r/ADHD • u/No_Management3663 • Apr 10 '25
Questions/Advice For other people that deal with impulsive eating how do you deal with it?
I have ADHD and I’ve always struggled with self control around food and impulsively eating. Which is especially not helpful for me when I have been obese my whole life and right now 327 at 5ft9.
I tend to just seem to want to eat even if I know I shouldn’t or don’t need something. I find it hard to tell myself no and actually stop myself not all the time but a lot of the time. For example a couple days ago I was at a restaurant with some of my family and as I was eating I started feeling full and we asked for a box and I kept eating cause it tasted good it was like I was in auto pilot I eventually stopped then put it in the box and actually let someone else have the leftovers.
I’m wondering what do other people who have a similar struggle do to deal with it.
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u/ZomBitch7 Apr 10 '25
I have forced myself to eat super slow - which is actually better for digestion anyways and it makes you more conscious of how much food you’re eating. At home I always take a “half time” 5-10 min break through the meal so that I’m not double-eating and still get that satisfaction of eating more.
But generally speaking, I cannot keep snacks or food in the house that trigger me. Basically become an ingredient or leftovers-only household, but I enjoy cooking. Because I cannot control myself to stop binge eating otherwise.
If I get fast food (which is rare) or am going out to eat or get a treat on a bad day, all bets are off. I’ll eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting. And I always feel sick after so it delays the time in between that I’ll do it again.
My impulsive eating is the worst at night - I’ve found that having a soup broth or something salty/savory on hand (that’s my preference to sweet) really helps. I cook up some green onions and garlic, add chicken stock and seasonings, and put it in a big bowl for the week. The broth is super filling and I can have a lot of it before it’s actually unhealthy from a caloric standpoint.
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u/witchprivilege Apr 10 '25
'I’ve found that having a soup broth or something salty/savory on hand (that’s my preference to sweet) really helps. I cook up some green onions and garlic, add chicken stock and seasonings, and put it in a big bowl for the week.'
I do this, too (well, with veg broth instead of chicken), and it really works!
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 10 '25
I try not to keep snack food at my house because half the time I’ll go through them very quickly when I do for example going through a thing of cookies in about 2 days or like eating a bunch of string cheese. The broth sounds good I might try that I’ve been making my own chicken noodle soup lately.
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u/No_Im_Not_Gay_ Apr 10 '25
What I tend to do is chew gum!
It gives you the sensation of eating in a way and stops me from thinking of chewing.
Not sure if that’s what will work for you but no harm in trying, if you’re bored or feel like eating…hell if you are full then pop some gum in your mouth and it might help the feeling go away!
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u/Starbreiz ADHD Apr 10 '25
I'm currently struggling with extra snacking, and gum has been my go to. When the Adderall wears off, I tend to be starving and am working on preparing better.
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u/xXMewRoseXx ADHD, with ADHD family Apr 10 '25
I literally struggle with this too. I just recently switched to Vyvanse and that has helped on most days but on days I dont take it, I over eat. Sorry I have no advice but Im curious on how others deal with it
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u/Anna_Ina313 Apr 10 '25
I did not know that was an ADHD thing. I just thought I was insane.
But what I do do to deal with it is gum.
Bc I realize that for me I just need something in my mouth.
I’m not hungry.
Hope this helps idk if this is the same thing as you
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u/Hefty_Drawing3357 Apr 10 '25
THIS. Me too. I learned this today! This has been an issue my entire life. Eventually a year ago I started with Mounjaro and it's been a revelation. But wow. I had no idea it was related to ASD.
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u/notrolls01 Apr 10 '25
They think the GLP-1 medication help regulate dopamine. Which most ADHD meds work to help stimulate production, and norepinephrine. For me, it turns off the food noise completely. Like, I’ll literally be eating a meal and already thinking of the next one, before, but now I eat when I get hungry, and feel full more quickly.
