Simple Fasting: ADD/ADHD Friendly Diet for Weight Loss
For many, dieting takes sheer willpower and self-control, traits that elude most ADD brains. Our weight goals are sabotaged before we even start.
One size does not fit all. I struggle with the shiney objects and overwhelm of the latest diet fads. Other close friends of mine struggle with self-control and fighting to stop eating.
There are many facets to consider when attempting a diet. Believe me, our unique brains will do their best to rebel.
I’m going to share what has worked with me and the one factor that every diet now includes: fasting. Let’s explore what the obstacles are, and see if we can’t do a little brain hacking.
Table of Contents
- Decision making
- Impulsivity and self-control
- Trying hard doesn’t work
- There’s a new diet in town
- Keep it simple and feeling full
- What fasting time worked for me
- Conclusion
Decision making
According to Attitude our lack of executive function gets into our way (the planning and solving problems part of our brains). There is a lot of planning when it comes to preparing the meal. Picking out the recipes, grocery shopping, meal planning, prepping, the actual cooking.
Each step contains substeps: browsing for recipes, comparing them, reading food labels, deciding between brands, making substitutes, having all of the cooking equipment, and knowing how to cook.
I shudder when I think of calendar planning – are you kidding me? Food tracking, are you crazy? I’m supposed to map out a 30-day food plan and follow it? Heck no. I hate those things!
I shudder when I think of calendar planning – are you kidding me? Food tracking, are you crazy? I’m supposed to map out a 30-day food plan and follow it? Heck no. I hate those things!
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Ever see the food kits that ship to your door? People who diet have great success with those. The decisions are all removed. All they have to do is follow the directions, everything is measured out.
I actually talked to someone who subscribed to one of them. She was very happy with the weight she lost and loved the whole idea of it. But she couldn’t afford it anymore and had to give it up. Unfortunately, the weight came back.
Impulsivity and self-control
At the end of the day, it’s our innate measures of self-control that determines success.
Additude mentioned a study that gastric bypass patients had a very high rate of undiagnosed ADHD. After surgery, they were prone to losing less weight and gaining it back.
They stated, “The same difficulty with impulse control that leads you to interrupt in conversations also makes it harder to resist a tasty snack when it’s calling your name. The same feelings of being overwhelmed that stop you from cleaning a room can keep you from adding a detailed new diet plan to your life.”
Throw in eating on the run, daily stress, and being oblivious to what we are even doing because of our racing brains… it all sounds hopeless, doesn’t it?
It seems if we could remove the required self-control part, that might be half the battle.
Trying hard doesn’t work
Complicated diets with rules are not for ADD/ADHD minds. Unless someone else is making it and setting it in front of us, we need another approach.
When I feel stressed, sure, I’m scoping out my kitchen for chocolate. I’m fortunate that I’ve never been attracted to junk food and I dislike the feeling of an over-full stomach – so I know when to quit. Boo-hoo to me, so what’s my struggle?
No one escapes menopause weight. One day I woke up to discover I had turned into a tree trunk. I had a couple of year’s notice on this, along with all the other fun aging surprises my body had for me.
My efforts of diet and exercise were not paying off. Because I didn’t see benefits, my brain lost interest. So what did work?
There’s a new diet in town
I knew about “clean eating” and the benefits of fasting – an eating approach that has taken the world by storm.
Fasting is the practice of abstaining from food or drink for a period of time. This can be done for religious reasons, health benefits, or medical procedures. For those looking to lose weight, it involves strategic choices for when and how long.
A word of caution, intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone, current health status needs to be considered.
The health benefits are almost unbelievable – but true. It’s like a one-stop shop for doing your health right, in terms of preventative medicine, but healing, too. According to Cedar Sanai’s studies, fasting kills cancerous cells. Not only in the cancer patients in the study – it can kill your unknown cancer cells now.
The term for cells “eating” damaged or unnecessary components is autophagy. It’s a cellular process where the body breaks down and recycles its own cellular debris during periods of stress or nutrient deprivation (like fasting).
On-going fasting can alleviate inflammation in the body, and control food cravings (yes, cravings!). More on that in a minute.
Reputable doctors with Youtube channels, like Dr. Mindy Pelz and Dr. Eric Berg DC are spreading the news as fast as they can.
I don’t know about you, but my little ADD brain requires a good reason to do anything – fasting gives me that reason to try it.
Keep it simple and feeling full
There’s nothing like real life success stories – I’m one of them. My weight took off like a run away train in my early 50s. Before, things were pretty under control. Yeah, there was some extra stress at that time, but afterwards I felt so hopeless, diet and exercise didn’t work.
I had done some mild fasting, but really wasn’t all in. To be clear, there are different fasting lengths, you choose what works for you, or that you think you can achieve. For example, a simple rule would be not to eat anything after 6 pm, and then breakfast at 8 am. Congratulations, you have fasted for 14 hours with hardly noticing it.
Note: To stimulate autophagy through fasting, it’s generally recommended to fast for at least 16 hours. Another point, it’s a good thing not to follow a strong pattern because you could stall the diet – your body likes variation in fasting times (yeah ADD/ADHD!) .
