09/18/2026
Anyone else start the day planning to eat well, and by 3pm all you've had is coffee and half a granola bar?
If you've got ADHD, that's not a willpower thing. Planning meals, remembering to eat, grocery shopping, cooking before you're starving and can't think straight, all of that runs on executive function, and that's exactly what ADHD makes unreliable. So you end up skipping meals, crashing, feeling guilty about it, and wondering why something so "simple" is so hard for you. It doesn't stop there either, running on empty makes the ADHD symptoms themselves worse, so the whole thing feeds itself.
The fix isn't more willpower, it's getting things out of your head and onto paper. ADHD brains struggle to hold onto plans that only exist as thoughts. Once it's written down somewhere you'll actually see it, it has a much better shot at actually happening.
A few ways to do that with food:
Write your meals down the night before, even something as simple as "eggs, then leftovers, then chicken and rice." Not a strict plan, just enough that your brain isn't deciding from scratch when it's already running low.
Keep a running list of your "zero decision" meals somewhere you'll see it, so on the hard days you're choosing from a list instead of staring into the fridge.
Build a grocery list over the week instead of trying to remember it all at once. Every time you think of something you need, write it down right then.
If you already bullet journal, this fits right in. Give food its own little section, on paper, on purpose, and it stops living only in your head where it's easy to lose track of.
And honestly, sometimes the best way to externalize it is to have someone else help you build the plan. Working with a dietitian means you're not the only one holding it all in your head, you get it out, get it organized, and have someone tracking it with you and keeping you accountable when your own follow through has an off week.
If this sounds familiar, send me a message and let's figure out what could work for you.