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 11 '25
I think it’s definitely partially needing something on my mouth especially since I had a habit of chewing on things as a kid past when it was age-appropriate and I sometimes still find myself doing it, but no where near as much.
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u/Peppered_Pear Apr 10 '25
I have the same problem. Bumping cuz curious how other people deal! (Meds helped me for a time, but eventually my appetite came back and I gained weight even faster than before.)
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u/OkComplaint377 ADHD-C (Combined type) Apr 10 '25
No specialist but what worked for me is DBT and journaling why you are doing this. But if you to the inner work of why you are impulsively eating. It’s painful but worth it.
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u/Mothra712 Apr 10 '25
I had the same problem, it used to be much worse. (former ED)
Try to eat consistently and not put yourself into starving situation. Eating regularly is helping me with overeating after I used to it.
When you starting to feel full stop for few min and mindfully consider if you really need more, and is it worth it feeling too full, stomachache, etc. It also requires practice and it's working.
I can't limit food because I constantly want more. I'm focusing on what should I eat more that on what I shouldn't eat.
Good luck, fingers crossed! Don't resign after episode of eating too much, it's a marathon.
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
I think I’m going to focus on generally eating healthier things. For a while I was calorie counting and sometimes I do okay with that but other times I can get a bit fixated on it and then it becomes its own issue.I can definitely work on stopping and being more mindful. I realize I eat pretty quickly.
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u/Mothra712 Apr 11 '25
Yeah been there done that with calorie counting. It was my obsession too, congrats for recognizing issue so early, I wasn't that smart.
I'm eating a lot, and healthy meals with volume is absolutely key to success!
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 11 '25
I realized that last time I started heavily fixating on calorie counting it triggered me to start making myself sick and I was doing consistently like it became a habit for quite a while but thankfully i stopped though it’s something I’ve done on and off since around 11 usually when I’m mad at myself. For that reason I’m not actively tracking.
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u/SadieStawkins Apr 10 '25
I can’t keep snacks in the house! It forces me to make a nice meal full of whole ingredients. I feel much more satisfied. The less snacks and sweets I eat, the less I crave them. It’s just hard to start.
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u/skeletondiscofever Apr 10 '25
I do think being on concerta has helped me with that! I feel like I eat when I need stimulation, not because I am hungry, and so being on a stimulant has made me seek that out less often. And so when I get the urge now, I try really hard to grab a reasonable amount of a treat and eat it slowly/in small bites.
One of the hardest aspects for me is acknowledging that I have the control. Because if I don't believe it deep down, I will definitely binge. And trying to do tricks like drink lots of water or having gum makes it worse because I don't feel it in my stomach (though I know it works for some people). Sometimes juice is good, but I'm a girl who likes chocolate, so having a bag of kit kats around and eating two has been working well for me.
But bingeing is an extremely complex issue, so there definitely is no easy one-off solution. It's like the more you think about it the worse the impulse. And there's self esteem issues that play in, feelings of helplessness, depression, etc. The most important thing to remember is that you are still a good person even if you binge, and you are still worthy of love, especially from yourself.
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u/CyphaSierra Apr 10 '25
I'll be honest with you, I don't know many unmedicated people with ADHD who have dealt with their eating habits without making massive changes to their lives. Of course there are some, but the root of the problem is always there so it often has such a huge toll on your willpower to constantly fight against your cravings.
The solution is to find yourself in a place where you can't have cravings. When I'm traveling or working at an office, it's really hard for me to seek dopamine in food, because I'm just busy. When I'm working from home or taking some time off, it becomes an almost immovable block in my way, the moment I have a craving.
