How ADHD Can Impact Your Eating Habits
You completed another busy day. And by the end of it, you notice those same symptoms again–feeling weak, struggling to concentrate, low energy levels and twinges of what is beginning to feel like hangrier. You remember that you forgot to eat, yet again today.
Maybe you easily get lost in your work, only to look up at the clock and realize that it’s 4pm and you haven’t eaten anything yet. So, tell yourself you’ll just eat dinner tonight. You end up eating everything in sight once you get home from work, leaving you feeling uncomfortably full and shameful.
You’re tired of this cycle that you keep unintentionally putting your body through. You’ve tried your hardest to find ways to remember to eat during the day, but you're still forgetting.
You want to overcome this famine-feast cycle but you aren’t sure how to, it always feels like the ADHD wins and it’s frustrating.
When you have ADHD, it can be challenging (and really common, I might add!) to remember to or know how to fuel yourself throughout the day. Reasons like hyperfocus, struggles with time awareness, the ability to be organized, or even ADHD medication itself are just a few reasons why eating is so easily forgotten.
And because it is so easy to forget, people with ADHD often struggle with their relationship with food and can even develop disordered eating habits, like the restrict-binge cycle, without even recognizing it.
The restrict-binge cycle begins to happen because for people with ADHD because you just aren’t interested in food or aren’t aware of your hunger cues. Or maybe you just avoid food altogether because it feels too complicated to prepare food, so grazing on small snacks here and there throughout the day feels more manageable.
However, come later in the afternoon or evening, food can no longer be avoided. You are starving and are hangry. So, you reach for whatever food is quickest and easiest–usually calorie-dense and sugary foods. While the hanger has disappeared you feel guilty, vowing to eat and eat better the next day.
But time and time again, you end up right back in the same cycle…Forgetting to eating or feeling overwhelmed by food decisions→Which causes you to delay eating, making you feel hanger→Reaching for whatever is easiest and binging→Feeling guilt and shame for the choices you made.
It’s a vicious cycle you are putting your body through, right?
So, how do you break free from the restrict-binge cycle when you have ADHD? Well, it is definitely a process but here are some starter tips!
Tip to Address The Restrict-Binge Cycle for Those with ADHD
Reminders & Setting Up Times to Eat–Setting up plenty of notices reminding you to eat your food and stop working is key. This can be a wonderful way for you to become more mindful of your eating habits and avoid the restrict-binge cycle. You will be forced to pause, stop, and eat when your alarms are reminding you!
Consistent Eating–While the reminders can help you with this, it is important to remember that the key to managing the restrict-binge cycle is eating consistently. Consistent eating–eating every 3-4 hours–will help you get more attunded with your body again and its hunger cues.
Eat at a Table–This seems obvious but the reality is we are always multitasking! And people with ADHD are more likely to eat while doing something else–watching TV, working, studying etc. So, it is important for you to establish a table to eat at and just eat!
Meal Buddy (or Buddies!)–Enlist a friend, family member or co-worker in helping you eat more consistently and honor your body. Schedule meals to eat with them or invite them over to make a meal together! Get creative!
Managing Stress & Taking Care of Yourself–When we are feeling stressed, it is our biological reaction to activate our sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze) and turn off the parasympathetic nervous system (rest/digestion). When the parasympathetic system is shut off, our digestive system also shuts down and the hunger cues go out the window. So, it is important to find ways to effectively manage your stress levels by taking care of yourself. Find ways to hold space for yourself and give yourself time to decompress from your day/busy schedule.
Keep Your Food Visible–It may be helpful for you to keep food in sight because it will help remind you to eat. Keeping snacks at your desk or out on the counter in the kitchen, makes it more accessible which will increase the likelihood that you will eat it.
Organize & Plan Ahead–I know this can be really overwhelming when you have ADHD to try to be organized and/or plan ahead, especially when it comes to meals…there are a lot of decisions that have to be made! To help you be successful with meal planning and prep, you can take things one at a time. Maybe you keep a standard list of grocery staples and add any extra you might need for that week. This can be really helpful when you go shopping because you can focus on what is on the list exactly and are less likely to forget anything if it is written down. You could prepare meals in advance and use foods that are pre-chopped/cooked/canned or frozen to make it even easier! When you have ADHD, it can feel impossible to eat and eat well but it doesn’t have to be this way.
It is so common for people with ADHD to forget to eat throughout the day and get stuck in the restrict-binge cycle.
There are so many things that are getting in the way that make it challenging to break free and eat more consistently.
However, utilizing tools and working with a nutritionist and/or eating disorder therapist is a wonderful space for those with ADHD to learn effective ways to eat, fuel their body intentionally and end the hangier. Through nutritional counseling with our nutritionist, Cristina Hoyt, CNS, or by working with any of our eating disorder specialist at Spilove Psychotherapy you will not only learn more about how to support yourself and fuel your body but will finally find a sense of peace when it comes to food and your body.
