Daily exercise helps adhd too, but I am struggling with that lately. I used to exercise daily, but after getting ill, I've not made it a regular habit again. I am working on it.

I have fallen off the wagon more times than not, but my secret to success is that I get right back on the wagon immediately and proceed forward with no guilt. I've taken off 126 pounds. Being gluten free has allowed me to keep it off. It took me years and many lifestyle changes. It doesn't happen overnight.

I was with Spark People for ten years before it shut down. It is possible to do it. Be kind to yourself and creative in your ideas for change. Be patient too. It will take you far.

Success with ADHD/ADD? Or success with building good habits?

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