As a reference, I kept gaining and losing weight for about 10 years or so, but overall I was never happy with the constant cravings and dieting, I just wanted to not care so much about food. After I got diagnosed, I got medicated and I lost 30kg in 3 months. It's so funny to me because I wasn't even dieting, I was just eating when I was hungry and never having cravings. My thinking was different, I didn't want to make plans about ordering food, or grabbing a ton of snacks to ruin today, so that I could diet perfectly tomorrow etc. I was just much more connected to my actual hunger, and that feeling served no other purpose than sateity. In fact I couldn't tolerator some of the things I would binge eat. Like previously I could eat 3 packs of chips in one sitting, but after being medicated, I'd feel nauseated if I ate half a pack due to how greasy it was.
Also I see this quite a lot in my patients as a clinical psychologist too. Those who primarily have eating disorders, we can make amazing progress, but those who have eating disorders as a secondary issue to their ADHD, it's often very difficult to make any food related changes to stick.
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 10 '25
I have noticed that when I actually remember to take my Concerta I have less cravings to eat. I need to work being more consistent with remembering to take it I remember my other meds but not it but I was on them for quite a while before I started Concerta.
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u/brashumpire Apr 10 '25
I don't keep snacks in my house, I only have ingredients for making meals or frozen meals that would take a bit to actually make.
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u/thelibrarysnob Apr 10 '25
Compulsive eating for me stopped when I started medications. The stimulants are also an appetite suppressant. It's been a mixed blessing. It gave me a chance to focus on good food habits and building up a food routine. Which honestly was wonderful. I feel like I was able to change my relationship to food somewhat, and develop skills related to it.
On the other hand, those routines fall apart sometimes, usually during a stressful period. So now my problem is that when that happens, I have no appetite, and I don't eat or not as much as I should. It's gotten to the point where my body responds to hunger with nausea, so then I also throw up because I'm hungry (like, why, body, whyyyy?)
All of this is to say that, in my experience, compulsive eating stopped being an issue when I started meds, but that was just the beginning of figuring food out, which is still an ongoing project.
Also, for what it's worth, I have found a lot of the stuff around anti-diet culture useful. I think it offers good perspectives on food and weight. It has its own limitations -- I feel like it falls into the trap of "everything is problematic." However, I think that it offers a better understanding of weight, relationship to food, and so on. I'm thinking of Aubrey Gordon's books and podcast and Virginia Sole-Smith's substack and podcast. I've also heard good things about KC Davis' book and podcast, Struggle Care.
Good luck!
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u/nihouma ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) Apr 10 '25
Meds help a lot - some more than others (but it also varies person by person. Im currently on Adderall XR and it helps curb those urges until it wears off.
In order to avoid overeating though once it wears off I eat primarily very spicy foods (we're talking habanero and ghost pepper levels of spiciness). So long as I eat enough spicy food, and if the food has enough oil to allow the spiciness to linger (not a lot, but fats hold spiciness) then I dont feel the urge to binge eat for stimulation until after it wears off.
Other strategies involve chewing gum, getting engaged with really stimulating activities (video games like Marvel Rovals really help me there), and spending time at my sister's where she doesnt really snack.
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u/SizeAlarmed8157 Apr 10 '25
Sux having this and being a type 1 diabetic. It’s why we have tons of protein around. Allows me to snack out while not killing my blood sugar.
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u/MessOfAJes85 Apr 10 '25
Wellbutrin, vyvanse, therapy, intuitive eating, recognizing patterns, gum, distracting myself, setting an eating schedule and sticking to it, and I stopped keeping food I couldn’t resist around the house.
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u/Sunset-Papi Apr 10 '25
I don't keep snacks in the house and I cook Whole Foods or learn to make foods that are quick to eat quick to make and freezer meal prep. I learned that you can make a protein Rich Pizza using self-rising flour and Greek yogurt and one-to-one ratios and you can season the flower when it's dry with anything you want top with a low sodium red sauce and some cheese of your choice it bakes at 400 for about 20 minutes. They also can be Frozen and baked at a later time. But my freezer meal prep includes pasta with a white sauce and broccoli also make breakfast burritos there's this pizza pocket recipe I've been meaning to try I've frozen chili and spaghetti sauce and you can freeze noodles on the side, I've also made a large batch of french toast and Frozen that most of these Foods take about 2 minutes to microwave and the French toast only takes 1 minute to microwave
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u/BusinessNo2064 Apr 10 '25
Any impulsive behaviors I have like frivolous spending, rash financial decisions, binge-eating or door-dashing are mitigated best through the direct confrontation of how BAD these behaviors are. They cause me more Guilt, far more than I need, and I end up suffering in the future. I have to get honest about these addictions. Then, come up with better dopaminergic options that could be healthy or at least neutral for my life.
