Your Deliveroo habit has gotten way out of hand and you are spending so much money on takeaways. But, you hate buying a bunch of stuff, not being in the mood for it, so the groceries go bad. You end up spending a TON of money only to have a fridge full of rotting food and you’ve still not eaten healthy all week!
First of all, don’t beat yourself up. This is very common when you have an ADHD brain to work with (regardless of if you’re diagnosed or not).
The reason so many women with ADHD find themselves in this situation isn’t because they are lazy, unmotivated or lack willpower. It’s because all the executive functions required for meal planning & cooking can feel incredibly overwhelming and like the bane of our existence.
But there are ADHD cooking hacks to make healthy eating easy. You just need to hack your ADHD brain!
The key is making everything simple, quick & easy. No fancy recipes (bye, bye Jamie Oliver!) and no more recipes with weird sounding ingredients you need to trek to two or three different stores for. You might pull that off if you are going through a phase of being super focused on your health and wellness, but for keeping it off long term, it’s a non-starter.
By simplifying your meals you can actually get the motivation to cook your food so your groceries don’t go to waste & you stop spending so much on takeaways which certainly aren’t helping your waist line.
After years of battling ADHD myself and helping clients lose weight with ADHD I’ve come up with many hacks to help women with ADHD simplify their cooking so they can stop eating takeaways, wasting food and cook healthy meals without the overwhelm (and stick to it for more than just a few weeks or months).
But first, here’s even more of a shortcut. Make sure you have picked up my 10 FREE Quick & Easy Recipes for ADHD Women Who Want to Lose Weight. Get your copy below.
9 ADHD COOKING HACKS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR MEALS:
- Use pre chopped veg –one less step for you to take meaning you are more likely to follow through rather than waste food or order out.
- Buy frozen veggies – so they don’t go off if you don’t feel like something that night AND most come pre chopped.
- Use ready cooked chicken – why go to the effort of cooking chicken when you can buy one ready done at all major supermarkets. It’s easy to make a quick dinner buy buying a roast chicken, adding microwave brown rice or quinoa with a salad kit or pre chopped veggies and add your favourite seasoning or dip for extra flavour. You could even cook some cauliflower rice (pre prepped) and melt in some Philadelphia and add cheese for a cauliflower risotto as a side. The options are endless.
- Look for quick and easy 10 minute meals – like in my free recipe e-book or checkout Gousto 10 minute meals. You can even sign up to a Gousto box and just choose for their 10 minute options. It’s a more expensive option (hello ADHD tax I’m afraid) but it cuts out the hassle of shopping, chopping ingredients and all that faffing about. TIP: There aren’t enough vegetarian options in the 10 minute meals section to make it worth your while if veggie though.
- Make use of supermarket salad and stir fry kits – all major supermarkets offer meal deals on stir fries (Sainsbury’s & Waitrose offer the best in my opinion) and are great to cook a healthy, low effort meal. You can also pick up salad bowls and kits at the supermarket. Just add some pre cooked chicken, tofu pieces or your favourite quick to cook protein and you’ve got yourself a quick and healthy salad.
- Screen shot recipes to your phone and keep in an album. That way when you go to the supermarket you don’t need to mess about with lists. Just find the recipe you want and the ingredients are right there for you.
- Review your meds – If you are on medication and find you meds wear off before dinner time this can make it harder to cook. One option is to eat your main meal at lunch. If you work from home or have access to a kitchen during the day. Another option is to speak to your medical provider to see if they can give you a short term stimulant to help you into the evening.
- Batch cook on the go – I always cook extra portions. If you’re going to put that effort into cook you may as well get as much out of it as you can! Double up when you’re cooking one of your quick and easy meals and keep leftovers in the fridge for the next day. Or, store in the freezer and heat up on a bad day when you’re struggling, that way you don’t fall back onto a takeaway.
- Half & half – use ready made foods combined with veggies and other quick cook, healthy foods. Waitrose gives some great options that are straightforward which I pin over on my ADHD meals board.
Remember eating healthy with ADHD is all about working with your brain rather than against it. By using these ADHD cooking hacks you can learn to cook healthy meals, save money & lose weight.
Now I know the ADHD brain tendency to go from 0-100mph. We get hyped up by something new, go all in eating salads with our new lifestyle, only to lose interest or burn out a few weeks or months later and end up exactly where we started.
As a Health Coach for ADHD Women, I want to help you avoid what I call the “boom and bust cycle”. So, don’t do everything at once. Start out by trying this out just once or twice in the week and build up. Gradual changes are kinda boring I know! But they are the ones that work long term and build up healthy habits.
To help get you started make sure you pick up my 10 FREE Quick & Easy Recipes For ADHD Women Who Want to Lose Weight. Access your copy below.
