ADHD & Eating Disorder Dietitian Nutritionist in NYC

Nutrition Counseling for ADHDers & AuADHDers

As providers who identify as ADHDers, we celebrate neurodiversity with our clients while acknowledging and addressing the challenges of caring for oneself in a world that often isn’t supportive.

It can be painful to struggle with food and body image in a world that does not understand how your brain works. The way neurodivergent folks think can be very different than neurotypicals - we refer to these differences as the primary traits of ADHD.

Woman with ADHD in nutrition coaching taking notes

These primary traits of ADHD often show up as:

  • Decision Fatigue

    • Overwhelmed by too many choices at the grocery store - get nothing

    • Can’t choose what to eat - delay eating

    • Order something you don’t really want because can’t choose from the menu

    • Eat the same foods all the time until you are sick of them because picking something new feels impossible

  • Time Challenges

    • Forget meals or snacks

    • Start a meal, get distracted, and forget to finish

    • Get sucked into something and lose appetite

    • Forget to food shop

    • Late to or missing appointment

  • Sensory Sensitivity

    • Food aversions and fixations

    • Grocery store overwhelm (bright lights, loud, bumping into people)

    • Unreliable hunger/fullness cues

    • Difficulty sitting for a whole meal

    • Overactive & underactive physical sensations at mealtimes

Secondary symptoms are effects that arise, not from ADHD itself, but from the shame, guilt, and need for self-protection that develop in response to being a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world. 

This can add another layer of challenge to recovery that may make it feel impossible to get started. When working together, we will address both the primary symptoms and secondary traits to build a foundation of mind and body nourishment.

Some tools we’ll use to create a neurodivergent-informed roadmap:

  • Exploring habit stacking

  • Reframing “Success”, “Productivity” or “Functionality” to remove moral judgements

  • Learning to ask for more support…as a SMART goal

  • Time boxing/Pomodoro Method

  • Building awareness of all-or-nothing thinking

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