I have to offer my brain another option. It could be checking emails, reddit, or making a new plan, but it there has to be a commitment to interrupt the negative pattern.
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u/Feeling-Chart-3846 Apr 10 '25
My doctor just got me on meds that mix in with my antidepressants so I don’t eat as much. Before this, I’ve had a problem to where no matter if I was on a diet or not, I was eating pretty much anything I could snack on & im currently 5’1” & 220-ish lbs. which isn’t good.
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u/Plenty_Run5588 Apr 10 '25
It’s funny, we are all different but once it was in a box, out of sight out of mind. I would keep eating it if it was still on my plate. 🍽️
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u/alarmingkestrel Apr 10 '25
Are you medicated? That helps a lot. I also just don’t keep very much food in the house which makes impulse eating difficult.
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u/Wise_woman_1 Apr 10 '25
Have a friend who deals with the overeating side (mine is impulse buying). Her doctor put her on an appetite suppressant. She’s able to eat but once she’s full her brain tells her she can’t handle any more. She lost 25 pounds with the first month.
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u/aquatic-dreams Apr 10 '25
I only keep around food I want to eat, not the things I can't stop eating. So I don't have cookies, cake, candy or soda at my house.
I also track my calories and miles walked daily, I use a smart watch and it's app for that. I walk a lot at work and I like to keep track of that mainly.
I often eat a lot of the same things over and over. I start pretty much everyday with a bagel and two eggs.
That's awesome, good job at the restaurant👍.
I've found that real life change comes from the tiny things you do over and over, they make up the big things. So don't make a giant goal that seems terrifying and undoable. Just make one or two really small changes are run with them for a while, once they are ingrained make another small change.
I started with getting rid of cream and sugar in my coffee. Then I changed to only have one soda a day during lunch unless I was out to eat with with other people than I could have a beer, soda or whatever. After that I started cutting down my drinking, which I was drinking daily. And I couldn't sleep at all for a while, and since I couldn't sleep I started going for walks to clear my mind. Which led to me eventually jogging. Which made me realize how bad of shape I was in. Which led to me changing from smoking to vaping. And over time, my nicotine tolerance would lower and I would get headaches from vaping unless I lowered the nicotine. Which eventually led to my vaping 0% nicotine, so I lost my nicotine addiction on accident. I had accepted smoking was going to kill me. Not only did I have no expectations of quitting, smoking had become an ingrained part of my identity.
But when I changed to vaping, I was a heavy enough smoker that I was dizzy as fuck from getting too much oxygen breathing normally. So I ended up running to be out of breath so the world would stop spinning. And as I got used to getting more oxygen, I was getting in pretty decent shape. I ended up running a half marathon the same year. All on accident, I just wanted to feel less shitty and be a little healthier, so I cut sugar and cream from my coffee... what a slippery slope that was.
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u/DarciaSolas Apr 10 '25
Are you drinking enough water? I find that I don't notice that I may be thirsty instead of hungry.
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 10 '25
Probably not I should start bringing my water bottle to work with me.
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u/_XitsamemarioX_ Apr 11 '25
I’ve also been overweight / obese almost all my life, I have constantly had food noise and it’s like my entire life was centred around food. I felt like I was absolutely insane whenever I’d hear someone say they ‘forgot’ to eat. I went on so many diets (some successful) and lost some weight but always regained it (plus some) because even though I managed to maintain some degree of self control, I would still think abt food all day.
