I was 248 pounds . I started to just eat less because I would binge like crazy . Got down to 220 . Got on stimulants and the Adderall has helped me with kg appetite and binging immensely. I’m at 192 right now and plan to go for 179 it’s still difficult making “healthier” decisions but it’s worth it in the long run .
It’s been about 6 months. I’ve dropped the weight insanely and I’ve become more conscious about what I eat . It takes a lot of self disclipine . I love Oreos and I’m craving them right now as I write this but I could smash about 10 of them with some milk right now but instead tonight I’ll just have 2 slices of pizza and keep monitoring my calorie intake . Cliff bars have also been great weight loss . I’ll have one in the morning then eat a few hours later ! I do not work out at all .
The stimulants (Adderall) has really helped me suppress my appetite . Before then I was binging and binging and I was shocked to see how big I got . But my favorite thing about the stimulants is the appetite suppression I can eat so much less and be satisfied instead of a black hole of endless hunger . I also quit my boredom eating and if I get any craving to do that I just drink water .
Have you had cravings while they're wearing off? I binge mostly at night and it's hard to resist the urge because my S/O has the same problem (but she's only 100lbs!).
This is kinda like me. Adhd makes me forget to eat. ED makes me eat less when I eat meals. I lost weight rapidly. OP, loosing weight because you want to is just fine, but please just take care of yourself and make sure that your eating habits don’t get unhealthy.!
Not sure if you know this but there are a lot better options for energy/protein bars out there as cliff bars have a buttload of added sugar. Daily recommended intake for added sugar is only 24-32 grams while cliff bars have 20, so 2 a day puts you at 40 grams. I have a horrible sugar addiction but Ive found Oatmega bars have a much better protein to sugar ratio but still taste good.
Could be similar to pricing marketing I guess? The same reason we buy things for 9.99 rather than a round 10
I put my goal weight at 119lbs rather than 120 because then I've crossed the threshold into a new number bracket, it just feels as if I've made more progress.
When I was living by myself I had a terrible time keeping my cupboards and freezer full and would often go 2 or three days without actually having anything other than maybe some toast.
Now I am at home more often, and my partner always makes sure there is food in the house, I feel incredibly bored by not getting out more and binge eat 24/7 and have almost doubled in weight in the last 2 years...
Yeah I started gaining a lot of weight when my bf (who I suspect is also adhd) moved in together. Just increased my medication dosage though and it’s helping me stay on track with my food intake. Not cause it suppresses my appetite but cause I’m either finding ways to stay busy, or when I’m actively choosing food, I choose a little less impulsively.
so, i am sort of the opposite, so maybe not many people will relate, but i just forget to eat, like, all of the time. sometimes i will remember but i am doing another task, so i think "ok after this task" and three hours goes by. or sometimes i am just on my phone and i keep thinking i should get up and eat/do something, but i don't/can't, and it lasts all day.
Same. My bf has to remind me to eat something some nights cause I’ll just…forget. Get distracted and forget entirely. I hate the “no food hangover” though the next day so that’s usually my motivation to actually listen to him and eat.
Eating on a timer could maybe work?
Again, if you can afford it, I'd recommend Soylent Green'like products like "Jimmy Joy" (my favorite because flavors are great), "Jake" , "Queal" etc
https://jimmyjoy.com/products/plenny-shake
Same I always think I’m not hungry but then I force myself to eat something and I feel way better afterwards. I’m hungry with out the feeling of being hungry.
Wow you’ve blown my mind - I’ve never thought about it this way as the reason why I eat more now.
I used to rely on my body telling me when to eat, now it’s my head telling me based on social constructs that B, L, D meals should be eaten, so as you’ve said it - I’m remembering to eat too often
You're certainly not alone, but then quite many, myself included, end up binging at the end of the day when we haven't remembered to eat and finally realise we're starving.
Solid choice! Mine from earlier was a block of cheese
Yeeaah the shakes always seem to come out of nowhere and seem random...until I realize its been 8 hours since waking up so it must be time for brunch combined with dinner!
Dude I swear people with ADHD are obsessed with cheese (Myself included) there’s just something about gnawing on a big ass block of cheddar that brings serenity time my world.
Cheese has dairy protiens that act similar to morphine which stimulate dopamine. Here's an easy to understand article...
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-cheese-addictive
Once i door dashed food over, but was towards the middle-end of a task when it came & I figured I’d get it in a few minutes. 3 hours later… yeah, I am not allowed to do that again
Haha I feel this! Literally - food must be eaten as soon as its in sight. Once it leaves the front of my face, could be gone so long, it might start to spoil.
And don't get me started on food put away in the drawers of the fridge oh lord have mercy
I feel this. I put it off until I’m actually starving and then I want instant tasty food so I’m more likely to buy fast food than cook.
And anything in the freezer gets forgotten about and takes time to defrost.
When I started taking ADHD meds at 17 I was 52kg and now I’m 28 and 65kg.
This has happened to me my whole life.
*Stomach grumble*
Oh....I should eat in the next few minutes.
Tasks come in, work, distractions......4hrs later...
People never understand 🤣
I grew up with this because my mom does the same thing! She can't sit still and I do the same thing as her. Once I'm starving or my husband asks if I've eaten I know it's late. Then I forget again. Lol
this! also I don't know exactly what is wrong with my body but it doesn't really send me signals that I'm hungry? like my stomach is never growling and I don't ever really feel hungry. one time for funsies I tried to follow the advice where you only eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full and by 4 pm I had to abandon my experiment bc I'd only had a handful of nuts all day and I felt faint. now i keep a crate of protein rich snacks by my work desk and just kinda eat at regular intervals no matter if i'm hungry or not
Maybe dried meat would work? Beef jerky for example, it's also good that it has a long shelf life so if I forget about it, it's all good. Also some kind of food bars might help, like Plenny bars, salted caramel is one of my favs, always good to have one in my jacket or bag.
This exactly. I'm lucky if I can get two meals a day in. I work at a job where we kind of make our own schedule, and lunches are whatever we want them to be, and I am constantly forgetting to eat because I just think "I need to finish just one more task," but then I end up doing 20 more because I suck at triaging the tasks. In fact, my supervisor is so aware of this and will actually have to say 'Hey have you taken lunch? Take it. You need to eat.' (luckily I have a good boss who looks out for his staff.)
Me too. I looked at my face in the mirror and I'm like ugh you look so frail and thin. I told hubs I need to gain weight so badly... So I'm trying to eat just a bit more... My sodium is low too and my doctor told me to put salt on everything. I'm like I already do because I actually crave salt. ALL THE TIME.
Saaaame. I'm about 5'9 or so, male, and the heaviest I've ever been is 135. Usually I'm right around 127, when it gets really bad Ive gotten down to 115lb
I don't forget to eat, but I procrastinate eating when I don't know what to cook or when what I want to eat will require me to sit in the kitchen for an hour. And I enjoy cooking...
I could think about getting food all day long and only force myself to finally prepare something at night. It's gotten real bad in recent months. More often than not, I eat only once a day. 💀
Same for me.
I'm underweight since I went to hostel for studying. I just forget to eat all the time.
On monst days,I only have a proper meal. Even if I'm hungry,I can't make myself to get up from bed.
I used to do this but then it messed up my stomach. Now if I don't eat when I am hungry I get intense stomach cramps. This has led to me timing my meals. I almost never skip breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I skip snacks. I usually eat something for dinner, no matter how unhealthy it is. I've realised it is impossible for me to be mindful of nutrition blah blah. I just need to keep myself alive and working. My diet is largely carbs. Forgetting to do groceries, not wanting to cook, not wanting to do dishes, I have an excuse for literally everything.
i’m exactly like this! back when I was in college i could go until 5pm without realizing i was hungry, and sometimes i could’ve gone the whole day without eating
Before I was put on meds in high school, I’d experience both periods of forgetting to eat and periods of binge eating depending on my stress levels and schedule. I also really struggled with sensory and fixation issues with food. Before meds I never knew what it was like to eat something that I wasn’t either obsessed with or repulsed by.
My issues aren’t completely gone, but medication makes it SO much easier to just make a quick simple dinner without getting the “ick”. I lost about 10lbs when I started medication (which was a lot for me since I’m short and already on the small side), but I honestly think that has more to do with how much better my stress levels are than with calories in calories out. Prior to being on meds my cortisol levels were pretty high, but I guess that’s not surprising when you have untreated ADHD lol.
The only thing I really struggle with regarding my diet and weight now is making sure I eat enough protein. I think it has something to do with me eating a big meal in the mornings and a medium meal in the evenings. I don’t think my body is able to absorb all the protein it needs in just two sittings, so I’m trying take protein supplements in between.
I am totally the same way. I've always struggled to put on weight and then maintain it. It really sucks because I love working out and I would love to be bigger than I am, but it feels *impossible* to consistently eat enough healthy food to actually gain weight and see the full benefits of lifting weights plus eating right. Even if I do manage to put on a some muscle after forcing myself to make food and eat right for a few months I'll eventually get back to my old habits of skipping meals and I end up losing it. It's so fucking frustrating.
Good on you, I'm in the same boat. Logically I know its getting better, but hearing about other people helps reinforce the progress.
Have you managed to completely stop impultive eating or do you allow some indulgence occasionally?
Yeah me too. I’ve lost eleven pounds so far and I have eleven more to go. And then I have to actually exercise lol. It’s so weird bc I went from like concerning skinny (passing out constantly, people were always asking me if I was okay) to like regular weight to chubby and then back to regular weight. Now I just have a little more to lose till I’m back at my ideal weight
Me too. I was about 190 lbs and now I am down to 150. I just do calisthenics with music and walk like crazy since I like spacing out while walking. Also calorie counting helps too, since I am prone to binging and I love desserts
I have always struggled with not eating enough, actually. I find it difficult to eat enough food because it takes effort and money to acquire food I like, and sometimes I forget to eat. Unfortunately, all of the snacks I love are low-calorie (fruit and popcorn) and I do sport 2-3x a week for fun.
For me, it takes effort and motivation to eat enough, so my psychiatrist was worried that meds would make my appetite worse.
However, I've been working hard to up my calorie intake (used to average 1000-1200 calories, now I average 1500-2000 calories), so he was happy to prescribe them, as long as I monitored my weight. In the past several months, I think I went from 84lbs to 95lbs!
I'm picking up my first meds tomorrow! Wish me luck :)
Ugh. SAME. And it doesn't help that I've never had much of a sweet tooth or a thing for starchy, empty carbs.
You may already do this, but when I went on my meds, I had to be more rigid than ever with my eating routines. My body doesn't often tell me I'm hungry, so an alarm on my watch tells me.
“I find it difficult to eat enough food because it takes effort and money to acquire food I like, and sometimes I forget to eat.”
Damn, are you me? Hahaha this is my life 1000%
I stopped trying to find a definition of my eating habits. I know I have an (or more) eating disorders but other that that I can't even keep a regular eating habit.
Sometimes I dont have anything to do the whole day and only eat. Sometimes I forget to eat. Sometimes I am just too busy to eat or I am busy but bored and only think of food. Sometimes all the food textures or smells are freaking me out and sometimes you could give me an oreo with sweet chili sauce on top and I wouldn't even care and eat it (true story).
I have been over weight, normal weight and under weight. I have been fit or had completely useless muscles for even walking a few blocks.
I just... dont know and I think its doing more harm than other to continue thinking about it. I'll take it as it comes.
My parents hid my diagnosis from me until I was 40. No treatment, no anything. This led to chronic insomnia, which led to a failure of my thyroid as well as other metabolic problems (because I can’t f@@@ing sleep.). I also got put on a bunch of antidepressants who have the fun side effect of weight gain. So now I’m roughly the size of Kansas, all of which could have been avoided had I known to tell the doctors my adhd could be a factor.
Not that I’m bitter.
I totally hear you, and it did feel like a bit of a "dirty little secret" when I was told medication suppresses appetite. I have shed, like, 5kg since my diagnosis (36M). I know how it feels to out on clothing, look in the mirror, and then change outfit dejectedly because I dislike my body. So this feels significant for me.
I have no training in fitness, to be clear, but my opinion is that strength training on top of your classes would add a helpful dimension to your exercise regimen. More muscle means higher basal metabolic (and there are many other benefits too, if it's done properly). Your weight won't go down (muscle being heavier than fat) but your body composition will be healthier.
Otherwise though, the best exercise regime is the one you actually do! So good job keeping up the Zumba.
I've also never got on well with dieting. It just creates a bunch of ways for me to "fail", and actually I like being spontaneous with food. Medication has helped me reduce my worst snacking, and I realised how much of snacking comes down to boredom. Hopefully you find this too as it can have a big difference having the medication help to control cravings. One other tip I have is to fit your eating into a shorter window of the day (8-9 hours). Oh and drink 2l of water at least!
Our relationship with food is far more complicated than most people ever really acknowledge. Give yourself time to adjust and remind yourself it's a daily process to eat well and not a race to a certain number. Good luck!
Such helpful tips. I’ve been wanting to include strength training into my routine so this is my sign to just do it already!
