![]() Having your favorite recipes in a single location will save you any extra mental effort needed on meal planning day. You can bookmark them in a “recipe” folder on your internet browser print them and make your own personalized cookbook or jot them down on recipe cards and store them in the kitchen. Regardless of how you organize your recipes, keep them all in one place. Also include ones for breakfast if you prefer more elaborate morning meals. When creating your recipe list, make sure you include recipes that you enjoy for both lunch and dinner. ![]() I will even preemptively freeze individual portions of food in preparation for this. If something seems unappetizing a day or two after you prep it, you can simply pop it in the freezer to defrost at another time. Some of my favorites are sheet pan, Instant Pot and non-cook meals.įreezable foods are key if you get bored of foods quickly. In my opinion, the best ADHD-friendly recipes or meals are easy, freezable and share common ingredients. The idea here is that you will come up with eight or more recipes that you can refer back to when you go to plan your food for the week. This step is likely to take the longest, but once you have your list you will be set up for meal prep success. Think less about food throughout the week and use that energy on the other things that matter. It allows you to incorporate a variety of colourful and fun foods into your diet. Meal planning pushes you to make informed food decisions before you’re hungry. One way to reduce this tax and associated food waste is to plan out your meals. Have you ever heard of the ADHD tax? It’s the unexpected costs associated with certain behaviours related to ADHD symptoms, like forgetting about food in the fridge. A meal plan can help you stay within your food budget by helping you reduce impulse purchases and takeout costs. ![]() This means fewer lines and fewer dollars spent on reusable grocery bags when you inevitably forget yours in the car. ![]() Go to the grocery store with a plan and you’ll avoid multiple trips throughout the week. If you’re struggling to find the motivation, it may benefit you to think of all the ways that this will ultimately help you. Planning and cooking with ADHD can be tough, and getting started is often the hardest part. And resorting to takeout is the natural next step. This may leave you feeling unmotivated, uninspired or simply just tired. If you’re interested in learning more about executive function, ADDitude magazine has a great article written by Russell Barkley, Ph.D on their website.Īdditionally, if you take any medications for your ADHD symptoms, their benefits may start to wear off around dinner time (depending on when you take them during the day). This may make it incredibly difficult to complete certain tasks, especially those we find boring or those with multiple steps. What this means is that our internal self-management systems are a bit wonky. And for those of us with ADHD, executive functioning may not be our strong suit. Making meals requires decision making, planning, budgeting, prioritizing, following directions, and organization – all skills that fall under the umbrella of executive function. These efforts really fall on a spectrum – from simply jotting down what you want for breakfast, lunch and dinner, to batch cooking and freezing pre-prepared food for future meals.ĭon’t let this overwhelm you…if you’re interested in meal planning, we’ll start small, and possibly stay small, depending on what strategy works best for you. It can include brainstorming, finding recipes, grocery shopping, and sometimes (but not always) preparing the ingredients or recipes ahead of time. Meal planning is asking yourself “what should I eat?” once a week rather than three times a day – every. Please find what works for you! What is meal planning? Then you can download your very own ADHD meal planning guide and put your knowledge into action!Īll ADHDers have different motivators and require different supports. In this article, we’ll cover what meal planning is, why it can be so difficult to do for adults with ADHD, and the steps to make it easier. In my opinion, it’s the ultimate form of self care. Meal planning can make our lives SO much easier by removing any unnecessary midweek decision making and associated overwhelm. So why do we think we get away without a plan for our daily meals? This is one of the mysteries of life. And whether or not you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD), our brains tend to thrive on structure. We don’t do much in life without a plan – from work projects to social events. Visit my Privacy Policy for more information on affiliates. If you buy from one of the links in this post, I may earn a commission.
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