ADD-Friendly Tips for Healthy Eating: Veggies, Butter and Self-medicating with Food - Am I the only one?

With the holidays coming up, and realizing that over the summer I actually gained weight, I'm super-focussed and motivated to NOT gain weight and yes, I'm determined to actually LOSE Weight.  Call me crazy, but I have to do this. When it comes to healthy eating, I have spent a lifetime struggling with yo-yo dieting and trying to develop healthy eating habits so that I can maintain a reasonable weight.  And I have a feeling I'm not alone in this.  Especially since reading Pieces of a Puzzle: The Link Between Eating Disorders and ADD and taking a class on the  ADD Classes site called "AD/HD and Eating  Disorders" with Dr. Patricia Quinn.

I have worked so hard at eliminating clutter foods and breaking my food addictions and bad habits that I now understand were / are ADD-related. I'll get into this more in future posts as I work to overcome these issues, but for today I want to recap and then focus on veggies and butter.  Over the last 10 years, I have:

• Quit sugar and overcame my sugar addiction a few years ago 
• Learned to drink only water, tea and coffee.  I stopped drinking soda and juices 10 years ago.
• Cut out all but a few pre-packaged foods and use much less salt.
• Overcome my Gluten Addiction and learned to limit my gluten (breads and pastas) to a couple times a month and usually only in restaurants.
• Stopped using anything with transfat and stopped buying margarine. (they are allowed to say "no transfat" if they have just under 1 gram per teaspoon or tablespoon.  How ridiculous is that?

To give up margarine, I had switched to butter. Now I realize that may not have been my best idea ever.  : ) I have discovered that I have a "fat tooth"!  In particular, I have developed addictive behavior around butter -especially on my vegetables! It was getting out of hand. So, I recently decided to quit butter! The most challenging part for me was eating veggies with nothing on them. I hate to admit it, but I used to drown them in butter.  But not anymore!

I recently discovered frozen "steamable" veggies that come in a bag you can just stick in the microwave for 4-5 mins. They come out perfect and incredibly delicious every time! In fact, the broccoli and brussell sprouts and carrots even taste sweet to me! Even with no butter and very little salt.  It's like a dream come true. It's perfect for people like me who have ADD and often leave things burning on the stove, or have difficulty "activating" to cook a healthy meal.

I still prepare fresh veggies too, but on those days when I can't wrap my head around all the steps to cooking a meal, it's so nice to have a variety of "Steam in Bags" available in the freezer. They even have single serving sizes now! When I use the bigger bags, I have half for dinner and I can either save the other half for dinner tomorrow, or have the other half later as a healthy snack! The really neat thing is that the 12 oz bag of broccoli for example is only 125 calories!  And the smaller portion bags make it so much easier to control portions.

It's made a big difference for me and I'm finally starting to lose weight! 

Next Demons to conquer?  These following will be my focus for the next few months.

1.  CHEESE - I have no power over cheese. Probably because of the fat and salt content. This will be almost as hard as quitting sugar for me. It's such a satisfying fast food! 

2.  NIGHT EATING - I have got to conquer the night eating that results from "self-medicating" ADD related hyperactivity. I've got to stop using food to manage my energy and calm me down.  Why does being "hungry" or "not full" cause me to have so much energy I can't sleep?   

Anyone else have experience with this?  Have you overcome these issues?  I would love to hear from you, particularly if you have ADD and struggle with night eating as a way to mange your energy levels and help you sleep! 

Would also love to hear any tips you have to make healthy eating ULTRA-SIMPLE and easy? 

How do you avoid overeating during the holidays?

RELATED POSTS BY ME:

• Organizing for Your Health: Fast Foods That are Surprisingly Healthy!
• How can you Lose Weight, Eat Healthier, Reduce Kitchen Clutter & Give a GREAT gift?
• ADD ADHD Found to Have Huge Impact on Ability to Follow Weight Loss Program!
• ALL posts on Organizing for Health and Healthy Eating

Comments

[Fat Loss 4 Idiots]

I wanted to say congratulations. You've seem to take some really important steps and thanks for sharing the info. with me.

I had heard a little bit about the books you mentioned, but I haven't really had the motivation to read them till now, that you've mention them.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

Kenney

[Joyntheir]

You could have been writing about me in your post. One problem I have with fresh veggies is that I tend to buy in 'bulk' thinking I will gorge on them, but then they rot in the frig. I bought a vacuum sealer and containers. This does add a longer life to the carrots and apples. I love the steamed veggies - but I have to watch the ingredients for sugars and fats (added to make them 'taste' better).
As for night eating - here I am. If I don't get my veggies in during the day, that is when the binge-ing urge comes. Or if I am exhausted, but have work to do before bed I eat to stay awake.
This is a great blog! Joy.

[Qeutzal]

Hi! You can also "increase" the flavour of your veggies if you add onion to it.

Just try the following:
Cook the veggies as you normally do, with water, a little bit of salt (eventually lemon or vinegar, it may give a different flavour, but be careful as the combination with some vegetables does not "match" well)

Anyway, while the veggies are cooking, chop an onion into small pieces (1 inch or so should be good) put it in a dish with a little bit of water (do NOT cover the pieces of onion, just a little LITTLE bit to avoid it getting burnt) is not necessary to add salt; and put it 5 minutes in the microwave (more or less, depending on the type of microwave) if it is still raw, you may add 3 more minutes.

Then, mix that onion with the cooked vegetables and you'll find "crunchy" healthy and even sweet pieces of onion on your greenish dish ;)

[Ariane Benefit]

@Kenney, Thanks for the support! I hope you find the book helpful. Dr. Quinn's class was better for me than the book. But I'm just so thrilled someone is out there connecting these dots. A lot of overeating is emotional, but that ADD "engine" is physical and real. It's a different kind of self-medicating.

