Nicole Demasi – Eating with ADHD: The Online Course 2022

‘How to Eat with ADHD’…how This Changed My Life…

Hi Everyone, It’s Nicole…

Nicole Demasi – Eating with ADHD: The Online Course 2022

‘Eating with ADHD’…who knew that was even a thing?!
I certainly didn’t even after 10 years of being a Dietian! But oh how my life could have been so much easier!
Like thousands of other women, I battled with undiagnosed ADHD for the first 33 years of my life.
After my diagnosis in 2020, as a Dietitian, and in true ADHD fashion, I hyper-focused on connecting the dots between diet and ADHD.
When looking for answers, I asked myself these questions….

“Can I fix my brain?”
“What impact is ADHD having on my eating habits?
​”What impact do my eating habits have on my ADHD?”

​”Is my ADHD the cause of my disordered eating?”

​”Is food & ADHD the cause of my stress & anxiety?”

​”How is food and ADHD affecting my mental, emotional, & physical health?”

As you can imagine, there were a lot of questions!

And what was even more of a frustration and concern to me…is that there were so many unanswered questions! There’s barely any information connecting these issues anywhere on the internet aside from what foods to avoid….which wasn’t what I needed.
So, I used my 10 years experience as a Registered Dietitian to dive into the science-based nutrition, along with the research from the best minds in the ADHD world to find a solution to my problem.
That resulted in me ultimately creating a step-by-step system and approach to food that changed my life!
It allowed me to become aware of what was holding me back, allowed me to heal, allowed me to rewire my mind, and it allowed me to create a healthy relationship with food where I could stop binging and restricting, all while increasing my energy, focus, and mental and emotional health!

Most importantly, it allowed me to create a life where I could be in control around food, and a life where I could manage my ADHD!
As a dietitian, it was against everything I’d ever been told by mainstream education, culture, and society!

What I learned dramatically changed my life and has done for hundreds of my clients over the couple of years. Hopefully, this is the start of it changing your life too!

Food & ADHD…
The Relationship

Can I Heal my relationship With Food?

Getting diagnosed with ADHD was a true revelation that changed my life! And it well and truly transformed my relationship with food! I hope to now give you the steps to transform your own relationship with food!

Up until my diagnosis, I had no idea that ADHD was the cause behind my unhealthy relationship with food!
As many of us are getting diagnosed well into our adult years, I was able reflect on my life and realize that my undiagnosed ADHD was actually creating a life of disordered eating, anxiety, self-esteem issues, and a lot of confusion.
I also came to realize that my brain is unable to operate like neurotypical “normal” brains and that I was ignoring hunger & thirst cues because of time blindness & lack of interoceptive awareness. That unawareness of what our bodies truly need is what leads to restriction, which leads to bingeing, which leads to guilt, being undernourished, and feeling overwhelmed and embarrassed… all of which triggers what we call the ‘binge and restrict cycle’, where those symptoms repeat themselves hour after hour, day after day.
As I’m sure you can relate, I was genuinely exhausted & tired of being in this cycle, and feeling broken all the time. Life felt so hard.

And, as I said, I’m actually a Registered Dietitian with 10 years experience! Yet nobody in mainstream medicine, science, and nutrition ever gave me the answers or connected the dots between eating and ADHD.
(In fact they made it worse as I explain below.)

So, when I did finally get diagnosed, everything about my life, my mind, my emotions and my behaviors made sense!
It was both eye-opening and painful at the same time… but definitely the most validating thing that’s ever happened to me.

Food & ADHD… The Challenges

Relatable Anyone?

Before I share that system and the 9 key steps below, it’s important to look at the challenges we all face when eating with ADHD so that we know what we need to overcome on this journey…

​Impulsivity
​Binge-eating
​Bored/low dopamine
​”Stimming” with food
​Forgetting to eat (time-blindness)
​Ignoring hunger & fullness cues
​Lack of appetite (stimulant meds)
​Overwhelm & anxiety
​Time blindness & poor planning
​All or nothing thinking
​Perfectionism
​Emotional eating (dysregulation)
​Chronic yo-yo dieting
​Disordered eating
​Sensory issues
​Decision overwhelm
​Analysis paralysis
​Sugar cravings

Do they sound familiar to you?
You are not alone! We have these challenges & frustrations all the time!
But, in order to actually manage and overcome these challenges we need to know WHY we have them…

Why Do We Struggle to Eat with ADHD?

And What Are the Results of the Challenges…

#1: Low Dopamine: Cycle of Perpetual Boredom

Low dopamine causes us to seek stimulation. Eating temporarily increases dopamine & serotonin which stimulates us temporarily and allows us to focus. Our brain perceives this food as a reward & this behavior of eating for stimulation can quickly become a habit.

#2: Impulsivity

A strong urge to eat something is often caused by extreme hunger. We tend to make decisions based on an immediate reward, rather than taking the time to figure out what we really need. This happens more when we don’t plan ahead, when we’re anxious, or overwhelmed.

#3: Lack of Interoceptive Awareness

Our ability to feel our body’s cues for hunger, thirst, the need to urinate is dulled…This makes it harder to self-regulate. We wait too long to eat and then end up overeating as a result. We’re more susceptible to a lack of connection with our body when we’re stressed, hyperfocused, or distracted.

#4: Executive Dysfunction

We all struggle with meal planning, shopping, cooking, and organizing. It’s overwhelming & stressful because it takes a lot of executive functioning & mental energy …and then perfectionism adds another layer of stress. We then resort to take out or have a bunch of snacks instead of a nourishing meal…sometimes leading to a binge…then guilt…then restriction again.

#5: Easily distracted

Distracted eating…we’re less satisfied with meals & more likely to overeat when we’re not paying attention. Time blindness causes us to lose track of time & not realize how long it’s been since we’ve eaten.

#6: Emotional Dysregulation

ADHD makes it hard for us to regulate our emotions…we’re always facing extremes. This makes food much more enticing when uncomfortable feelings come up. Self-soothing with food is actually pretty normal for most people but can lead to bingeing and feeling out of control around it when it’s the only way you cope.