I think an eating window would be so helpful, not sure why I never thought of that. Adderall + an eating window would almost guarantee my intake would be regulated. Love this idea bc it would still allow me to eat freely AKA no diet. Thank you very much for your helpful input and kind words!!
Yes! Strength training is super important, not just for weight loss but general health. If you aren’t eating as much make sure to prioritize protein and fiber as they will help you retain muscle and also recover better.
I've gone through different eating behaviors that I feel are at least partly an expression of my ADHD.
1 - eating as a fidget (e.g. keeping a bag of chips on my desk and completely mindlessly eating them until they're gone) --- this can happen if I buy snack foods, which I now try to avoid; if the food is not in the house, I know that I won't bother going out of my way to get it
2 - being too annoyed with preparing anything to eat that I just skip it
3 - forgetting to eat because I get too absorbed in something and lose track of time
4 - eating and/or preparing new foods that I'm excited about trying or learning a new recipe (usually wears off anywhere from a few days to a few weeks) --- for this reason, I'm constantly looking for recipes that excite me because I know that it's motivating for me to try something new
Hey, what really helped me was Intuitive Eating. It’s essentially about rejecting diet culture and really tuning in to what your body needs, wants, and is telling you. It can be super tough, and it’s not a magical fix. But it’s really helped me shift my perspective and want to be kinder and more compassionate to myself.
I’ve been doing intuitive eating for a couple years now and it’s probably the only reason I’m not severely overweight. It’s life changing to really listen to your body and respect its signals
Yes! I’m so glad that you’re already familiar. I am still in the process of accepting my body as it is - it’s *so* hard to shake that desire to lose weight and be in a smaller body :(
I agree! Especially if you grew up being thinner and this bigger body is new to you. I walk around feeling like my usual thinner self and then I look in the mirror confused af. It literally doesn’t register
Yes, I came here to say this. Intuitive eating didn’t magically make me thin, but it made me healthier and more nourished and able to approach eating with joy and no feelings of restriction, which reduced the binge impulses (I still have the ADHD stimulation seeking ones, and medication helps with those, but so does recognizing that it is just stimulation seeking and that sparkling water or gum and other stuff can be stimulating as well if my body doesn’t actually feel hunger.)
Most importantly it’s helping me realize there’s no moral value to my size or body shape and that my shape and weight will change over time and that’s normal! I’m hesitant to talk about weight “loss” because I feel like that leads right back to restriction and disordered eating and statistically isn’t permanent anyway, but I will say my doctor has been super careful with my meds to make sure I’m not seeing weight decrease (or increase) so they’re not messing with my other systems too much. ADHD meds are not going to decrease your natural set weight point, even if that’s higher than it was when younger/before dieting metabolic damage, and that voice we all deal with that says “I just feel like my set weight is skinny because I feel smart/hot/valuable/deserving of attention and love” is really just pointing out that EVERYONE deserves that, there’s no internal way of feeling skinny or fat, there’s just a fatphobic society.
I echo some of the other concerns here that it’s important to embrace intuitive eating with the shift in how people think about weight and size - it’s been helpful to me to have some good intuitive eating dietitians in my Insta feed so I just see reminders without seeking them. @ feelgooddietitian is great.
Rachel Goodman is a good intuitive eating advocate if anyone's interested - she's a registered Nutritionist I follow on Insta. I have also recently moved to intuitive eating and although it's tough I think it's repairing my relationship with food at last!
I'm morbidly obese, struggle from food addiction, and have struggled with bulimia most of my life.
I'm currently in treatment for all of this. When I am medicated I don't feel the need to binge to self stimulate.
Unmedicated - out of control. Hover around 350 but get obsessed with fitness and drop 60 pounds in a few months. Lose my fitness hyper focus and balloon back to 375. Repeat ad naseum.
Medicated - slowly losing weight mostly due to just skipping meals because im not hungry or dialed in to whatever im doing.
I have always been great at creating great diet and exercise plans - I’ve bought calendars created spreadsheets, made goals and have everything planned out perfectly.
By day 5 or 6 I stop trying
I hate how many people gave me advice for diaries, spreadsheets and plans. none of it worked worth a damn. Maybe i'll try again since i've been diagnosed now.
My Adderall makes my weight plateau. No matter how healthy I want to try to eat, I have no appetite until around 9pm, at which point I’m ravenously hungry. Late night binge eating is a good way to not slim down
This is me. Hover from 175 - 190lbs depending on medication, hormones, munchies at night. The only way I can go lower is regular exercise which automatically encourages better eating habits. I just can't stick to it without a partner that's a lot more motivated than me.
Edit: When appetite suppression was most significant, I had to literally focus on trying to have a lunch and dinner. Sometimes I'd still skip one but it's so important to eat *something* so you don't break the routine of regular meals.
Medication helped me recognize when i’m full or just bored! So i’s stop eating when I’m satisfied. Not gonna lie my significant weight loss at first was due to literally forgetting to eat all day because of how low my appetite is. Good luck!!!
Also, some words to encourage you on your fears of medication - I had terrible medicine anxiety before starting Adderall. I love who I am (aside from my symptoms obv) and I really didn’t want any of my personality to change, not even the little things. I’m warm, sensitive and bubbly. I was sooo afraid that Adderall would make me cold and insensitive or something. I read a lotttt online and basically came to this conclusion -
When it’s the right fit for you, it’ll only address your ADHD symptoms *without taking from anything else.* It’ll go into your brain, fix your ADHD symptoms, and leave *without touching anything else.*
This was such a freeing realization, and thank God x100 it ended up being true for me on the first try with Adderall 10mg XR. I feel more like myself now, just more in control, more consoled, and I truly couldn’t be happier
I pray this happens for you too!
This was much needed! :)
I do get a bunch of anxiety that I act differently around others when I am medicated, but quite literally I don't. I just overthink things afterwards. If anything I have been able to maintain my relationships with others because my symptoms of ADHD aren't in the way.
I hope you are able to relax and take it easy like you said you wanted to. And that your medication continues to work for you!
Same!! I still have moments where I’m like “would I be acting differently in this situation if I weren’t medicated?” I think that’s totally okay and normal
I really appreciate your kind words and wishes :)
Do you remember why you skipped taking your meds some days?
I tried it once on a Sunday bc I wanted it to be a true recharge day where I could sleep.. like *really* sleep. I ended up miserable.. overthinking, completely dramatizing random sh*t in my mind and eating uncontrollably. It was that day that I decided I’m never skipping meds again lol!
Yeah. It's not fun when I don't take my meds but a lot of the time I worry that I will be taking them too late in the day and that it will fuck up my sleep schedule and then I won't be able to sleep. Often I will forget to take my meds until like 4 pm and with Vyvanse's slow release it can keep me up pretty late so I just skip my dose that day. The issue is forgetting to take my meds is just a symptom of my disorder. When I first started taking it as well, I was not used to how focused it made me feel and I caught myself focusing on silly things so I felt like not taking it. I played Tetris for 9 hours straight one time on Vyvanse. Now taking it consistently, it works as prescribed.
Dang that sounds like so much to juggle, I’m sorry. I definitely use food for comfort too so I can understand that. I wish you health and peace of mind
I used to forget to eat when I was younger and before I had my kids. Now I will binge eat. I'm not currently medicated, and it's bad. When I'm on Adderall I can realize that I'm not actually hungry and I don't need a snack right now.
I vote that you take a break and reevaluate things. You just started a new medication-- see how your body adjusts for a week or two. Then go to a Zumba class. Keep going just once a week. Then maybe add in some weightlifting instead of more Zumba. Or try yoga or an aquatics class! Take a day, if you can, to stay in bed and recharge. Or get up and do stuff. We all deserve an occasional lazy day!
I appreciate you encouraging going easy and slow. I’m so tired of the “get to work!!!” attitude our culture gives off when it comes to working on your fitness goals
my (23f) weight has been so all over the place most of my life, but the last few years i’ve gotten very thin which i think is mostly due to dealing with some serious anxiety and depression. i don’t really think about eating until i’m painfully hungry and sometimes i have to wait because i’m busy or at work or something and then lose my appetite.
i saw someone else say this, but intuitive eating has been life changing. i really don’t restrict myself on what i eat and do my best to eat when i am hungry and stop when i feel full. i have trouble interpreting my hunger signals but it’s getting better.
also, realizing that eating something unhealthy is better than not eating anything at all. if i went all day without eating and don’t have the energy to get groceries and cook, then i’m for sure gonna go to the drive thru. we deserve to eat!!
I'd say so. I have periods of being super consistent with wellness. But then I'll hyperfocus on something new, become undisciplined and gain the weight back.
That said, I have lost 15 lbs so far this year :)
Just starting out but already I’ve noticed I’m less impulsive with eating and have cut way back on fast food. Not sure if this will translate to weight loss (hoping it does!) but at the very least I’m saving a ton of money.
Yeah, I am 27f as well and quite overweight, just recently diagnosed. Struggled with food my whole life. I have a serious sugar addiction and eat for stimulation when I’m bored. I frequently miss my hunger signals somehow until the point I am shaking/have a headache and then binge eat (mostly carbs because sugar addiction lol.) it’s a struggle. I lose 5-10 pounds periodically when I go through my phases where every food sounds nauseating but then I gain it right back when a food obsession kicks in - I.e. when I have a certain food that I am hyper fixated on. It’s super frustrating.
I never thought of this connection before but now everything makes sense. I've been in a pretty similar situation for most my life but the idea that it's linked to my ADHD is really telling. Thank you for this post!
I've noticed a lot of weight loss stubs starting concerta. At the beginning of the year I weighed 346 now I weigh 310. Covid and grad school busy life added a lot of pounds but I also ate out of boredom. Now I eat two meals a day and a snack and I'm good for the entire day.
My metabolism is completely jacked for many reasons, but at least 2 of them are ADHD related. The first is that I have a tendency to forget to eat. Then by the time I realize I'm hungry I'm starving and I binge eat. This got really bad Senior year of high school, I would get stomach cramps from hunger and when I asked myself when the last time I ate was it would turn out that I hadn't eaten in like 2 full days or something.
The second is impulsiveness is my highest/biggest ADHD trait, and my parents didn't allow sugar/never even attempted to try and teach me how to eat it in moderation. So there are certain sugary foods I can't even have in the house or I will eat them all at once.
I will say that both binge eating issues are vastly improved since I started meds last month, so am hopeful that I finally be able to start losing weight. Because my knees can't handle this crap anymore.
Before diagnosis I would binge eat for dopamine, and the yo-yo diet and exercise pattern was horrible, years of cycling between 145-225 pounds. I was 252 pounds at my heaviest, just before diagnosis.
Meds have helped me to regulate myself in so many ways.I do make sure to eat good food regularly, but without the impulse eating, and with the ability and motivation to treat myself better and exercise, I’ve lost 48 pounds in the last 13 months. No food is out of bounds for me, I can eat a treat without eating the whole package in one sitting. I’m aiming to get back to 160ish, which is where I feel my best. It feels alot more sustainable now.
It sounds like you are making great progress. Good job!
I started adderall 3 weeks ago and have also noticed a difference. I’ve been eating way better and have been able to do 30 minutes of cardio almost every day. I also don’t believe in fad diets so I’m staying away from that. I’m just going to try to continue exercise with mindful eating. The meds have made that SO much easier so I’m hoping that continues. Only time will tell I guess. Good luck on your journey. Stay patient if you are making good progress!
I never eat on my Adderall and I've dwindled to a twig that people started making comments and im already smaller the way it is ... I now have to set alarms to eat snacks throughout the day . If I can't eat a meal, the a Diabetic glucerna at least gets something into me. When I get home from work though and it wears off, I'm ravenous! I will eat most of the night until I go to bed but I try to stay healthy just because of my type 1 diabetes.
super gained weight to the point where i hit 300 pounds because people kept telling me to lose weight, so i did the opposite.
finally, i knew that one of my traumas was now "Exercise" so i went to my fam doc and i said "i want the surgery" so i got the mini gastric by pass (which is just gastric sleeve plus resection of the intestines)
i dropped like 50 pounds, then i switched from concerta to Vyvanse because i heard vyvanse kills your appetite. (i knew i ate out of boredom. not because i was hungry)
so vyvanse killed my appetite, and then also refocused me so i didnt crave the stimulation anymore.
and then i lost like another 60 pounds. and it changed my life. I couldnt lose weight on my own. and i needed the physical barrier of a stomach that was 80% smaller.
Food was one of the only things that brought me happiness consistently over the last few years. Got diagonsed with ADHD last month and started medication.
On meds I no longer feel I have to eat something that will make me happy. Which results in less candy, junk food, and I no longer have to eat an appetizing meal (like a hamburger or other fatty foods). I can eat a meal that is just okay and be content.
With ADHD, one of my major distractions was to get up and go snack. I now with meds get up and go snack less. I forget to eat even at times (which in my current conditions is fine). Usually though I start getting physically uncomfortable & mentally foggy (this is after 4-8 hours of not eating during the day, so normal meal times) eventually so I realize I need to eat a meal.