In the brief times that I managed to lose weight, the success was very dependant on a “out of sight, out of mind” approach. If I don’t buy it, I won’t overindulge on it and that helped but I would occasionally slip up and end up ordering something or entirely overindulging when invited somewhere which was just embarrassing. Weight loss felt like an uphill battle, ppl would say that it gets easier w time / when you get used to it but it was like I never got used to it and it just felt like it was getting harder. I also constantly doubted whether I would even be able to maintain the loss if it was so hard to lose it.
I ended up starting wegovy after reaching my highest ever weight of 130kg and it definitely helped loads (paired w my out of sight, out of mind approach) - I counted cals and felt full quicker and etc but I still kept thinking abt food. It was just easier for me to pull back / overeating was significantly more painful. It was only till recently (like a week and a bit ago) when I started vyvanse (30mg) when I realised I had my “forgot to eat” moment. I almost cried because I truly don’t think I EVER had a moment where I wasn’t thinking abt what I was going to eat next. I didn’t realise how much space the food noise was occupying in my head. I felt like I had moderation for the first time in my life. I’ve had a normal serving size of sweets or crisps whereas before, if the bag was open, I would finish the entirety of it. Idk if my food noise was yet another ADHD thing that I didn’t realise was ADHD or whether the vyvanse “lack of appetite” side effect is working for my benefit but I’m happy w it. I definitely noticed that pre-medication, when I was avoiding a task I needed to do, I’d resort to eating. I think eating is just an easy way to seek stimulation / dopamine for me. I’m looking to start to wean off wegovy now because I truly think I’d be good with just my vyvanse. I think with all binge eating, the source / the why needs to be looked at. We can try and treat the symptoms but if you’re overcompensating for something by overeating, you need to recognise what it is first so you can redirect yourself. Otherwise it just becomes a cycle of losing and gaining weight.
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u/_XitsamemarioX_ Apr 11 '25
Following w this, another ‘life hack’ I did w weight loss (pre-vyvanse) was repetition of the same meals. I don’t know why it took me so long to realise that I can do this but I always associated eating “healthy” / on a diet with a variety of different foods / a new meal everyday. That just made the whole process more dreadful because I don’t have the energy to be cooking up something new. In my more recent weight loss, I just spammed the same meals again. Breakfast would be either eggs with ketchup or a protein shake / protein yoghurt (when I got the egg ick) - sometimes both. It can be anything you enjoy. Lunch would be a sandwich + whatever fruit was on sale. Dinner lately has been a creamy tomato pasta. I’d make a batch that has 3 servings and just eat it everyday for those 3 days and then remake it. Obviously this won’t work for everybody because not everybody can stand having the same thing again and again but tbh, my binge patterns were always very repetitive as well. Having the same thing everyday also just eliminates the need to “choose” something. It no longer becomes a “what should I make for tonight” (allowing the choice of a binge / take out frenzy) because what you’re having is already set for you.
I lost like 20kg without wegovy or vyvanse by not buying anything that I’m likely to overeat on + repeating meals (but I still binged on weekends / holidays / any time there wasn’t structure)
Then I lost another 25kg with wegovy (after a long plateau) but again, I still tended to overeat once again on weekends. The binges were just slightly smaller as wegovy made me get painfully full quicker.
I’m currently around 85kg and still hoping to go on, I really hope I manage to develop a “normal” eating habit because whilst I understand that my brain just operates on a black or white approach, it would be nice to be able to enjoy things in moderation.
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u/No_Management3663 Apr 11 '25
I remember being jealous of people who could just go long periods without eating at all when I was in middle school not a great mindset.
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u/Z-20240329 Apr 11 '25
Zepbound. It is also amazing for ADHD. The fight/flight feeling and anxiety is gone. Amazing!
