ADHD & Eating Disorder Dietitian Nutritionists in Manhattan & Queens NYC

Nutrition Counseling for ADHDers & AuADHDers

As providers who identify as ADHDers/AuDHDers, 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 and feeling heard, seen, and understood are all essential in making progress in this difficult work.

Woman with ADHD in nutrition coaching taking notes

Eating things that neurodivergent folks struggle with are:

  • 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

In addition to these real logistical challenges, there is often another layer of shame, guilt, and need for self-protection that develops in response to being a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world. 

Executive function creates roadblocks, but fear and shame strengthen and bolster those roadblocks so that they become harder to break down. With the support of an affirming, knowledgeable and caring provider, you can create a better relationship to food and your body.

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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