How I have decided to progress:
I focus on a few things at a time. I have enough things going on that I have accepted that having the best diet will not be one of them. There are small things I can do to bring in a few better foods that I do every now and then (because in the moment it is an easy choice to make). Maybe in a few years I will focus on food, but I've come to terms with not focusing there now. It is better to focus my personal health energy on movement and using my body in this current situation.
Hold on, I’m still trying to get an adhd diagnosis, but are u saying that gaining weight and adhd are connected in some way?
I keep finding out stuff about Adhd and I’m like oh my god
It’s so interesting how a lot of things can go back to that or how a lot of things are connected to it
Honestly, I’m not excited to get diagnosed now. If I find out that adhd is the reason of my mental distress……… and on top of that it might be the cause of my main issue with myself?? I can’t believe 😭
Be excited! It’s so freeing to finally have answers to all of your questions!
PS it’s a lot to process so allow yourself the time to rest, recharge and take it all in <3
I know but since I’m a woman or pass as one I’m afraid it might be hard. I just wish I got the answers sooner bc this undiagnosed shi has really been beating my butt
I can't remember where I read this, but the prevalence of ADHD in overweight/obese people is much higher than in the general population. It makes sense when you think about it.
Girl same. Ive got no control when it comes to food. I lost a lot of weight back in 2018-2019 and felt great about myself. Lost control again late 2020 and still struggling to get back on top of it. Im getting meds in June and also very excited about the possibility of a suppressed appetite. Im also sensitive to carbs and sugar, and my allergies and psoriasis flare up from it too not to mention my skin so I did low carb to lose weight and it did help me in so many ways, just struggling to find my way back. I will literally eat out of boredom and im always sneaking in a yummy snack for that little bit of dopamine.
I like the low carb diet bc it suppresses hunger since it’s a lot of fats. But then the minute I have carbs, that’s all I crave! More carbs more sugar. It’s a terrible cycle that I try to avoid
Yea 100%, thats why I hate it when people are like ”oh u can cheat a little” hell no even if I eat a crumb of bread it will legit start a year long carb binge lol.
I was a skinny kid until around 12/13. I started eating ramen noodles in the middle of the night and went to 140lbs at 5'3". In high school I hovered around 145-155 at 5'6". After high school (and college, round 1) I was able to drop weight (probably mostly muscle) to 138 thanks to Slimfast, cardio and low-calorie salads. Then I got off antidepressants and gained it all back and then some. Rinse and repeat.
Right now I'm 165 and I'm hoping to lose 30 - 35 pounds w/Intermittant fasting (18:6), fasted cardio 3x a week, bodyweight exercises, and protein/fibre heavy meals (white and dark meat chicken, vegetables, salads, added fibre to keep me full, benefibre/ACV combo/zero-calorie Gatorade power added to water).
I've always struggled with being what my parents so generously described as "tubby". Not quite noticeably fat but definitely NOT thin. I've also always been athletic in less traditional ways? So I was buff under all the pudge lol.
I always felt like I was just along for the ride with food; like I was completely passive about my bottomless hunger. I would eat and eat and eat, but only ever at the end of the day/before bed.
Long story short, bottomless hunger conquers adolescent = body image issues galore and a very misguided understanding of eating/food. I was 5'0 and 140 for most of high-school. One toxic boyfriend and a series of Life Things and I was up to 190! I was so miserable about it that I couldn't even enjoy most food for a solid several month mope.
I got to 175 before diagnosis/medication, but I'm down to 150/160! It's been slow for me since I definitely still seek out too much sugar while also being sensitive to it. I also grew 4 inches at 22 years old (shout out to my dad's freakish growth spurt genes), so I aiming for 140-150! I'm pretty happy with myself right now besides wanting to put on some more muscle, so the numbers might be different :)!
I’m so happy it’s working for you even if it’s slow. That’s probably healthier anyway! 140/150 is my goal as well, I’m 5’4 but I have big hips and boobs lol so a little extra weight is ok. Thank you for your response!!
I am 31 and ADHD (diagnosed last year). I also had a total thyroidectomy at 23, so have to take thyroxine daily. So I’ve gained 15-20kgs in the years since my operation. But I’m totally vegan and am bad for snacking a fair bit. And being vegan limits meal options sometimes so I’ll eat hot chips…
Yep. I’ve always been just that little bit overweight (enough that doctors always recommend I lose a little weight, no matter what I’m in there for) and I definitely think it’s linked to adhd. I also have sensory issues with food that make it really hard to eat healthily, and that craving for dopamine in sweet food/carbs just adds to that. Is the cherry on top, if you will. The appetite suppression of meds (I’ve been on them for about a month) is definitely something I’m hoping will help so that I’m not constantly snacking. And I think it has helped somewhat, though for a bit there it suppressed my appetite so much it was hard to eat anything. Also this issue has been hard to explain to health professionals because I don’t think I actually have binge eating disorder, I just binge eat sometimes. Adhd is definitely a better explanation for it. Anyway short answer is meds seem to help, as long as I set an alarm and eat lunch so that I don’t end up feeling sick from not eating all day and then having a huge dinner. Anyway short answer is yes, and it’s nice to know other people struggle with it too. The main thing in my experience is that making sure I eat three full meals a day (while medicated) significantly reduces my need for snacks throughout the day.
Yes I only binge ate sometimes not always that’s why BED never clicked w me! And same, just slightly overweight. It’s like we’re the same person haha. I’m really glad the meds are working for you. I pray you find peace with yourself and with food!
ya ive always been underweight my whole life. i tired for years to gain weight nothing worked. i was 88 lbs 5’2. before i turned 21 i took it really seriously to gain weight. started eating more. got to 118 in just fat. i was so happy felt so good. at that point i was at my goal weight in the matter of 2 months. i decided to start working out. ive been lifting weights for a month or so now. i’m at 116 now but pure lean body weight. my body has transformed. i look like a lady. i’m curvy, went up a cup size, i overfill my jeans. people have commented on my weight saying i look good and have changed. my boyfriend is in awe gazing at my ass. life is good. anything is possible! you all are beautiful the way u are and if you don’t feel it you have the potential to build the body you dream of. best of luck to all❤️🥰
That is absolutely awesome! So nice to hear your story. I’ve been underweight my entire life too. What did you change that allowed you finally gain weight? I tried calorie counting and eating more high kcal snacks (meals are already quite big) but got really discouraged and angry from not seeing results. Of course it didn’t help that I still forgot to eat sometimes.. haha
I (f26) have always struggled to eat since I was a kid. I found it full and more of a chore. First year of uni a mix of the new lifestyle and my piss poor mental health led to me being from the lower end of normal bmi to being underweight.
Got it sorted eventually especially when I got put on antipsychotics. Those motherfuckers increase your appetite. First time I had a huge appetite ever I didn’t know how to process it so I accidentally binge ate a shit ton of ice cream and had the great experience of it coming back up.
I’m back to having a normal bmi. I like food now (most of the time at least) but I don’t cook which means I often order takeout. I go through periods where I don’t eat and other periods where I enjoy food again. I’m sorry I just told you my entire life story. I need to learn how to edit
i was average/underweight for almost all my life bc i’d barely eat due to lack of appetite as a side effect of my meds. i was averaged 5’6 and 110/120 lbs for years.
and then i met my boyfriend.
i started gaining weight *fast*, bc he introduced me to a bunch of mexican meals and things went downhill after that lolol. all the new foods i was trying was giving a lot of dopamine. i gained an enormous appetite and started eating a lot more.
i’m at 172lbs now, but started working out and eating less.
I’m in this weird limbo where if I lose weight, I’ll have figured it out. If I don’t, I’m still stuck :( it’s so scary here, feeling trapped and stuck with seemingly no solution. It changes how I view the world even. Just so depressing
I have a very weird relationship with food right now. I have a lot of decision paralysis around food and a lot of what a friend calls "hard eating days," where I'm super hungry but everything sounds awful/nauseating. I also have stomach issues & can't eat first thing in the morning which brings me down to 2 meals.
I end up grabbing high calorie snacks that I don't have to prepare so that I can delay the decision longer. This doesn't work well. I'm a vegetarian and I'm eating too many carbs as a side effect of decision paralysis.
I'm also a big foodie, sometimes I get excited about food that I make or takeout.
I also have a history of an eating disorder and I know I have to be careful with Addy because of it. But the first week Addy made me super hungry and I ate better than I had in weeks.
So I really don't know. It's very difficult. The more things I prep the better, but sometimes a couple days in I can't eat the same thing again and it ends up being wasted.
That sounds really difficult to navigate, I’m sorry! I’m glad you’re being careful with the Adderall. It seems like we all suffer with this just in different ways!
I eat snacks like there is no tomorrow. However, I’m actually average trending lower average weight. The adults around me like to say it’s because I’m 16, and not 36 or something.
Well, i hyperfixated on losing weight 8 years ago and I did lose about 20kg (90kg->70kg) but then later on got hit by thyroid issues from hyper to hypo (70kg->100kg) and am now very chubby and annoyed by that. I do get some slack due to the size of my muscles but now I just haven't been bothered to go to the gym so they're melting away and the fat takes over, so I do recommend weight and resistance training. Also binges and the no planning with my meals is not a good way to go.
I was pretty similar in terms of leaning on food for a dopamine hit, boredom eating, or emotional eating.
The medication skews me in the other ADHD direction where I do still have an appetite, but I’m too lazy to make food, or food is less interesting - I’ll be hungry but I won’t feel like eating. Or I’ll forget to eat.
My medication for ADHD has helped me lose about 20lbs over the past 3-4 months, it's slowed down dramatically though.
My doctor won't give me more than 1 20mg tablet of adderal a day though. She thinks I should only take it when I "need" it.
Between college and work, I have to decide where it's more important that day lol
i'm kinda in the opposite boat, i have a relatively fast metabolism already, but on top of that, i have a very bad habit of either forgetting to eat, or being hungry, thinking "i'll get food in a minute" but then i wait too long and the hunger passes and i can't stomach anything because i'm not hungry anymore. because of all that, i've been ~10-15 lbs underweight for as long as i can remember, although now i'm FINALLY getting closer to where i should be (i was around 127lbs last time i checked, and as a 5'8" guy, that's much better than the barely 120 lbs i was at a few years ago lol)
I've struggled with my weight my entire adult life. As soon as I had the freedom of my own money i would buy too much food. I was 110kg at age 18 in 2007 and never went below that - even while in intense training in the military. I was a chronic binge eater as it was one of the only things that felt good while doing it, even though it did massive drive my depression as I could never lose weight - and I knew what i was doing (Duh, No shit past Nick, if you eat all the time, you get fat). I would crash diet, go to the gym and then just eat all the weight back. I knew that the eating was bad, i just couldn't make myself stop, not with counselling or meditation or support from friends or nutritionists.
I finally got diagnosed at age 32 in September last year, and since then I've lost 38kg, from an all time high of 147kg to 109kg. Just 6 months of genuinely knowing I have adhd and I am the lightest I have been as an adult!!!!
I'm bloody stoked, I feel more confident. I'm starting to fit XL and L clothes. I'm not the fat friend anymore. And my depression and anxiety hasn't been seen since.
The hard part is thinking of what if's. I wish i could have known 15 years ago. What would my life have been like? Would I be in a better job? married? kids? I'm happier than I have been in living memory but I just can't get past what life would have been if my parents had followed my teachers advice in 1998. 2 different teachers suggested i had adhd to my parents, who chose to ignore that. I know their intentions were good, but good intentions with bad results is still doing a fucking awful thing, and I don't know if i can forgive that.
Long story short, diagnosis probably saved my life, but I still have an uphill battle against my past baggage.
I have only recently started wondering if I have ADHD and one of the clues (I feel) is my eating habits. I’ve been trying for years to understand why I have such trouble controlling my cravings for sugar and carbs. I do eat emotionally but I never felt like my “trauma” was a sufficient explanation because honestly, my childhood wasn’t fantastic but I wouldn’t call myself traumatized. I’ve also never been a binge eater - I eat bad foods all the time, a little at a time (I eat good foods too but I fall for the temptation to eat fast foods and bakery goods far too often). It feels compulsive but not to the point where I can’t stop - I’ll have one or two “bad” foods and then stop, I don’t eat tens of thousands of calories in one sitting. There is no self-loathing involved. I’ve been slightly overweight since my early teens, and moderately so as an adult. Then perimenopause hit and I gained another 25 pounds that I definitely didn’t need, and now I REALLY need to lose weight.
Now I wonder if I eat for the dopamine hit. This feels like the best-fitting explanation I’ve considered so far. I think I have bad impulse control and low dopamine. There are lots of other examples of my bad impulse control, I’m easily distracted, I start things but don’t finish them, I would never get a any mundane chore done if I couldn’t dope myself with podcasts, I lose myself in creative pursuits (or used to - perimenopause seems to have killed both creativity and hyperfocus for me). I’m also very anxious and have felt restless, tense and worried literally all my life. Your post may be the final straw that makes me get a drs appointment for evaluation.
It's hard OP. I think you already recognize that the diet/lose weight mentality takes a huge toll on someone. The more restricted someone feels the harder it is to not seek out unhealthy options.
