ADHD Food Struggles: Why Eating Feels So Hard (And What’s Actually Happening)
- Amy Jones
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
I don't know what's happening for us in Ontario right now, but I feel like we've had all four seasons in the past five days.
One day, it's spring, windows open, and I feel like a new person.
The next day, it's snowing or sideways raining some weird combination of mushy hail again, and we're back in survival mode.
And honestly, this is exactly how food can feel sometimes, too.
These are are some of the most common things I see in my practice (and experience myself):
ADHD Food Struggle #1: I'm standing in front of the fridge, looking at what's there, and then… closing it.
Not because there isn't any food, but because I don't have a clear starting point.
In that moment, our brains are trying to figure out so many things.
It can range from trying to determine what goes together, what we feel like, how long it will take, whether we have the energy, and if it's even worth starting.
And all of this happens all at once in our brain.
When there's no obvious first step, nothing gets started.
Another scenario I see often (and know myself):
ADHD Food Struggle #2: We know we should eat earlier in the day. We've heard it. We believe it.
But we're either not hungry, rushing out the door, or completely forgot while sorting out everyone else in our lives.
So we don't eat.
And then, suddenly, it's mid- or late afternoon, and we're either exhausted, irritated, foggy, or absolutely starving. Or, a mix of all four!
Now everything is urgent.
We're no longer making a calm decision; we're solving a hangry emergency as fast as possible. We're either eating everything in sight or choosing convenience food over real nourishment. And later we look back and think, “What just happened?”
Or, maybe it's the end-of-the-day situation:
ADHD Food Struggle #3: We think: “I should cook. I know I even have food in the fridge."
But the thought of chopping, cooking, and cleaning everything up feels like way too much. So we don't start. Not because we don't care.
Because the whole task is asking for way more than we have available (physically, emotionally or just in terms of basic brain function) in that moment.
This is the piece that I think gets missed in most conversations about food. It's not just about what we eat.
It's about how much thinking, deciding, and effort the task is asking of us in the moment we're trying to do it.
And when there's no clear and easy place for us to start, or all the steps feel like too much, our brain defaults to whatever is easiest.
So, instead of trying to “just do food better,” I've been focusing on this question:
How do we make all this easier to start?
That might look like:
Having a small set of meals on repeat, even just two breakfasts and a few go-to lunches or dinners, so we're not starting from scratch every time or managing endless choices
Writing those meals down so we don't have to come up with them in our head, especially in that moment where everything suddenly goes blank
Keeping food visible and ready instead of buried and forgotten, like protein and fibre at eye level, leftovers in clear containers, and things we can grab without opening five different drawers first
Making sure there's always something “ready now,” even if it's simple, so we're not relying on ourselves to cook from scratch when our brain capacity is low
Or, just pre-deciding what our first move is, before we figure out the whole plan, because the hardest part is usually starting, not finishing.
Once something starts, everything else gets easier.
Anyway. If nothing else, take this with you:
If food and meals have ever felt harder than they “should,” it's not a discipline problem.
It's just that the task is asking for more than it looks like on the surface. When we change the way we approach the task, things start to shift.
And if you open the fridge later and suddenly nothing feels like an option… welcome to the club.
Keep moving,
Amy
P.S. I recently rebuilt my WTF's for Dinner system into a self-paced format, so you can move through it in whatever way works for you, no schedule, no pressure.
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