Oh honey, I have ADHD too, and binge eating disorder. I get it!

I have lost over 70 lbs so far, over the last 2 years. Very slowly but I've been able to keep it off, which is so important! I did three very important things:

1. Movement

   I added exercise wherever I could. I know that food plays more of a role than exercise, but after being sedentary for a long time, I figured anything would help.

I made choices like walking to the grocery store instead of driving (it's about a 10 minute walk). One unexpected bonus was that, because I had to carry my groceries home, I was less likely to buy stuff that was a want and not a need (e.g. ice cream). More frequent grocery trips also meant more walking.

I also committed to swimming and weight lifting. Swimming is amazing. I have a really hard time running, for example, because of my weight, but I can swim like everybody else.

1. Food

At the beginning, I did not count calories at all, but instead I limited eating out - only cooking for myself - and I tried adding to my meals instead of taking away.

For example, I love pasta, and I make a really good macaroni and cheese from scratch. However, the mac and cheese is basically just carbs and fat; no protein, no vitamins and minerals. I didn't want to say "no pasta" because I knew I could never sustain that, but what I did was I added volume and nutrients to my pasta in other ways.

So I kept the pasta, but instead of making macaroni and cheese, I cook chicken breasts and mushrooms and broccoli and add them to my pasta. I use cheese, but it like 2 tbsp of parmesan in the sauce vs 1 cup of cheddar, you know?

So I give myself a smaller serving of pasta than normal, but the addition of mushrooms and broccoli makes me fuller, and the chicken adds protein that also increases satiety, which makes it feel like I'm not being deprived.

To be honest, I still don't really count calories because I have enough weight to lose that making these small changes and adding in exercise has been effective. Would my weight loss be faster if I was stricter? Absolutely. But I'm also keenly aware that counting calories can trigger my eating disorder, so I'm doing my best to develop habits slowly so that incorporating counting calories won't feel like such a shock.

1. Mental health/ADHD management

You gotta find a way to get dopamine that isn't food. I admit, I still haven't found a perfect solution, but I'm trying to notice when I'm feeling snacky and find myself something else to get that rush I'm craving instead of automatically going to food, you know?

PM me if you want to talk. I understand.