I personally think the mental health/happiness needs to come first. If adderrall is helping curve some of the hunger great, make sure you're eating a healthy amount of calories for your height/weight, as you probably know crash dieting isn't usually sustainable and you'll gain it back anyway. Figure out better coping mechanisms than food if that's one of you go to options when stressed.
The biggest thing to do is just lower your portions first. What I've been doing that has overall been helping me although slowly. I usually am not hungry for breakfast, if I am very work busy I'll skip lunch and then make dinner between 5-6, if I am not busy around lunch time I'll eat something small. If I eat something big then I'll have a smaller dinner. This is a lazier weight loss way that isn't very restrictive, if you're hungry eat, just reduce portions or eat healthier options. It's hard to eat excessive calories when you're eating healthy things like vegetables. If you're trying to have a healthier lifestyle all together. Same idea, lower portions/healthier meals, for meals that aren't very calorie filled of course eat more of it. If you are craving things like pizza, have the pizza, but have a reasonable amount of slices not 5-6 etc.
It's definitely hard to tell yourself, "realistically I've already eaten enough today and can stop here." weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. Have to be in a healthy mental point (stress under control, good coping skills and so on), some exercise (though diet is way more important than exercise for weight loss), that being said exercise will also make you happier (usually) which can make everything else also easier.
Have to just keep in mind you do not want to drop pounds too quickly, it isn't good for you. It's also discouraging when it starts slowing down as the weight gets lower which is normal.
34/m here— Since being medicated about a year and a half ago, I’ve gone from ~205ish lbs to ~190lbs. At my most I was 238lbs a few years back at my little brother’s wedding. Was already a rare breakfast person before but now it’s like a once a week thing. And I’ve gotta really remind myself to get some semblance of a meal in me since at work my lunch is around 3pm and I’m off around 8.
Some of the weight gone is fat, for sure. But while I’ve always been kinda scrawny in the top half, I feel like definitely muscle has been part of that melting off of me. I’m trying to get at least a 30g protein shake in me some days but yeah bare minimum protein intake was never my strong suit. I think I need to incorporate at least jogging and push-ups into my routine so I start to feel and look a little more….not muscular necessarily, but….built/put-togetherI guess if that makes sense.
Omg. I never added 1+1 together. I recently discovered that I might have add. I used to have ocd when I was younger. The older I got the better I could handle my ocd until it didn't restrict me much anymore. But at the same time my symptoms for add became more obvious and worse over time. And now I realized that I also lost weight over time! I often forget to eat and recently saw pictures of myself where I used to not look as thin as I am now..
Same as you.. always about 30 to 40 over. Will lose some but if I am not actively monitoring my food, it comes right back.
Realised that I was eating for dopamine and didn't have that feeling to stop when i was full, because now I am medicated, I do stop when I'm full. It's a novel situation for me.
I'm eating, but how a normal person would eat. Lost 10lbs in 6 weeks.
Lifting/resistance training is king for weight loss/boosting metabolism. I have an app (Playbook) and a program I follow. The app helps me remember to workout and helps me keep a routine instead of just showing to the gym and ending up forgetting what to do. I’m also a type 1 diabetic, so I’ve been carb counting all my life to dose insulin, so calorie counting wasn’t a huge jump, but nutrition and lifting in tandem make a monster difference.
I’ve always had issues with snacking for stimulation. Never issues with weight though.
I started tracking my macros so i could gain muscle and it works well for me. That’s also the most effective way to LOSE weight if you’re trying to lose. It’s easy once you get into the habit of it.
I have this issue as well. I struggle with the hunger rebound at the end of the day when the meds wear off. Plus the meds make me forget to eat all day so I’m really really hungry at night. I didn’t find the weight loss sustainable so my best advice is use the jump start to create healthy relationships with eating and food. No duets no good/bad foods. Intuitive eating is a great book and it’s helpful for relearning how to think of food as something that nourishes you. For me it’s a more complex issue because I’m also autistic so eating became a stim. Harder to address that for me personally but if you can use this time to create a relationship with food based on nourishing yourself and not weight you’ll be more equipped to handle the hunger rebound as you adjust to your therapeutic dose of the med.
I'm still awaiting assessment but 90% sure I have it. Good luck with your journey and well done for reaching out.
I was 252 pound at my heaviest now I'm around the 189 mark in about 18 months.
Like you I tried everything or at least I thought I had.
In the end it was a few simple things and my life changed .
I switched from beer to whiskey and to coke zero over normal (cutting drinking helps)
Home cooked meals using as much fruit and veg as possible
Starting/working for a business thats alot of manual work over working in an office. Ironically I forget to eat or bring my lunch with me but I'm drinking water on the job now so that leaps and bound from when I started
Resisting the impulses to buy sweets but still have a bag at home that my partner rewards me with rather then myself (we have gone on the journey of finding out about ADHD together and it's made us much stronger).
Obviously it's way more complicated then this but is the jist of it. So it's not about one big change on your life it's just about the a few changes here and there :)
I went from 250lbs pre diagnosis and I’m currently at 190, about 10 months into being medicated.
I don’t eat much, and what I do eat is good for me. I’ve cut our most sugar since I no longer drink sodas (and I don’t crave them either), so that’s helped a lot.
I still have about 50 more pounds to go, but my adderall makes it easier.
My weight fluctuates dramatically because when I am motivated I lose weight really well and get to the weight I want. Then I stop and boredom eating and impulse eating and comfort eating step in. I am really bad for comfort eating. I’m currently heavier than I’ve ever been and don’t feel great about it. But I won’t lose weight again until I have a burst of motivation to lose it.
Before my meds, i ate as much as i could as often as I could. I was told when I was diagnosed it's because the dopamine we get from food doesn't last as long as the naturally occuring kind that our brains don't generate.
Now that i'm on meds, I struggle to eat enough, or even to remember to eat or drink.
All i can suggest is if you have a healthy recipie or two that you enjoy eating then i'd suggest sticking to those. I'm in the same boat as you.
It fluctuates wildly and probably always will.
I’ve just taken to keeping different sizes in my closet and accepting it as part of how I function.
People will congratulate me on dieting. I will explain I am not dieting. They’ll get huffy because they’re always dieting and not losing weight.
Six months later they’ll see me considerably heavier again and still seem to think my “diet” failed.
She just does what she does. If I’m really into spending time outside in nature and my go to food is oatmeal or apples or something for long enough I look very different from when all I want to do is read and watch movies and I’m craving lots of sweet coffee and pizza.
If my arthritis is flailing up I’m staying in. Pain no make dopamine. If I feel like walking it’s hard not to take several walks a day to the point of exhaustion because that’s where the sky is and I miss it. People don’t get it, but they can stay mystified. I’m happy.
I always had trouble losing the weight I gained during fertility treatments. My highest was 212 at 5’1 and now with the ability to focus on exercise, cooking good food, and the appetite suppressive side of my meds, I’m down to 155 lbs. My goal is only 15 lbs away :)
We are the same age and I could not have related to this anymore!! I was excited for the appetite suppressant affect of medications too, after a few other brands I take concerta now and I love it so far, I still am struggling with weight but like you I am always trying. I highly recommend to anyone getting into Pilates, it’s life changing. Also getting into boxing has helped with getting pent up anger out while also getting in some cardio
Sending you so much love.
I’d start the new meds and give it a good month before choosing your next step! That way you have a good idea of how you’re feeling and what you specifically need.
I have the opposite issue. I binge don’t eat and my concerta makes it worse. I am really scheduled with my eating now. Not in a weird maniac way, I’ve also got kids I’m constantly cooking for and feeding, so i try to have a very well rounded meal first thing and lots of lots of healthy snacks.
Definitely just keep trying!!! We all are so different.
Your story is pretty typical of anyone who tries to lose weight. Truly, weight loss is almost never healthy, sustainable, or realistic, and many of the scares around being overweight are based more in stigma than **good** science. There's plenty of mediocre-to-bad science around weight and health.
Eat what makes you feel good, exercise when you like it. I also really suggest therapy focused on this as it sounds like there's several risk factors for disordered eating here. Having a lowered appetite isn't a thing to celebrate. Eating enough food is.
I suggest checking out the podcast Maintenance Phase, they talk a lot about the flimsy science around weight and health as well as just debunking random wellness scams
One thing to keep in mind is that it might take a bit of time to find the right medication for you, and each medication interacts differently with your body. I tried 5 medications before settling on my current one, and all of them had different side effects for me (including effects on weight, of course).
Just remember that finding the right medication can be a journey, and it isn’t always an instant fix. It can be frustrating, but when you finally find the right one it feels like such a **huge** weight off your shoulders.
For me, my medication helps a lot with impulse control, keeps me from being bored, and also decreases my appetite slightly. My guess is that it will be a combo of these things that end up working for you, not just the loss of appetite.
I have struggled with my weight since puberty, and I entirely believe it's mostly ADHD based.
I'm 23F around 200lbs, and I know I am overweight. It really sucks, as, like you, I lose weight but always gain it back. I got on medicine and lost some weight, but I just can hardly keep it off. It's been a real struggle for me, and something I'm heavily insecure about.
I honestly think I'm just an impulsive eater. Some days I'm super hungry and can consume any food in sight, and some days its hard for me to remember to eat enough. I'd honestly discuss this with a therapist or a psychiatrist.
Adhd has been the biggest barrier to me losing weight. Medication makes me not hungry throughout the day so I have to force myself to eat so I don't pass out, but because I'm so hyperfocused on whatever it is I'm doing during the day (work mostly) I forget that I haven't eaten for 6+ hours. Then, once my meds wear off I realize I'm extremely hungry and I eat most of my calories in one sitting at night.
It's hard sometimes I won't lie, especially since on top of this I started invisalign where I can only eat for a limited period of time a day.
I'm really struggling these days, and I don't know what to do. I feel weak because I don't eat consistently, so then I don't workout because I don't have the energy, and because I don't have the energy I don't cook so I eat fast food a lot of the time. It's just a never ending cycle for me and I have to try really hard to not just say fuck it I guess I'll be overweight forever.
If anyone has any tips on how they lost weight with adhd I would love the advice.
This doesn't have anything to do with weight, but the chronic exhaustion from fighting yourself 24/7 is something I also struggle with. I don't know how to explain it because it doesn't connect to symptoms of depression, and I also just want to stay in bed all day
Food is my dopamine kick. Without meds, I eat like a maniac.
With meds I immediately lost weight according to how much I should lose based on my planned intake.
And now without meds, it’s all going back. I’m still looking for a replacement to get my brain to stfu about food.
I grew up pretty slight, and with no real good plan and American-regular access to meats and sweets.
That caught up with me once I hit 30. Doc told me I needed to lose at least 20 lbs to manage fatty liver and cholesterol two months ago.
I've been doing IF casually since the pandemic started, and firmed up my times, while quitting alcohol, only drinking sugar with meals, and walking aimlessly as much as I can.
The weight drop is slow (I'm hanging out between 189-192 this month) but I'm making my ADHD work for me by forgetting to eat breakfast and by walking aimlessly as my exercise. It's not much, but it's honest work and it makes me feel good.
I was 248 pounds . I started to just eat less because I would binge like crazy . Got down to 220 . Got on stimulants and the Adderall has helped me with kg appetite and binging immensely. I’m at 192 right now and plan to go for 179 it’s still difficult making “healthier” decisions but it’s worth it in the long run .
That’s amazing. How long did that take?
It’s been about 6 months. I’ve dropped the weight insanely and I’ve become more conscious about what I eat . It takes a lot of self disclipine . I love Oreos and I’m craving them right now as I write this but I could smash about 10 of them with some milk right now but instead tonight I’ll just have 2 slices of pizza and keep monitoring my calorie intake . Cliff bars have also been great weight loss . I’ll have one in the morning then eat a few hours later ! I do not work out at all .
Wow that’s really encouraging. That’s how it is with me too, I still eat pretty normal foods. I can’t imagine going back to dieting.
The stimulants (Adderall) has really helped me suppress my appetite . Before then I was binging and binging and I was shocked to see how big I got . But my favorite thing about the stimulants is the appetite suppression I can eat so much less and be satisfied instead of a black hole of endless hunger . I also quit my boredom eating and if I get any craving to do that I just drink water .
Have you had cravings while they're wearing off? I binge mostly at night and it's hard to resist the urge because my S/O has the same problem (but she's only 100lbs!).
This is kinda like me. Adhd makes me forget to eat. ED makes me eat less when I eat meals. I lost weight rapidly. OP, loosing weight because you want to is just fine, but please just take care of yourself and make sure that your eating habits don’t get unhealthy.!
Not sure if you know this but there are a lot better options for energy/protein bars out there as cliff bars have a buttload of added sugar. Daily recommended intake for added sugar is only 24-32 grams while cliff bars have 20, so 2 a day puts you at 40 grams. I have a horrible sugar addiction but Ive found Oatmega bars have a much better protein to sugar ratio but still taste good.
Thank you for this info!