@Joy
I know exactly what you mean about the fresh veggies! I try to buy only 2-3 differenct kinds of fresh veggies per week. But I'm the only one who eats them, so if I'm having a super busy week, they tend to not get cooked. So what I have been doing the last couple weeks is keeping a covered casserole dish on the stove and a cutting board and colander nearby. Instead of using a pan where they coul overcook, I just wash the veggies and cut them in big chunks. I put the veggies in the dish, cover it and cook for 5 minutes and they've been coming out just as good as the "Steamables". I find that if I use the same method for prepping the veggies every night, I can "activate" to do it more easily.

Re: the night eating, I watched a show on BBC called "you are what you eat" and they said that if you eat several small meals throughout the day, it slows the night eating. The trouble with me is I literally forget to eat during the day - I'm working on this too. And, to make matters worse, if I do eat, I get very sleepy. That's why I eat more at night...it makes me sleepy. I've been having protein - lecithin - flax - veggie shakes for breakfast and lunch...that helps, but it doesn't keep be from eating something right before bed to make me sleepy.

@Quetzal
Thanks for the tip! Adding onion is a great idea! I often use garlic as well.

[Tannie]

If you like steamed vegetables (steaming is a very healthy way to prepare food), you may want to take a look at the Ziploc Zip 'n' steam bags (at http://www.ziploc.com/?p=b9). You fill them with any food you like (mostly vegetables probably, but meat works as well) and you steam it. This way you can vary all you want :)

[Ana]

Good for you - now, could you share what do you do for breakfast that's quick, easy, and sugar & gluten free?
About the only thing I've found is rice cream, which is tough to do at work.

[Ariane Benefit]

@ Tannie - Thanks for the tip! If they are re-usable - even better!

@ Ana - What I do for breakfast most days that is easy, sugar and gluten-free is a protein shake! I make up little half-cup containers 10 - 14 at a time with the following: 2 scoops of powdered sugar-free egg whites or whey protein, 1 TBSP each of Lecithin granules and milled flax seed, 1 TSP of ginger or 1 TSP of tumeric for flavor.

I also have 5 Rubbermaid 32 oz Drink Bottle see it at http://astore.amazon.com/neatandsimple-20/detail/B000UVMY5S

In the morning I just add 8 oz of rice milk and 8 oz of organic Knudsens Low-sodium Very Veggie Juice to the bottle, add the dry ingredient and shake it all up. Then I can take the breakfast with me whereever I go!

That said, somedays, like today, I forget so I'm going to go and make one for lunch RIGHT NOW! Thanks for the reminder! : )

[becoming minimalist]

good for you. i wish i had the self-discipline of you. celebrate your successes in changing your diet. that will give you the strength to keep going.

[Brandie Kajino]

Great stuff! A note on the cheese - there are lots of great soy alternatives. I'm lactose intolerant (which turns out to be a good thing healthwise), so I experimented with it a lot. There are more great options everday, and it's not as difficult as you might think once you make the switch. :)

[Ariane Benefit]

@ becoming minimalist: Check out the post you inspired!

@ Brandie: I suppose I should try the Soy alternatives. I tend to not enjoy substituting one food for another, though. They just don't have the same feel and then I crave the very thing I'm trying to avoid. Maybe after I quit for a while I can try a cheese alternative. : )

[unformedmatter]

I see a nutritionist for some of the same issues you have written about. i am ADD plus eating disorder. i get completely stymied if i am not hyper organized, lost and overwhelmed, and i'm married to a hoarder who comes from pathological hoarders. eek.

as to the night time issue, after trying to deny myself for a long time and then either breaking down or punishing myself, i brought this need to the nutritionist. she was completely brilliant by saying... if you need to have a feeding then go ahead there are no real nutritional consequences to having a portion of food later (versus what some media might state) as long as it is planned to be healthier. just plan it ahead of time, and not a real heavy meal that may hinder sleep. i have to menu my day. so the plan (still a work in progress) is to have a pile in the fridge, for example the 11pm feeding. she said try to get some protein in, maybe a grain. this way it will satiate longer. don't leave the decision process until then as i will grab whatever and be angry at myself later.

on the approved list is yogurt and a piece of fruit, cheese and crackers (whole grain like triscuits) and a veg like slices of red pepper, a kashi cookie and glass of milk, a cottage double and a counted out number of teddy grahams. over the years of the eating issue, i have discovered that i eat much more because i am bored or anxious (especially bored!) than because i am hungry. not that it helps at those crazy times, but the little pile of food waiting on the door of the fridge has been helpful sometimes. my nutritionist has had no problem with my cheese by the way. i have had cheese almost every day since 2000. i have it as a snack with triscuits for the fiber and fruit or veg of some kind. i buy the precut prepackaged 1 oz slices of cracker barrel sharp cheese. i can have 2 sticks. i couldn't trust myself with a big block of cheese. when i HAVE to buy it that way, i slice up the whole block and then divvy it all up by putting a couple of slices in snack bags (i do that with the whole block at once). i also divvy up my crackers when i buy them too. all bagged out, then back in the box so my portions are already done.

i know i just had the word vomit here, but just got in from my rotten job that makes me rammy. i hope any of this might give you some ideas of what will work for you.

[Ariane Benefit]

Unformed,

Thank you so much for sharing your tips...I like the idea of planning late night snacks, I've been using veggies to help me...and sometimes popcorn. I just wish I could not eat at night and still sleep - seems I'm just not built that way!