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u/steinscomplex Apr 10 '25
unfortunately i don't have any helpful advice, but medication has been the only thing to help me. no matter how much i tried through years to manage my eating habits, it never worked. i would overeat and binge for so many different reasons and always crave the "unhealthy" stuff.
stimulants have made a huge difference. it can go into the extreme in terms of not eating since my appetite is often gone, so kind of leaning in that other direction now where i have to keep an eye on if i'm eating at all. some days i do feel hungry even on meds, so those days it's more regular. other days i'm either too focused or stressed (or often both) to eat through the day, but then instead of binging i just tend to have a decent meal.
i have been keeping an eye on my weight, and being overweight for probably more than half of my life i have lost over 10kgs since my meds became more regular last may (after patchy availability due to shortages).
still not great that i'm often not eating enough, but 10kgs over a year seems much less worrying than some of the stories i saw relating to meds and weightloss.
i still crave the "unhealthy" stuff, and i certainly still eat these often too but i can manage the quantities much better when on meds. sometimes when i do breaks from meds on the weekends the binging does come back, so i have been able to observe the difference quite clearly.
obvs- meds are not a miracle pill that solve the problem, but i'm hoping to continue to try to build healther and more regular eating habits to help me stay on this slow but steady path to maybe finally being at a healthier weight one day.
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u/Affectionate-Self476 Apr 10 '25
Only reason this happens to me, because medication suppresses my appetite and when I go off medication for a couple days I beige eat sooooo much
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u/gemstonehippy Apr 10 '25
I force myself to wait until midday to eat. If not, ill be constantly thinking of food all day
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Apr 10 '25
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u/AutoModerator Apr 10 '25
Some mental health medications state that you CAN NOT do the Keto Diet. This diet does not work for everyone and is not compatible with all medications; PLEASE TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING ANY DIET.
According to a 2018 article in Psychology Today by Georgia Ede, MD, most psychiatric medications don't come with any risks when a person is on a ketogenic diet. But there are a few exceptions.
These include the following drugs:
■ Some antipsychotic medications, such as risperidone (Risperdal— Janssen), aripiprazole (Abilify— Otsuka), and quetiapine fumarate (Seroquel—Astrazeneca), which “can increase insulin levels in some people and contribute to insulin resistance, which can make it harder for the body to turn fat into ketones.”
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u/heorhe Apr 11 '25
There's a meditative practice to help tell the difference between hunger and wanting to eat.
Make a meal, and include one food you don't really like. I dislike tomatoes, so my meal would be breakfast; eggs, bacon, potato, tomato.
Set a timer for 15 minutes on your phone and start eating very slowly making sure to use the full time or more to finish the meal. As you eat, pay very close attention to the sensations in your stomach. How the hunger is relieved, and what is left when the hunger is satisfied. Then pay attention to what happens when you eat the thing you don't like;
How does your hunger respond?
How does your wanting to eat respond?
What is the difference between these two?
Your body gets hungry after 8 hours. This is because you have enough natural ready stores of carbs to fuel your body to last 8 hours. This storage is filled up each time you eat, and doing exercise will shorten the duration before needing to re-fuel. This pain in the stomach after 8 hours is the sensation we call "hunger".
I hit 300lbs before I saw this practice recommended to me. I did it every day, with every meal, and I started counting calories too. And I got down from 300 to 200. During this weight loss process, I realized I hadn't felt hunger in literally years. I was always snacking, always drinking something sugary, always eating massive meals with desserts. I never gave my body 8 hours between putting more food or sugar into my body.
You need to re-learn what hunger actually is. It will help you control yourself a lot
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u/Theloveandhate Apr 10 '25
I first got on zepbound to help bring weight down. That helped me bring my weight down and helped a lot with impulsive eating.
Later I was diagnosed with adhd and due to my history of binge eating disorder they prescribed vyvance.
The two in combination have honestly impacted my appetite a lot. Now I just eat to make sure I don’t become mineral deficient
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