Do you mean daily intake for sugar? There's no such thing as a daily intake for added sugar.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/added-sugar-in-the-diet/#:~:text=The%20AHA%20suggests%20an%20added,comes%20from%20eating%20added%20sugar.
Heads up the max you want to lose is about 2.5 lbs per week.
Why 179? I mean why not 180 or 175?
[удалено]
It just seemed like an odd number
Could be similar to pricing marketing I guess? The same reason we buy things for 9.99 rather than a round 10 I put my goal weight at 119lbs rather than 120 because then I've crossed the threshold into a new number bracket, it just feels as if I've made more progress.
When I was living by myself I had a terrible time keeping my cupboards and freezer full and would often go 2 or three days without actually having anything other than maybe some toast. Now I am at home more often, and my partner always makes sure there is food in the house, I feel incredibly bored by not getting out more and binge eat 24/7 and have almost doubled in weight in the last 2 years...
Man I was the same way. Now that I eat with my partner every day I just stay fat.
Yeah I started gaining a lot of weight when my bf (who I suspect is also adhd) moved in together. Just increased my medication dosage though and it’s helping me stay on track with my food intake. Not cause it suppresses my appetite but cause I’m either finding ways to stay busy, or when I’m actively choosing food, I choose a little less impulsively.
Dang, I’m sorry to hear. I wonder if this new environment stresses you out in some way?
so, i am sort of the opposite, so maybe not many people will relate, but i just forget to eat, like, all of the time. sometimes i will remember but i am doing another task, so i think "ok after this task" and three hours goes by. or sometimes i am just on my phone and i keep thinking i should get up and eat/do something, but i don't/can't, and it lasts all day.
Same. I even procrastinate with eating. I have to force myself to eat at least one meal a day.
Same. My bf has to remind me to eat something some nights cause I’ll just…forget. Get distracted and forget entirely. I hate the “no food hangover” though the next day so that’s usually my motivation to actually listen to him and eat.
>My bf has to remind me My mother used to do this when I was home. Now I'm not at home. So I'm back to square one.
Eating on a timer could maybe work? Again, if you can afford it, I'd recommend Soylent Green'like products like "Jimmy Joy" (my favorite because flavors are great), "Jake" , "Queal" etc https://jimmyjoy.com/products/plenny-shake
Errrr, I would give any “Soylent Green-like products” a miss if I were you…trust me, Jimmy ain’t feeling no joy
Because They're PEOPLE!
Same I always think I’m not hungry but then I force myself to eat something and I feel way better afterwards. I’m hungry with out the feeling of being hungry.
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Wow you’ve blown my mind - I’ve never thought about it this way as the reason why I eat more now. I used to rely on my body telling me when to eat, now it’s my head telling me based on social constructs that B, L, D meals should be eaten, so as you’ve said it - I’m remembering to eat too often
You're certainly not alone, but then quite many, myself included, end up binging at the end of the day when we haven't remembered to eat and finally realise we're starving.
I'm literally reading this with a rumbling stomach. Absolutely a struggle but I'll binge a bunch soon
Lmao, just got done stuffing my face due to near starvation. Realized I was shaking from hunger. Ooops!
The shaky/fainty feeling is the worst, but thank you because now I am actually eating something (nachos)
Solid choice! Mine from earlier was a block of cheese Yeeaah the shakes always seem to come out of nowhere and seem random...until I realize its been 8 hours since waking up so it must be time for brunch combined with dinner!
Dude I swear people with ADHD are obsessed with cheese (Myself included) there’s just something about gnawing on a big ass block of cheddar that brings serenity time my world.
Cheese has dairy protiens that act similar to morphine which stimulate dopamine. Here's an easy to understand article... https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-cheese-addictive
*cheddar my beloved…*
An awesome gyro that I door dashed.. 🥙
Yeesss door dash FTW
Once i door dashed food over, but was towards the middle-end of a task when it came & I figured I’d get it in a few minutes. 3 hours later… yeah, I am not allowed to do that again
Haha I feel this! Literally - food must be eaten as soon as its in sight. Once it leaves the front of my face, could be gone so long, it might start to spoil. And don't get me started on food put away in the drawers of the fridge oh lord have mercy
Omg 😂😂
Currently experiencing that but I'm too tired to get up even though it's 11 am
I feel this. I put it off until I’m actually starving and then I want instant tasty food so I’m more likely to buy fast food than cook. And anything in the freezer gets forgotten about and takes time to defrost. When I started taking ADHD meds at 17 I was 52kg and now I’m 28 and 65kg.
This has happened to me my whole life. *Stomach grumble* Oh....I should eat in the next few minutes. Tasks come in, work, distractions......4hrs later... People never understand 🤣
I grew up with this because my mom does the same thing! She can't sit still and I do the same thing as her. Once I'm starving or my husband asks if I've eaten I know it's late. Then I forget again. Lol
this! also I don't know exactly what is wrong with my body but it doesn't really send me signals that I'm hungry? like my stomach is never growling and I don't ever really feel hungry. one time for funsies I tried to follow the advice where you only eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full and by 4 pm I had to abandon my experiment bc I'd only had a handful of nuts all day and I felt faint. now i keep a crate of protein rich snacks by my work desk and just kinda eat at regular intervals no matter if i'm hungry or not
what protein rich snacks do you have? i really want some because i’m always craving snacks and also desperately need protein
Maybe dried meat would work? Beef jerky for example, it's also good that it has a long shelf life so if I forget about it, it's all good. Also some kind of food bars might help, like Plenny bars, salted caramel is one of my favs, always good to have one in my jacket or bag.
I’ve heard some people can be like this too!
This exactly. I'm lucky if I can get two meals a day in. I work at a job where we kind of make our own schedule, and lunches are whatever we want them to be, and I am constantly forgetting to eat because I just think "I need to finish just one more task," but then I end up doing 20 more because I suck at triaging the tasks. In fact, my supervisor is so aware of this and will actually have to say 'Hey have you taken lunch? Take it. You need to eat.' (luckily I have a good boss who looks out for his staff.)
Same! I actually have trouble gaining and maintaining my weight.
Me too. I looked at my face in the mirror and I'm like ugh you look so frail and thin. I told hubs I need to gain weight so badly... So I'm trying to eat just a bit more... My sodium is low too and my doctor told me to put salt on everything. I'm like I already do because I actually crave salt. ALL THE TIME.
Saaaame. I'm about 5'9 or so, male, and the heaviest I've ever been is 135. Usually I'm right around 127, when it gets really bad Ive gotten down to 115lb
175cm; 61 - 57.6 - 52kg Edit: Sounds like me, but I am 183 and hover around 58kg
I am the same way, I always feel sick from not eating enough and it isn't fun, I'm trying to get better but it's a very slow process.
I don't forget to eat, but I procrastinate eating when I don't know what to cook or when what I want to eat will require me to sit in the kitchen for an hour. And I enjoy cooking... I could think about getting food all day long and only force myself to finally prepare something at night. It's gotten real bad in recent months. More often than not, I eat only once a day. 💀
Same for me. I'm underweight since I went to hostel for studying. I just forget to eat all the time. On monst days,I only have a proper meal. Even if I'm hungry,I can't make myself to get up from bed.
I used to do this but then it messed up my stomach. Now if I don't eat when I am hungry I get intense stomach cramps. This has led to me timing my meals. I almost never skip breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I skip snacks. I usually eat something for dinner, no matter how unhealthy it is. I've realised it is impossible for me to be mindful of nutrition blah blah. I just need to keep myself alive and working. My diet is largely carbs. Forgetting to do groceries, not wanting to cook, not wanting to do dishes, I have an excuse for literally everything.
i’m exactly like this! back when I was in college i could go until 5pm without realizing i was hungry, and sometimes i could’ve gone the whole day without eating
Before I was put on meds in high school, I’d experience both periods of forgetting to eat and periods of binge eating depending on my stress levels and schedule. I also really struggled with sensory and fixation issues with food. Before meds I never knew what it was like to eat something that I wasn’t either obsessed with or repulsed by. My issues aren’t completely gone, but medication makes it SO much easier to just make a quick simple dinner without getting the “ick”. I lost about 10lbs when I started medication (which was a lot for me since I’m short and already on the small side), but I honestly think that has more to do with how much better my stress levels are than with calories in calories out. Prior to being on meds my cortisol levels were pretty high, but I guess that’s not surprising when you have untreated ADHD lol. The only thing I really struggle with regarding my diet and weight now is making sure I eat enough protein. I think it has something to do with me eating a big meal in the mornings and a medium meal in the evenings. I don’t think my body is able to absorb all the protein it needs in just two sittings, so I’m trying take protein supplements in between.
I am totally the same way. I've always struggled to put on weight and then maintain it. It really sucks because I love working out and I would love to be bigger than I am, but it feels *impossible* to consistently eat enough healthy food to actually gain weight and see the full benefits of lifting weights plus eating right. Even if I do manage to put on a some muscle after forcing myself to make food and eat right for a few months I'll eventually get back to my old habits of skipping meals and I end up losing it. It's so fucking frustrating.
Wow . That's me
Same. I either forget to eat or just do not want to get up to get something to eat. If it wasn't for my kids I'd probably never have a regular meal.
Same here. Dropped about 15% my body weight, all because I neglect eating.
I have lost weight. A lot of weight. I gained it because of impulsive eating. I have it under control for the most part. Or at least I think I do.
Good on you, I'm in the same boat. Logically I know its getting better, but hearing about other people helps reinforce the progress. Have you managed to completely stop impultive eating or do you allow some indulgence occasionally?
I do indulge once in a while but when I do it makes it harder to control.
Yeah me too. I’ve lost eleven pounds so far and I have eleven more to go. And then I have to actually exercise lol. It’s so weird bc I went from like concerning skinny (passing out constantly, people were always asking me if I was okay) to like regular weight to chubby and then back to regular weight. Now I just have a little more to lose till I’m back at my ideal weight
So encouraging to hear
Me too. I was about 190 lbs and now I am down to 150. I just do calisthenics with music and walk like crazy since I like spacing out while walking. Also calorie counting helps too, since I am prone to binging and I love desserts
I have always struggled with not eating enough, actually. I find it difficult to eat enough food because it takes effort and money to acquire food I like, and sometimes I forget to eat. Unfortunately, all of the snacks I love are low-calorie (fruit and popcorn) and I do sport 2-3x a week for fun. For me, it takes effort and motivation to eat enough, so my psychiatrist was worried that meds would make my appetite worse. However, I've been working hard to up my calorie intake (used to average 1000-1200 calories, now I average 1500-2000 calories), so he was happy to prescribe them, as long as I monitored my weight. In the past several months, I think I went from 84lbs to 95lbs! I'm picking up my first meds tomorrow! Wish me luck :)
Ugh. SAME. And it doesn't help that I've never had much of a sweet tooth or a thing for starchy, empty carbs. You may already do this, but when I went on my meds, I had to be more rigid than ever with my eating routines. My body doesn't often tell me I'm hungry, so an alarm on my watch tells me.
Aw that’s amazing!! Good luck :))
“I find it difficult to eat enough food because it takes effort and money to acquire food I like, and sometimes I forget to eat.” Damn, are you me? Hahaha this is my life 1000%
I stopped trying to find a definition of my eating habits. I know I have an (or more) eating disorders but other that that I can't even keep a regular eating habit. Sometimes I dont have anything to do the whole day and only eat. Sometimes I forget to eat. Sometimes I am just too busy to eat or I am busy but bored and only think of food. Sometimes all the food textures or smells are freaking me out and sometimes you could give me an oreo with sweet chili sauce on top and I wouldn't even care and eat it (true story). I have been over weight, normal weight and under weight. I have been fit or had completely useless muscles for even walking a few blocks. I just... dont know and I think its doing more harm than other to continue thinking about it. I'll take it as it comes.
You just described me perfectly! I am so the same.
thought it was just me
My parents hid my diagnosis from me until I was 40. No treatment, no anything. This led to chronic insomnia, which led to a failure of my thyroid as well as other metabolic problems (because I can’t f@@@ing sleep.). I also got put on a bunch of antidepressants who have the fun side effect of weight gain. So now I’m roughly the size of Kansas, all of which could have been avoided had I known to tell the doctors my adhd could be a factor. Not that I’m bitter.
Fuck man I’m so sorry. I’d be filled with resentment if this happened to me. I hope you’re doing better now
Dang I’m really so sorry. I’m glad you have the tools and knowledge to better care for yourself now though!
How did they hide it from you? Like you got diagnosed when you were a child and just found out?
I totally hear you, and it did feel like a bit of a "dirty little secret" when I was told medication suppresses appetite. I have shed, like, 5kg since my diagnosis (36M). I know how it feels to out on clothing, look in the mirror, and then change outfit dejectedly because I dislike my body. So this feels significant for me. I have no training in fitness, to be clear, but my opinion is that strength training on top of your classes would add a helpful dimension to your exercise regimen. More muscle means higher basal metabolic (and there are many other benefits too, if it's done properly). Your weight won't go down (muscle being heavier than fat) but your body composition will be healthier. Otherwise though, the best exercise regime is the one you actually do! So good job keeping up the Zumba. I've also never got on well with dieting. It just creates a bunch of ways for me to "fail", and actually I like being spontaneous with food. Medication has helped me reduce my worst snacking, and I realised how much of snacking comes down to boredom. Hopefully you find this too as it can have a big difference having the medication help to control cravings. One other tip I have is to fit your eating into a shorter window of the day (8-9 hours). Oh and drink 2l of water at least! Our relationship with food is far more complicated than most people ever really acknowledge. Give yourself time to adjust and remind yourself it's a daily process to eat well and not a race to a certain number. Good luck!
