It’s a very familiar story to many. I’ve been struggling to lose weight since I was a kid. I’ve tried many things over the years… well, short of any medical interventions. When I realized that I have ADHD, I finally understood why I’ve struggled so much, which methods work better than others, and how I need to move forward with my health goals.
Sleep
This is probably my biggest issue and a lot of other problems stem from this. Unless I completely exhaust myself during the day, it’s really hard to fall asleep with all the racing thoughts I have in my mind.
Although I know there are many reasons for me to not be on my phone while in bed, often times, distracting myself with a book, a TV show, a podcast, etc. is the only way I can fall asleep quickly. Somehow, the minute my brain disconnects from the real world, it realizes how tired I am, and I can fall asleep just like that. Of course, I have to make sure whatever I’m watching/reading is not *too* engaging or else I’ll spend the entire night binging whatever it is.
Eventually, I would like to get to the point where I don’t need to have my phone with me anymore, but that requires coming up with a good evening wind down routine and I haven’t gotten around to it yet. When I do, I’ll record what it is and how well it works. Stay tuned.
Exercise
Many years ago, after many unused gym memberships, I finally got a personal trainer. It is the only thing that has really worked for regular workouts. The key was having someone I enjoyed talking with enough that I would not pay attention to the difficult workouts that they were making me do at the same time.
On weekends, my spouse and I like to visit mountains — hiking during the warmer months, and skiing during the cooler months. Having something active we enjoy doing really helps supplement the weekly workouts. On a good week, I’m probably active 4–5 days. On a bad week, it’s still 2–3 days.
What I’ve learned from this is that I really need accountability in order to succeed at things that are good for me, but I hate doing. I used to blame myself for not having the self discipline to go to the gym and save money, but now I understand that why that didn’t work. The other thing I realized too was that, with a personal trainer, I’m spending about as much money on exercise as I am on food. Given that they are equally important, that seems to be a fair value for me. Of course, some other people out there can do keep fit for cheaper, but I’m not them.
Sadly, of course, exercise alone isn’t enough so…
Food
This is where I’ve had the least success. First of all, I love food and there is no way I’m ever willing to give up eating good food for the sake of losing weight. Now, of course, this is a balance, and for me, that’s to eat whatever I want, but in moderation.
The key word there is “moderation”, which is something that is really hard for those with ADHD. I believe my biggest issue is with portion control. If there is food in front of me, I will eat it, even if it no longer brings me joy. For years, I couldn’t explain why I couldn’t stop if I felt full, or if the taste became too much.
Now that I know, the key is to simply prep and limit ahead of time. It means that if I buy a Costco-sized bag of snacks, I come home immediately and divide them up into small sandwich baggies. It means that I have smaller portions of food on my plate. It means I don’t keep too much extra food lying around the house in general, and whatever food I do keep around should be healthy. Out of sight, out of mind.
With ADHD, it’s always been so easy to prioritize other stuff than myself. Therefore, in the past year or so, I’ve been trying to be better about self care. All of this is still a work in progress, but I’m hoping that now I understand the root cause of my struggles, I’ll be able to find solutions that truly work for me long term.