What fasting time worked for me
I started with the overnight, low barrier-to-entry approach. Desperately getting close to my daughter’s wedding, I had to step it up.
Thank goodness for the flu. Yep, it was the bad kind, I didn’t eat for two days. I figured my stomach was shrunk, and wanted to keep going off of the gains I had made. Sorry – you know me, real life, folks!
About that same time, I had a life-changing thought break through my Aztek Hole. A doctor had counseled another doctor on weight loss, but more in the realm of herbal. When he came back to her 4 months later, he had lost 40 pounds!
He happily informed her that he ate one meal a day – but he packed that one meal with anything healthy he wanted: eggs, avocado on toast, coconut cream milk, olive oil, meat, etc. I had heard of on the one meal a day diet before, but I never thought that I had the willpower to do it.
OK, I decided, I would try it. Skipping breakfast wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed my noon meal, but endured a hungry evening. The next day I did it again, and the day after that, and the day after that. There was no hunger the second day and any food cravings were gone. In 7 weeks I have lost 18 pounds, and still going strong.
Lessons I learned
There are two important lessons that I learned:
- What you eat at night, will determine how hungry you are in the morning.
- You have one job, to pack enough into that one meal a day so you will never feel hungry.
I can’t recall where I heard that first statement, but it’s true. If you eat a bowl of cereal, or have some pastries at a bridal shower, you will fill some hunger the next day. Carbs will do that. If you fear feeling hungry, avoid them.
My one job was to drizzle olive oil over everything like it was nobody’s business. Olive oil, walnuts, and avocados are all rich in Omega-3s, the cornerstone for the Mediterranean Diet (a proven diet popular since the 1990s and still going strong).
The beauty of fasting: I only have to plan one simple meal a day and it’s easier to see the food culprits.
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
The Mediterranean diet is centered around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil, with moderate amounts of fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy. It emphasizes minimal processed foods, red meat is eaten less frequently, and red wine may be consumed in moderation with meals.
I personally chose to eat more cabbage and heavier vegetables with my prime meat meal – it really slows up your digestive system. There is a delightful woman I follow on Youtube (Style With Serena) who does diet, exercise, and fashion for women over 50. It struck me when she said, you need more protein than you think (sorry, M diet, I’m siding with Serena!).
My diet is controlled, meaning I eat one meal a day Monday-Friday (I’ll eat a lighter mid-Friday meal if we go out to eat that night). I pack my lunch and don’t have the tempations of going to a fast food restaurant. The meal contains a generous serving of protein and big pile of vegetables.
I have a small health drink with either whole milk or coconut milk, and sometimes I have a wasa cracker with white cheese. I will also sprinkle ground flax seed (another healthy Omega-3), hemp or chia seed, and/or walnuts into any meal. I’m serious about the olive oil (feel free to use avocado oil, too). I’ll even take a spoonful straight! By the way, use olive oil for low heat cooking and avocado for higher heat cooking (high heat can damage the good stuff in the olive oil).
Getting on the scale every morning is like unwrapping a surprise. Losing weight is fun if you’re actually losing it!
-Renee’s Rabbit Hole
Whatever you do, stay away from seed oils! I fry in beef tallow, pork lard, or bacon grease. As a country gal, this is not new to me, but in case you live in a hole, everyone is getting on the beef tallow band wagon. Check out the Beef Tallow Restaurant map. People are even starting to search for “seed oil free restaurants”. That stuff is so bad for you – it actually prevents you from losing weight. It can stay in your system for years, potentially contributing to chronic inflammation and disease. Read here what seed oils to avoid.
My problem was that I took my job too seriously and felt overstuffed into the evening. I reduced my portions just a bit, and still feel full.
The beauty of fasting: I only have to plan one simple meal a day and it’s easier to see the food culprits. It’s not even a meal, it’s just me throwing food into containers. We often cook nice cuts of meat, so I have some amazing protein – I feel like I’m eating gourmet.
For example, with all food choices being the same over two days, it was easy to spot that the two glasses of sweet Zinfindel wine did me in. Luckily, I much prefer a drier wine, and won’t need to make any great sacrifices.
My husband and I have been encountering more people losing noticeable weight. When we asked them how they did it? One meal a day.
Cheat days
My husband and I are at that time in our life that friends want to go out every weekend. Add in the additional diet challenge that we’re both accomplished cooks. Throw in the revolving door of kids coming home, and it’s hard to sustain a strict diet.
We have found that the one meal a day diet is easier to manage, and we can bear the brunt of the cheat food on the weekends. When we do it together, we’re even stronger to stay on track. However, because we have seen so much success, we don’t cheat so bad on the weekends like we used to.
Getting on the scale every morning is like unwrapping a surprise. Losing weight is fun if you’re actually losing it! So, our cheat days are under control, with not much damage. We can choose to enjoy a special event without feeling guilty.
Conclusion
If the ADD/ADHD mind struggles with attention, how are they ever to stick with a diet? Throw in the latest fads and the situation turns into hopelessness and overwhelm.
I can’t promise that you will have the same success that I did, milage may vary. I don’t have problems with self-control when it comes to food, other people do. When I can figure that out for those loved ones, I’ll be back here, sharing the good stuff!
-Renee