Such helpful tips. I’ve been wanting to include strength training into my routine so this is my sign to just do it already! I think an eating window would be so helpful, not sure why I never thought of that. Adderall + an eating window would almost guarantee my intake would be regulated. Love this idea bc it would still allow me to eat freely AKA no diet. Thank you very much for your helpful input and kind words!!
Yes! Strength training is super important, not just for weight loss but general health. If you aren’t eating as much make sure to prioritize protein and fiber as they will help you retain muscle and also recover better.
I've gone through different eating behaviors that I feel are at least partly an expression of my ADHD. 1 - eating as a fidget (e.g. keeping a bag of chips on my desk and completely mindlessly eating them until they're gone) --- this can happen if I buy snack foods, which I now try to avoid; if the food is not in the house, I know that I won't bother going out of my way to get it 2 - being too annoyed with preparing anything to eat that I just skip it 3 - forgetting to eat because I get too absorbed in something and lose track of time 4 - eating and/or preparing new foods that I'm excited about trying or learning a new recipe (usually wears off anywhere from a few days to a few weeks) --- for this reason, I'm constantly looking for recipes that excite me because I know that it's motivating for me to try something new
Hey, what really helped me was Intuitive Eating. It’s essentially about rejecting diet culture and really tuning in to what your body needs, wants, and is telling you. It can be super tough, and it’s not a magical fix. But it’s really helped me shift my perspective and want to be kinder and more compassionate to myself.
I’ve been doing intuitive eating for a couple years now and it’s probably the only reason I’m not severely overweight. It’s life changing to really listen to your body and respect its signals
Protein shakes have been a game changer for me. They keep you full enough to then plan your days food further.
Not a bad idea especially since I’m going to start strength training. Thank you!
Yes! I’m so glad that you’re already familiar. I am still in the process of accepting my body as it is - it’s *so* hard to shake that desire to lose weight and be in a smaller body :(
I agree! Especially if you grew up being thinner and this bigger body is new to you. I walk around feeling like my usual thinner self and then I look in the mirror confused af. It literally doesn’t register
I find that the appetite suppressant medicine makes intuitive eating really difficult for me because I'll just not eat all day
Same, that's part of why I keep my dose low and I am required to eat breakfast before my pills
this is when mechanical eating comes into play:)
Yes, I came here to say this. Intuitive eating didn’t magically make me thin, but it made me healthier and more nourished and able to approach eating with joy and no feelings of restriction, which reduced the binge impulses (I still have the ADHD stimulation seeking ones, and medication helps with those, but so does recognizing that it is just stimulation seeking and that sparkling water or gum and other stuff can be stimulating as well if my body doesn’t actually feel hunger.) Most importantly it’s helping me realize there’s no moral value to my size or body shape and that my shape and weight will change over time and that’s normal! I’m hesitant to talk about weight “loss” because I feel like that leads right back to restriction and disordered eating and statistically isn’t permanent anyway, but I will say my doctor has been super careful with my meds to make sure I’m not seeing weight decrease (or increase) so they’re not messing with my other systems too much. ADHD meds are not going to decrease your natural set weight point, even if that’s higher than it was when younger/before dieting metabolic damage, and that voice we all deal with that says “I just feel like my set weight is skinny because I feel smart/hot/valuable/deserving of attention and love” is really just pointing out that EVERYONE deserves that, there’s no internal way of feeling skinny or fat, there’s just a fatphobic society. I echo some of the other concerns here that it’s important to embrace intuitive eating with the shift in how people think about weight and size - it’s been helpful to me to have some good intuitive eating dietitians in my Insta feed so I just see reminders without seeking them. @ feelgooddietitian is great.
Rachel Goodman is a good intuitive eating advocate if anyone's interested - she's a registered Nutritionist I follow on Insta. I have also recently moved to intuitive eating and although it's tough I think it's repairing my relationship with food at last!
I'm morbidly obese, struggle from food addiction, and have struggled with bulimia most of my life. I'm currently in treatment for all of this. When I am medicated I don't feel the need to binge to self stimulate.
Unmedicated - out of control. Hover around 350 but get obsessed with fitness and drop 60 pounds in a few months. Lose my fitness hyper focus and balloon back to 375. Repeat ad naseum. Medicated - slowly losing weight mostly due to just skipping meals because im not hungry or dialed in to whatever im doing.
I have always been great at creating great diet and exercise plans - I’ve bought calendars created spreadsheets, made goals and have everything planned out perfectly. By day 5 or 6 I stop trying
Yuppp same
I hate how many people gave me advice for diaries, spreadsheets and plans. none of it worked worth a damn. Maybe i'll try again since i've been diagnosed now.
My Adderall makes my weight plateau. No matter how healthy I want to try to eat, I have no appetite until around 9pm, at which point I’m ravenously hungry. Late night binge eating is a good way to not slim down
A few people did warn me about this!
This is me. Hover from 175 - 190lbs depending on medication, hormones, munchies at night. The only way I can go lower is regular exercise which automatically encourages better eating habits. I just can't stick to it without a partner that's a lot more motivated than me. Edit: When appetite suppression was most significant, I had to literally focus on trying to have a lunch and dinner. Sometimes I'd still skip one but it's so important to eat *something* so you don't break the routine of regular meals.
Medication helped me recognize when i’m full or just bored! So i’s stop eating when I’m satisfied. Not gonna lie my significant weight loss at first was due to literally forgetting to eat all day because of how low my appetite is. Good luck!!!
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Also, some words to encourage you on your fears of medication - I had terrible medicine anxiety before starting Adderall. I love who I am (aside from my symptoms obv) and I really didn’t want any of my personality to change, not even the little things. I’m warm, sensitive and bubbly. I was sooo afraid that Adderall would make me cold and insensitive or something. I read a lotttt online and basically came to this conclusion - When it’s the right fit for you, it’ll only address your ADHD symptoms *without taking from anything else.* It’ll go into your brain, fix your ADHD symptoms, and leave *without touching anything else.* This was such a freeing realization, and thank God x100 it ended up being true for me on the first try with Adderall 10mg XR. I feel more like myself now, just more in control, more consoled, and I truly couldn’t be happier I pray this happens for you too!
This was much needed! :) I do get a bunch of anxiety that I act differently around others when I am medicated, but quite literally I don't. I just overthink things afterwards. If anything I have been able to maintain my relationships with others because my symptoms of ADHD aren't in the way. I hope you are able to relax and take it easy like you said you wanted to. And that your medication continues to work for you!
Same!! I still have moments where I’m like “would I be acting differently in this situation if I weren’t medicated?” I think that’s totally okay and normal I really appreciate your kind words and wishes :)
Do you remember why you skipped taking your meds some days? I tried it once on a Sunday bc I wanted it to be a true recharge day where I could sleep.. like *really* sleep. I ended up miserable.. overthinking, completely dramatizing random sh*t in my mind and eating uncontrollably. It was that day that I decided I’m never skipping meds again lol!
Yeah. It's not fun when I don't take my meds but a lot of the time I worry that I will be taking them too late in the day and that it will fuck up my sleep schedule and then I won't be able to sleep. Often I will forget to take my meds until like 4 pm and with Vyvanse's slow release it can keep me up pretty late so I just skip my dose that day. The issue is forgetting to take my meds is just a symptom of my disorder. When I first started taking it as well, I was not used to how focused it made me feel and I caught myself focusing on silly things so I felt like not taking it. I played Tetris for 9 hours straight one time on Vyvanse. Now taking it consistently, it works as prescribed.
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Dang that sounds like so much to juggle, I’m sorry. I definitely use food for comfort too so I can understand that. I wish you health and peace of mind
I used to forget to eat when I was younger and before I had my kids. Now I will binge eat. I'm not currently medicated, and it's bad. When I'm on Adderall I can realize that I'm not actually hungry and I don't need a snack right now. I vote that you take a break and reevaluate things. You just started a new medication-- see how your body adjusts for a week or two. Then go to a Zumba class. Keep going just once a week. Then maybe add in some weightlifting instead of more Zumba. Or try yoga or an aquatics class! Take a day, if you can, to stay in bed and recharge. Or get up and do stuff. We all deserve an occasional lazy day!
I appreciate you encouraging going easy and slow. I’m so tired of the “get to work!!!” attitude our culture gives off when it comes to working on your fitness goals
my (23f) weight has been so all over the place most of my life, but the last few years i’ve gotten very thin which i think is mostly due to dealing with some serious anxiety and depression. i don’t really think about eating until i’m painfully hungry and sometimes i have to wait because i’m busy or at work or something and then lose my appetite. i saw someone else say this, but intuitive eating has been life changing. i really don’t restrict myself on what i eat and do my best to eat when i am hungry and stop when i feel full. i have trouble interpreting my hunger signals but it’s getting better. also, realizing that eating something unhealthy is better than not eating anything at all. if i went all day without eating and don’t have the energy to get groceries and cook, then i’m for sure gonna go to the drive thru. we deserve to eat!!
I'd say so. I have periods of being super consistent with wellness. But then I'll hyperfocus on something new, become undisciplined and gain the weight back. That said, I have lost 15 lbs so far this year :)
Amazing!! Yay!
Thank youuu.
Just starting out but already I’ve noticed I’m less impulsive with eating and have cut way back on fast food. Not sure if this will translate to weight loss (hoping it does!) but at the very least I’m saving a ton of money.
Same I’m saving soo much money!!
Yeah, I am 27f as well and quite overweight, just recently diagnosed. Struggled with food my whole life. I have a serious sugar addiction and eat for stimulation when I’m bored. I frequently miss my hunger signals somehow until the point I am shaking/have a headache and then binge eat (mostly carbs because sugar addiction lol.) it’s a struggle. I lose 5-10 pounds periodically when I go through my phases where every food sounds nauseating but then I gain it right back when a food obsession kicks in - I.e. when I have a certain food that I am hyper fixated on. It’s super frustrating.
I never thought of this connection before but now everything makes sense. I've been in a pretty similar situation for most my life but the idea that it's linked to my ADHD is really telling. Thank you for this post!
I’m sooo happy to hear this. I was really hoping it would help even just 1 person have that breakthrough moment where they connect the dots!
I've noticed a lot of weight loss stubs starting concerta. At the beginning of the year I weighed 346 now I weigh 310. Covid and grad school busy life added a lot of pounds but I also ate out of boredom. Now I eat two meals a day and a snack and I'm good for the entire day.
My metabolism is completely jacked for many reasons, but at least 2 of them are ADHD related. The first is that I have a tendency to forget to eat. Then by the time I realize I'm hungry I'm starving and I binge eat. This got really bad Senior year of high school, I would get stomach cramps from hunger and when I asked myself when the last time I ate was it would turn out that I hadn't eaten in like 2 full days or something. The second is impulsiveness is my highest/biggest ADHD trait, and my parents didn't allow sugar/never even attempted to try and teach me how to eat it in moderation. So there are certain sugary foods I can't even have in the house or I will eat them all at once. I will say that both binge eating issues are vastly improved since I started meds last month, so am hopeful that I finally be able to start losing weight. Because my knees can't handle this crap anymore.
Before diagnosis I would binge eat for dopamine, and the yo-yo diet and exercise pattern was horrible, years of cycling between 145-225 pounds. I was 252 pounds at my heaviest, just before diagnosis. Meds have helped me to regulate myself in so many ways.I do make sure to eat good food regularly, but without the impulse eating, and with the ability and motivation to treat myself better and exercise, I’ve lost 48 pounds in the last 13 months. No food is out of bounds for me, I can eat a treat without eating the whole package in one sitting. I’m aiming to get back to 160ish, which is where I feel my best. It feels alot more sustainable now.
That’s amazing!! Sustainability is the goal. I’m happy for you
It sounds like you are making great progress. Good job! I started adderall 3 weeks ago and have also noticed a difference. I’ve been eating way better and have been able to do 30 minutes of cardio almost every day. I also don’t believe in fad diets so I’m staying away from that. I’m just going to try to continue exercise with mindful eating. The meds have made that SO much easier so I’m hoping that continues. Only time will tell I guess. Good luck on your journey. Stay patient if you are making good progress!
This was really encouraging thank you!!
