Attention Deficit Disorder and weight loss

daylitemag · July 2011

Hi All, I'm wondering if anyone here has ADD and if so, have you found it effects your ability to control your diet and/or lose weight? I've heard there is a link between ADD, depression and obesity, but I don't know much more than that. Any input would be greatly appreciated, particularly if you know of any online resources that can provide further, reliable information. Thank you.

happydeer · July 2011

I don't have any resources to link (sorry) but I do have ADD and think it affects my eating patterns. Food can help me focus, so when I'm not engaged in what I'm doing I'm likely to eat to force myself to stay alert. On the other hand, when I get absorbed in projects (it happens) it's hard to remember to get in enough calories for the day. Tracking my food is always an adventure!

makemetinyplz · July 2011

I don't know much about ADD but maybe if you had a craving, you'd just get distracted from it!

FairyMiss · July 2011

i have ADD and have alot of trouble organizing thoughts and things, this site helps amazingly

brandimacleod · July 2011

Dr. Daniel Amen wrote a book called "Change your brain, change your body" that shows different foods and supplements for people to take with different conditions. There is a whole group of foods and supplements and ways to eat that focus on us folks with ADD and ADHD. I have just started really working on my weight and I am going to take another look at this book myself. Any nutrients that might help me control that food behavior is very welcome. The other thing that my doctor told me to do which I find very helpful is NO SUGAR or WHITE FLOUR or other white foods. Pretty much the only white foods I can eat at all are cauliflower and onions and plain greek yogurt. Truly the more I cut those white foods out, the more focused and controlled my eating is. I also definitely notice that if I am not otherwise occupied I will compulsively eat way beyond the point of discomfort. It's like I don't even know it is happening. I am trying other things to occupy my hands and attention, like posting and reaching out to people here. Hope that helps! If you are looking for a weight loss buddy to chat with and support feel free to friend me on here. Have a good day.:happy:

beckyinma · July 2011

I'm undiagnosed but when I was doing my son's evaluations for his, all the answers came up yes for me. When I read through the teacher evals for him, those answers were ALL yes for me as well.. I actually scored higher than him. ugh! Anyway, the way I've found it effecting me is that I get engrossed in something, mentally, physically obsessive for a couple years. And unless progress is not made, or I get bored with it, it falls by the wayside, crafts, hobbies, clubs, message boards etc. It took me 34 years to discover that, and recognize the pattern has repeated itself all my life. Since then, I realized that I have to make a conscious effort to stick with things, especially a commitment I made to getting my black belt in karate, which takes on average, 3 years, notice it's one year past my do or die quitting point. Well, I'm now 2 months past the two year mark, consciously making an effort to keep it fun, enjoy every second of it and I can't wait till next summer!

How it effects my diet.. well, same thing, before I recognized the patterns, I could do great for a few months then lose my major motivator, or have a huge setback that just made me lose attention to it, and lose care for it. Now, I have to tell myself to keep going. Every day I have to get up and tell myself that no matter what happens today, that nothing is worth quitting this. Nothing is big enough to distract me from the end goal. Daily life, my problem is mostly getting distracted by facebook, MFP or email, from my daily chores and other things. I always want to do something other than exercise and will try to find excuses... but they are never good enough. I'm getting better at recognizing the thoughts that are destructive, and the ones that are reinforcing good habits.

daylitemag · August 2011

Thank you to everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated!

ilookthetype · August 2011

Going gluten free helped me manage my ADD, depression, and I lost a ton of weight.

MichaelWWoods · February 2012

following the thread.

ADDucation · February 2012

Hey Daylitemag,

I have ADHD. Although I get the ups and downs (more on that in a second), I'm fairly in control of my diet now. I'll explain.

A few years ago when I begun working in Advertising, my life became a lot more sedentary and changed a lot. Unfortunately, my diet didn't change with it and I started to grow a little bit of a gut - 7kg worth in a very short period of time. Oh, how I wished it was muscle...

After taking one last look in the mirror I decided that I'd cut it out following the 80/20 rule - 80% diet, 20% exercise.

I found a few things that really helped me cut the weight and stick with a healthy eating approach:
1) I started on the Slow Carb Diet (essentially ketogenic) because of it's 6:1 ratio of strict:relaxed eating
2) I cleaned out the cupboards of all crap food and filled them with mass amounts of a few select ingredients
3) I tracked my progress, indulged in my off day and watched the weight plumet. That was all the motivation I needed, and was integral to me sticking with it.

Since getting my weight stable, I've moved on to eat based on a Paleo approach - one that I recommend to all my clients. It removes processed foods and gluten from the table completely, it's as simple as you make it and it's still delicious.

Now, for the ups and downs...

Since improving my diet and lifestyle, I've had dramatically less time on the Rollercoaster of ADHD. But I still respect it.

Cameron Herold has written a great analogy for the Rollercoaster (he refers to it as being that of entrepreneurs, but it's identical... spooky stuff) that you can read here: http://bit.ly/xnsN99 - this has been a powerful reference tool to have whenever things start to go the way of the downward spiral.

TL;DR?

I don't believe that ADHD has had a negative impact on my diet. It is part and parcel of the game of ADHD, but by improving my diet and running with Cameron's framework, I've found that it doesn't affect me in the same way.

- Rob

P.S. One last thing - just to clarify, I kicked my medication a long time ago, and manage my ADHD using this approach and a few other techniques.

BAMFMeredith · February 2012

I have struggled with ADHD for as long as I can remember and pretty much refused to take medication for it, so up until recently I have managed with a gluten free diet and exercise, etc. My doctor even has made sure that I explore every holistic option first before even discussing medication. Unfortunately, the holistic methods began to wear off. It got to the point where I couldn't get through a day of work without wanting to cry because I couldn't finish anything.

I fairly recently began taking a very small dosage of adderall daily. It has helped my ADHD symptoms IMMENSELY, however the biggest side effect I've noticed is that I have little to no appetite. I mean at all. This site has actually helped me so much because now I can schedule my eating, know how many calories I need to eat, and just make myself eat them. I often drink a protein shake as well, just to get in my allotted calories. Before I was on MFP and taking adderall my weight was pretty stagnant, and I think I just wasn't eating enough at all. After using this website I've lost 7 lbs since the beginning of January, and have so much more energy and stamina, all because I can really focus on what I'm eating and how much of it.

BAMFMeredith · February 2012

Going gluten free helped me manage my ADD, depression, and I lost a ton of weight.

I'm such a big gluten free advocate. I really think removing gluten from your diet can help a whole host of psychological issues! I'm not an expert my any means, but in my experience and research, I support taking out the gluten sooo much.

Attention Deficit Disorder and weight loss

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