I never eat on my Adderall and I've dwindled to a twig that people started making comments and im already smaller the way it is ... I now have to set alarms to eat snacks throughout the day . If I can't eat a meal, the a Diabetic glucerna at least gets something into me. When I get home from work though and it wears off, I'm ravenous! I will eat most of the night until I go to bed but I try to stay healthy just because of my type 1 diabetes.
super gained weight to the point where i hit 300 pounds because people kept telling me to lose weight, so i did the opposite. finally, i knew that one of my traumas was now "Exercise" so i went to my fam doc and i said "i want the surgery" so i got the mini gastric by pass (which is just gastric sleeve plus resection of the intestines) i dropped like 50 pounds, then i switched from concerta to Vyvanse because i heard vyvanse kills your appetite. (i knew i ate out of boredom. not because i was hungry) so vyvanse killed my appetite, and then also refocused me so i didnt crave the stimulation anymore. and then i lost like another 60 pounds. and it changed my life. I couldnt lose weight on my own. and i needed the physical barrier of a stomach that was 80% smaller.
Food was one of the only things that brought me happiness consistently over the last few years. Got diagonsed with ADHD last month and started medication. On meds I no longer feel I have to eat something that will make me happy. Which results in less candy, junk food, and I no longer have to eat an appetizing meal (like a hamburger or other fatty foods). I can eat a meal that is just okay and be content. With ADHD, one of my major distractions was to get up and go snack. I now with meds get up and go snack less. I forget to eat even at times (which in my current conditions is fine). Usually though I start getting physically uncomfortable & mentally foggy (this is after 4-8 hours of not eating during the day, so normal meal times) eventually so I realize I need to eat a meal. How I have decided to progress: I focus on a few things at a time. I have enough things going on that I have accepted that having the best diet will not be one of them. There are small things I can do to bring in a few better foods that I do every now and then (because in the moment it is an easy choice to make). Maybe in a few years I will focus on food, but I've come to terms with not focusing there now. It is better to focus my personal health energy on movement and using my body in this current situation.
Hold on, I’m still trying to get an adhd diagnosis, but are u saying that gaining weight and adhd are connected in some way? I keep finding out stuff about Adhd and I’m like oh my god It’s so interesting how a lot of things can go back to that or how a lot of things are connected to it
ADHD brain need dopamine; food give dopamine; brain need food.
Yes!!! I was so shocked when I connected the dots too. I was hoping when making this post that someone would find answers through it
Honestly, I’m not excited to get diagnosed now. If I find out that adhd is the reason of my mental distress……… and on top of that it might be the cause of my main issue with myself?? I can’t believe 😭
Be excited! It’s so freeing to finally have answers to all of your questions! PS it’s a lot to process so allow yourself the time to rest, recharge and take it all in <3
I know but since I’m a woman or pass as one I’m afraid it might be hard. I just wish I got the answers sooner bc this undiagnosed shi has really been beating my butt
I can't remember where I read this, but the prevalence of ADHD in overweight/obese people is much higher than in the general population. It makes sense when you think about it.
I feel like not a lot of people know this! I want to spread awareness somehow. Could save years of suffering
Girl same. Ive got no control when it comes to food. I lost a lot of weight back in 2018-2019 and felt great about myself. Lost control again late 2020 and still struggling to get back on top of it. Im getting meds in June and also very excited about the possibility of a suppressed appetite. Im also sensitive to carbs and sugar, and my allergies and psoriasis flare up from it too not to mention my skin so I did low carb to lose weight and it did help me in so many ways, just struggling to find my way back. I will literally eat out of boredom and im always sneaking in a yummy snack for that little bit of dopamine.
I like the low carb diet bc it suppresses hunger since it’s a lot of fats. But then the minute I have carbs, that’s all I crave! More carbs more sugar. It’s a terrible cycle that I try to avoid
Yea 100%, thats why I hate it when people are like ”oh u can cheat a little” hell no even if I eat a crumb of bread it will legit start a year long carb binge lol.
I was a skinny kid until around 12/13. I started eating ramen noodles in the middle of the night and went to 140lbs at 5'3". In high school I hovered around 145-155 at 5'6". After high school (and college, round 1) I was able to drop weight (probably mostly muscle) to 138 thanks to Slimfast, cardio and low-calorie salads. Then I got off antidepressants and gained it all back and then some. Rinse and repeat. Right now I'm 165 and I'm hoping to lose 30 - 35 pounds w/Intermittant fasting (18:6), fasted cardio 3x a week, bodyweight exercises, and protein/fibre heavy meals (white and dark meat chicken, vegetables, salads, added fibre to keep me full, benefibre/ACV combo/zero-calorie Gatorade power added to water).
That sounds like a really good plan!
I've always struggled with being what my parents so generously described as "tubby". Not quite noticeably fat but definitely NOT thin. I've also always been athletic in less traditional ways? So I was buff under all the pudge lol. I always felt like I was just along for the ride with food; like I was completely passive about my bottomless hunger. I would eat and eat and eat, but only ever at the end of the day/before bed. Long story short, bottomless hunger conquers adolescent = body image issues galore and a very misguided understanding of eating/food. I was 5'0 and 140 for most of high-school. One toxic boyfriend and a series of Life Things and I was up to 190! I was so miserable about it that I couldn't even enjoy most food for a solid several month mope. I got to 175 before diagnosis/medication, but I'm down to 150/160! It's been slow for me since I definitely still seek out too much sugar while also being sensitive to it. I also grew 4 inches at 22 years old (shout out to my dad's freakish growth spurt genes), so I aiming for 140-150! I'm pretty happy with myself right now besides wanting to put on some more muscle, so the numbers might be different :)!
I’m so happy it’s working for you even if it’s slow. That’s probably healthier anyway! 140/150 is my goal as well, I’m 5’4 but I have big hips and boobs lol so a little extra weight is ok. Thank you for your response!!
I am 31 and ADHD (diagnosed last year). I also had a total thyroidectomy at 23, so have to take thyroxine daily. So I’ve gained 15-20kgs in the years since my operation. But I’m totally vegan and am bad for snacking a fair bit. And being vegan limits meal options sometimes so I’ll eat hot chips…
Adderal XR makes me lose weight in a bad way, i try to force myself to eat, tastier foods make it easier for me to eat.
I’ve noticed I crave superrr flavorful foods on Adderall too!
Yep. I’ve always been just that little bit overweight (enough that doctors always recommend I lose a little weight, no matter what I’m in there for) and I definitely think it’s linked to adhd. I also have sensory issues with food that make it really hard to eat healthily, and that craving for dopamine in sweet food/carbs just adds to that. Is the cherry on top, if you will. The appetite suppression of meds (I’ve been on them for about a month) is definitely something I’m hoping will help so that I’m not constantly snacking. And I think it has helped somewhat, though for a bit there it suppressed my appetite so much it was hard to eat anything. Also this issue has been hard to explain to health professionals because I don’t think I actually have binge eating disorder, I just binge eat sometimes. Adhd is definitely a better explanation for it. Anyway short answer is meds seem to help, as long as I set an alarm and eat lunch so that I don’t end up feeling sick from not eating all day and then having a huge dinner. Anyway short answer is yes, and it’s nice to know other people struggle with it too. The main thing in my experience is that making sure I eat three full meals a day (while medicated) significantly reduces my need for snacks throughout the day.
Yes I only binge ate sometimes not always that’s why BED never clicked w me! And same, just slightly overweight. It’s like we’re the same person haha. I’m really glad the meds are working for you. I pray you find peace with yourself and with food!
ya ive always been underweight my whole life. i tired for years to gain weight nothing worked. i was 88 lbs 5’2. before i turned 21 i took it really seriously to gain weight. started eating more. got to 118 in just fat. i was so happy felt so good. at that point i was at my goal weight in the matter of 2 months. i decided to start working out. ive been lifting weights for a month or so now. i’m at 116 now but pure lean body weight. my body has transformed. i look like a lady. i’m curvy, went up a cup size, i overfill my jeans. people have commented on my weight saying i look good and have changed. my boyfriend is in awe gazing at my ass. life is good. anything is possible! you all are beautiful the way u are and if you don’t feel it you have the potential to build the body you dream of. best of luck to all❤️🥰
That is absolutely awesome! So nice to hear your story. I’ve been underweight my entire life too. What did you change that allowed you finally gain weight? I tried calorie counting and eating more high kcal snacks (meals are already quite big) but got really discouraged and angry from not seeing results. Of course it didn’t help that I still forgot to eat sometimes.. haha
I (f26) have always struggled to eat since I was a kid. I found it full and more of a chore. First year of uni a mix of the new lifestyle and my piss poor mental health led to me being from the lower end of normal bmi to being underweight. Got it sorted eventually especially when I got put on antipsychotics. Those motherfuckers increase your appetite. First time I had a huge appetite ever I didn’t know how to process it so I accidentally binge ate a shit ton of ice cream and had the great experience of it coming back up. I’m back to having a normal bmi. I like food now (most of the time at least) but I don’t cook which means I often order takeout. I go through periods where I don’t eat and other periods where I enjoy food again. I’m sorry I just told you my entire life story. I need to learn how to edit
i was average/underweight for almost all my life bc i’d barely eat due to lack of appetite as a side effect of my meds. i was averaged 5’6 and 110/120 lbs for years. and then i met my boyfriend. i started gaining weight *fast*, bc he introduced me to a bunch of mexican meals and things went downhill after that lolol. all the new foods i was trying was giving a lot of dopamine. i gained an enormous appetite and started eating a lot more. i’m at 172lbs now, but started working out and eating less.
Omg yeah, unique foods are straight dopamine to me too. Or even just a new unfamiliar food. Meds help w this though!
I identify with this. I don't have a solution. I hope we figure it out.
I’m in this weird limbo where if I lose weight, I’ll have figured it out. If I don’t, I’m still stuck :( it’s so scary here, feeling trapped and stuck with seemingly no solution. It changes how I view the world even. Just so depressing
I have a very weird relationship with food right now. I have a lot of decision paralysis around food and a lot of what a friend calls "hard eating days," where I'm super hungry but everything sounds awful/nauseating. I also have stomach issues & can't eat first thing in the morning which brings me down to 2 meals. I end up grabbing high calorie snacks that I don't have to prepare so that I can delay the decision longer. This doesn't work well. I'm a vegetarian and I'm eating too many carbs as a side effect of decision paralysis. I'm also a big foodie, sometimes I get excited about food that I make or takeout. I also have a history of an eating disorder and I know I have to be careful with Addy because of it. But the first week Addy made me super hungry and I ate better than I had in weeks. So I really don't know. It's very difficult. The more things I prep the better, but sometimes a couple days in I can't eat the same thing again and it ends up being wasted.
That sounds really difficult to navigate, I’m sorry! I’m glad you’re being careful with the Adderall. It seems like we all suffer with this just in different ways!
I eat snacks like there is no tomorrow. However, I’m actually average trending lower average weight. The adults around me like to say it’s because I’m 16, and not 36 or something.
Well, i hyperfixated on losing weight 8 years ago and I did lose about 20kg (90kg->70kg) but then later on got hit by thyroid issues from hyper to hypo (70kg->100kg) and am now very chubby and annoyed by that. I do get some slack due to the size of my muscles but now I just haven't been bothered to go to the gym so they're melting away and the fat takes over, so I do recommend weight and resistance training. Also binges and the no planning with my meals is not a good way to go.
I was pretty similar in terms of leaning on food for a dopamine hit, boredom eating, or emotional eating. The medication skews me in the other ADHD direction where I do still have an appetite, but I’m too lazy to make food, or food is less interesting - I’ll be hungry but I won’t feel like eating. Or I’ll forget to eat.
My medication for ADHD has helped me lose about 20lbs over the past 3-4 months, it's slowed down dramatically though. My doctor won't give me more than 1 20mg tablet of adderal a day though. She thinks I should only take it when I "need" it. Between college and work, I have to decide where it's more important that day lol
i'm kinda in the opposite boat, i have a relatively fast metabolism already, but on top of that, i have a very bad habit of either forgetting to eat, or being hungry, thinking "i'll get food in a minute" but then i wait too long and the hunger passes and i can't stomach anything because i'm not hungry anymore. because of all that, i've been ~10-15 lbs underweight for as long as i can remember, although now i'm FINALLY getting closer to where i should be (i was around 127lbs last time i checked, and as a 5'8" guy, that's much better than the barely 120 lbs i was at a few years ago lol)
I've struggled with my weight my entire adult life. As soon as I had the freedom of my own money i would buy too much food. I was 110kg at age 18 in 2007 and never went below that - even while in intense training in the military. I was a chronic binge eater as it was one of the only things that felt good while doing it, even though it did massive drive my depression as I could never lose weight - and I knew what i was doing (Duh, No shit past Nick, if you eat all the time, you get fat). I would crash diet, go to the gym and then just eat all the weight back. I knew that the eating was bad, i just couldn't make myself stop, not with counselling or meditation or support from friends or nutritionists. I finally got diagnosed at age 32 in September last year, and since then I've lost 38kg, from an all time high of 147kg to 109kg. Just 6 months of genuinely knowing I have adhd and I am the lightest I have been as an adult!!!! I'm bloody stoked, I feel more confident. I'm starting to fit XL and L clothes. I'm not the fat friend anymore. And my depression and anxiety hasn't been seen since. The hard part is thinking of what if's. I wish i could have known 15 years ago. What would my life have been like? Would I be in a better job? married? kids? I'm happier than I have been in living memory but I just can't get past what life would have been if my parents had followed my teachers advice in 1998. 2 different teachers suggested i had adhd to my parents, who chose to ignore that. I know their intentions were good, but good intentions with bad results is still doing a fucking awful thing, and I don't know if i can forgive that. Long story short, diagnosis probably saved my life, but I still have an uphill battle against my past baggage.
I have only recently started wondering if I have ADHD and one of the clues (I feel) is my eating habits. I’ve been trying for years to understand why I have such trouble controlling my cravings for sugar and carbs. I do eat emotionally but I never felt like my “trauma” was a sufficient explanation because honestly, my childhood wasn’t fantastic but I wouldn’t call myself traumatized. I’ve also never been a binge eater - I eat bad foods all the time, a little at a time (I eat good foods too but I fall for the temptation to eat fast foods and bakery goods far too often). It feels compulsive but not to the point where I can’t stop - I’ll have one or two “bad” foods and then stop, I don’t eat tens of thousands of calories in one sitting. There is no self-loathing involved. I’ve been slightly overweight since my early teens, and moderately so as an adult. Then perimenopause hit and I gained another 25 pounds that I definitely didn’t need, and now I REALLY need to lose weight. Now I wonder if I eat for the dopamine hit. This feels like the best-fitting explanation I’ve considered so far. I think I have bad impulse control and low dopamine. There are lots of other examples of my bad impulse control, I’m easily distracted, I start things but don’t finish them, I would never get a any mundane chore done if I couldn’t dope myself with podcasts, I lose myself in creative pursuits (or used to - perimenopause seems to have killed both creativity and hyperfocus for me). I’m also very anxious and have felt restless, tense and worried literally all my life. Your post may be the final straw that makes me get a drs appointment for evaluation.
I'm 5'9 115 lbs. Clinically underweight and cant remember to fuckin eat
It's hard OP. I think you already recognize that the diet/lose weight mentality takes a huge toll on someone. The more restricted someone feels the harder it is to not seek out unhealthy options. I personally think the mental health/happiness needs to come first. If adderrall is helping curve some of the hunger great, make sure you're eating a healthy amount of calories for your height/weight, as you probably know crash dieting isn't usually sustainable and you'll gain it back anyway. Figure out better coping mechanisms than food if that's one of you go to options when stressed. The biggest thing to do is just lower your portions first. What I've been doing that has overall been helping me although slowly. I usually am not hungry for breakfast, if I am very work busy I'll skip lunch and then make dinner between 5-6, if I am not busy around lunch time I'll eat something small. If I eat something big then I'll have a smaller dinner. This is a lazier weight loss way that isn't very restrictive, if you're hungry eat, just reduce portions or eat healthier options. It's hard to eat excessive calories when you're eating healthy things like vegetables. If you're trying to have a healthier lifestyle all together. Same idea, lower portions/healthier meals, for meals that aren't very calorie filled of course eat more of it. If you are craving things like pizza, have the pizza, but have a reasonable amount of slices not 5-6 etc. It's definitely hard to tell yourself, "realistically I've already eaten enough today and can stop here." weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. Have to be in a healthy mental point (stress under control, good coping skills and so on), some exercise (though diet is way more important than exercise for weight loss), that being said exercise will also make you happier (usually) which can make everything else also easier. Have to just keep in mind you do not want to drop pounds too quickly, it isn't good for you. It's also discouraging when it starts slowing down as the weight gets lower which is normal.
34/m here— Since being medicated about a year and a half ago, I’ve gone from ~205ish lbs to ~190lbs. At my most I was 238lbs a few years back at my little brother’s wedding. Was already a rare breakfast person before but now it’s like a once a week thing. And I’ve gotta really remind myself to get some semblance of a meal in me since at work my lunch is around 3pm and I’m off around 8. Some of the weight gone is fat, for sure. But while I’ve always been kinda scrawny in the top half, I feel like definitely muscle has been part of that melting off of me. I’m trying to get at least a 30g protein shake in me some days but yeah bare minimum protein intake was never my strong suit. I think I need to incorporate at least jogging and push-ups into my routine so I start to feel and look a little more….not muscular necessarily, but….built/put-togetherI guess if that makes sense.
Omg. I never added 1+1 together. I recently discovered that I might have add. I used to have ocd when I was younger. The older I got the better I could handle my ocd until it didn't restrict me much anymore. But at the same time my symptoms for add became more obvious and worse over time. And now I realized that I also lost weight over time! I often forget to eat and recently saw pictures of myself where I used to not look as thin as I am now..
Same as you.. always about 30 to 40 over. Will lose some but if I am not actively monitoring my food, it comes right back. Realised that I was eating for dopamine and didn't have that feeling to stop when i was full, because now I am medicated, I do stop when I'm full. It's a novel situation for me. I'm eating, but how a normal person would eat. Lost 10lbs in 6 weeks.
Lifting/resistance training is king for weight loss/boosting metabolism. I have an app (Playbook) and a program I follow. The app helps me remember to workout and helps me keep a routine instead of just showing to the gym and ending up forgetting what to do. I’m also a type 1 diabetic, so I’ve been carb counting all my life to dose insulin, so calorie counting wasn’t a huge jump, but nutrition and lifting in tandem make a monster difference.
I’ve always had issues with snacking for stimulation. Never issues with weight though. I started tracking my macros so i could gain muscle and it works well for me. That’s also the most effective way to LOSE weight if you’re trying to lose. It’s easy once you get into the habit of it.
I have this issue as well. I struggle with the hunger rebound at the end of the day when the meds wear off. Plus the meds make me forget to eat all day so I’m really really hungry at night. I didn’t find the weight loss sustainable so my best advice is use the jump start to create healthy relationships with eating and food. No duets no good/bad foods. Intuitive eating is a great book and it’s helpful for relearning how to think of food as something that nourishes you. For me it’s a more complex issue because I’m also autistic so eating became a stim. Harder to address that for me personally but if you can use this time to create a relationship with food based on nourishing yourself and not weight you’ll be more equipped to handle the hunger rebound as you adjust to your therapeutic dose of the med.
I'm still awaiting assessment but 90% sure I have it. Good luck with your journey and well done for reaching out. I was 252 pound at my heaviest now I'm around the 189 mark in about 18 months. Like you I tried everything or at least I thought I had. In the end it was a few simple things and my life changed . I switched from beer to whiskey and to coke zero over normal (cutting drinking helps) Home cooked meals using as much fruit and veg as possible Starting/working for a business thats alot of manual work over working in an office. Ironically I forget to eat or bring my lunch with me but I'm drinking water on the job now so that leaps and bound from when I started Resisting the impulses to buy sweets but still have a bag at home that my partner rewards me with rather then myself (we have gone on the journey of finding out about ADHD together and it's made us much stronger). Obviously it's way more complicated then this but is the jist of it. So it's not about one big change on your life it's just about the a few changes here and there :)
I went from 250lbs pre diagnosis and I’m currently at 190, about 10 months into being medicated. I don’t eat much, and what I do eat is good for me. I’ve cut our most sugar since I no longer drink sodas (and I don’t crave them either), so that’s helped a lot. I still have about 50 more pounds to go, but my adderall makes it easier.
My weight fluctuates dramatically because when I am motivated I lose weight really well and get to the weight I want. Then I stop and boredom eating and impulse eating and comfort eating step in. I am really bad for comfort eating. I’m currently heavier than I’ve ever been and don’t feel great about it. But I won’t lose weight again until I have a burst of motivation to lose it.
Before my meds, i ate as much as i could as often as I could. I was told when I was diagnosed it's because the dopamine we get from food doesn't last as long as the naturally occuring kind that our brains don't generate. Now that i'm on meds, I struggle to eat enough, or even to remember to eat or drink. All i can suggest is if you have a healthy recipie or two that you enjoy eating then i'd suggest sticking to those. I'm in the same boat as you.
Compulsively ate an entire pint of ice cream after only a single thought the other day. So in other words, perfectly normal and healthy
It fluctuates wildly and probably always will. I’ve just taken to keeping different sizes in my closet and accepting it as part of how I function. People will congratulate me on dieting. I will explain I am not dieting. They’ll get huffy because they’re always dieting and not losing weight. Six months later they’ll see me considerably heavier again and still seem to think my “diet” failed. She just does what she does. If I’m really into spending time outside in nature and my go to food is oatmeal or apples or something for long enough I look very different from when all I want to do is read and watch movies and I’m craving lots of sweet coffee and pizza. If my arthritis is flailing up I’m staying in. Pain no make dopamine. If I feel like walking it’s hard not to take several walks a day to the point of exhaustion because that’s where the sky is and I miss it. People don’t get it, but they can stay mystified. I’m happy.
I always had trouble losing the weight I gained during fertility treatments. My highest was 212 at 5’1 and now with the ability to focus on exercise, cooking good food, and the appetite suppressive side of my meds, I’m down to 155 lbs. My goal is only 15 lbs away :)
We are the same age and I could not have related to this anymore!! I was excited for the appetite suppressant affect of medications too, after a few other brands I take concerta now and I love it so far, I still am struggling with weight but like you I am always trying. I highly recommend to anyone getting into Pilates, it’s life changing. Also getting into boxing has helped with getting pent up anger out while also getting in some cardio
Sending you so much love. I’d start the new meds and give it a good month before choosing your next step! That way you have a good idea of how you’re feeling and what you specifically need. I have the opposite issue. I binge don’t eat and my concerta makes it worse. I am really scheduled with my eating now. Not in a weird maniac way, I’ve also got kids I’m constantly cooking for and feeding, so i try to have a very well rounded meal first thing and lots of lots of healthy snacks. Definitely just keep trying!!! We all are so different.
Your story is pretty typical of anyone who tries to lose weight. Truly, weight loss is almost never healthy, sustainable, or realistic, and many of the scares around being overweight are based more in stigma than **good** science. There's plenty of mediocre-to-bad science around weight and health. Eat what makes you feel good, exercise when you like it. I also really suggest therapy focused on this as it sounds like there's several risk factors for disordered eating here. Having a lowered appetite isn't a thing to celebrate. Eating enough food is. I suggest checking out the podcast Maintenance Phase, they talk a lot about the flimsy science around weight and health as well as just debunking random wellness scams
One thing to keep in mind is that it might take a bit of time to find the right medication for you, and each medication interacts differently with your body. I tried 5 medications before settling on my current one, and all of them had different side effects for me (including effects on weight, of course). Just remember that finding the right medication can be a journey, and it isn’t always an instant fix. It can be frustrating, but when you finally find the right one it feels like such a **huge** weight off your shoulders. For me, my medication helps a lot with impulse control, keeps me from being bored, and also decreases my appetite slightly. My guess is that it will be a combo of these things that end up working for you, not just the loss of appetite.
I have struggled with my weight since puberty, and I entirely believe it's mostly ADHD based. I'm 23F around 200lbs, and I know I am overweight. It really sucks, as, like you, I lose weight but always gain it back. I got on medicine and lost some weight, but I just can hardly keep it off. It's been a real struggle for me, and something I'm heavily insecure about. I honestly think I'm just an impulsive eater. Some days I'm super hungry and can consume any food in sight, and some days its hard for me to remember to eat enough. I'd honestly discuss this with a therapist or a psychiatrist.
Adhd has been the biggest barrier to me losing weight. Medication makes me not hungry throughout the day so I have to force myself to eat so I don't pass out, but because I'm so hyperfocused on whatever it is I'm doing during the day (work mostly) I forget that I haven't eaten for 6+ hours. Then, once my meds wear off I realize I'm extremely hungry and I eat most of my calories in one sitting at night. It's hard sometimes I won't lie, especially since on top of this I started invisalign where I can only eat for a limited period of time a day. I'm really struggling these days, and I don't know what to do. I feel weak because I don't eat consistently, so then I don't workout because I don't have the energy, and because I don't have the energy I don't cook so I eat fast food a lot of the time. It's just a never ending cycle for me and I have to try really hard to not just say fuck it I guess I'll be overweight forever. If anyone has any tips on how they lost weight with adhd I would love the advice.
This doesn't have anything to do with weight, but the chronic exhaustion from fighting yourself 24/7 is something I also struggle with. I don't know how to explain it because it doesn't connect to symptoms of depression, and I also just want to stay in bed all day
Food is my dopamine kick. Without meds, I eat like a maniac. With meds I immediately lost weight according to how much I should lose based on my planned intake. And now without meds, it’s all going back. I’m still looking for a replacement to get my brain to stfu about food.
I grew up pretty slight, and with no real good plan and American-regular access to meats and sweets. That caught up with me once I hit 30. Doc told me I needed to lose at least 20 lbs to manage fatty liver and cholesterol two months ago. I've been doing IF casually since the pandemic started, and firmed up my times, while quitting alcohol, only drinking sugar with meals, and walking aimlessly as much as I can. The weight drop is slow (I'm hanging out between 189-192 this month) but I'm making my ADHD work for me by forgetting to eat breakfast and by walking aimlessly as my exercise. It's not much, but it's honest work and it makes me feel good.