I am more convinced of the importance of diet than EVER now.

[Lilah]

Some of you may have seen my last thread where I said I needed support. And I did, and you guys provided it. I'm really grateful for that. But yeah, I was basically on the verge of slipping back to Adderall... even after a year long hell of a battle of getting it out of system. My job was overwhelming and I felt like I couldn't handle it. But I figured out what was even worse than the actual demands of the job was what working so many hours did to my lifestyle. I went from working out almost daily and and eating really well to eating like utter crap, overdosing on caffeine, and never working out. In addition to some horrible acne that I'm still recovering from (lame) my "ADD" came back full swing. At this point, I'm pretty much convinced that adult ADD, in most cases, is a symptom of insufficient diet and exercise. I went back on the diet bandwagon January 5th and at this point I can say I went from the point of almost going to see a doctor to get a new script and having Adderall cross my mind every fifteen minutes to never even thinking about it at all, ever. I'm going through hell at work right now, I'm heading up a total redesign that's launching next week of a massive site that gets high traffic (2.5+ million uniques a week), and while a few weeks ago I probably would have caved to Adderall to get 'r done, I now just come in to work, start working, and don't leave until the job is done, and take very little issue with it.

I'm still not where I need to be with exercise but I've definitely added more than I was doing to my routine. What seems to have made a big difference: I've cut out red meat (sticking to fish and free range poultry), candy, soda, pastries, chips, roasted nuts (raw nuts are ok, but roasted ones don't have near as much nutritional value and a lot of added fat and salt), caffeine, alcohol, cookies, bread, and most processed foods in general, I cook most everything myself from scratch. And if I do eat anything processed, I make sure it is low in sugar... no more than 10 grams. What has made more of a difference than what I don't eat though, is what I do eat. Basically I had replaced most of the good stuff I was eating with all the crap stuff aforementioned. Now I'm making sure to get several servings of veggies, fruit and quinoa a day, and a few servings of salmon a week. (Ginger salmon by the way, is my new favorite thing. I dream about it at night.) I am able to focus on tasks without stressing easily now after just a few weeks.

I'm sharing this so that maybe others who are struggling too will take a second to consider their diets again if they aren't already. I was a believer before, but after seeing how it could flip my mindset and ability to handle stress and focus in just a few weeks, and the way that falling off the bandwagon affected me, I'm a double believer now.

[Mike]

Sounds like you're prime to write a post like "Top 10 ADD-fighting Meal Recipes". Hint, hint.

I know I'd read it. I want to eat better, and I don't mind putting the effort in to cooking, but I have no idea what to make. Usually when I cook I end up making Spaghetti. Or steak and potatoes. Every other meal I go out for.

Glad you found a way through without relapsing though.

Interesting you mentioned an Acne problem. I've been fighting that battle for two years now. It was like I turned 26 and suddenly my skin was 16 again. I was like "wtf? My favorite part of being old was not having to deal with this bullshit anymore!"

But two months ago, I finally won. I finally stopped all the breakouts. But the solution in my case was a personal tragedy: In order to keep my face clear, I can't exercise. :cry:

Did your acne get better when you changed your diet? Did you eventually beat it? How? Because I tried a better diet, but not the extreme you're talking about. And I'd totally do it if it meant I could run again without turning into Quasimodo.

[oxyman79]

I completely agree when I was eating well and excercising I felt terrific.

[Lilah]

I'd be happy to write a post like that! Although honestly, I don't think any one recipe will do the trick. You just want to eat a healthy, well balanced diet in general. Also, I strongly suggest anyone who really feels they struggle with ADD tries cutting out gluten for a few weeks to see what happens. 1 in 4 people have some level of gluten intolerance, and it could be affecting you more than you know. For some people it manifests in digestive issues, for some people skin issues, for some people nasal allergies, for some people its just feeling off in some way-- disorganized, depressed, etc.

I'll gladly share some of my recipes in the future here (I'm actually toying with creating a recipe blog which I'll share here of course when/if I finish it) but in the meantime here's a few of my favorites:

http://foodsforlonglife.blogspot.com

http://mynewroots.blogspot.com

Also as far as acne goes... I haven't totally won that war yet. Then again, I quit birth control (Yaz) about three months ago, so my hormones are going wild. However, since I started eating well, it has gone from so horrible that I was in tears and my neighbor was dropping off Proactiv at my door in an attempt to help (talk about embarassing) to only about 4-6 pimples at a time. I am hoping if I keep eating healthy it will continue to improve. The main thing that I think made a difference was upping my potassium intake. Your body is supposed to maintain a certain balance of sodium/potassium, but most Americans get too much sodium and not near enough potassium. Google potassium and acne... acne is a low potassium symptom. Since you get acne after working out, I suspect that might have something to do with it, you lose potassium when you sweat. After you work out, make sure to wash your face shortly thereafter with a gentle cleanser like Cetaphil, and then eat a banana to replace the potassium you just lost. Hope that helps!

[Mike]

After you work out, make sure to wash your face shortly thereafter with a gentle cleanser like Cetaphil, and then eat a banana to replace the potassium you just lost. Hope that helps!

I tried carrying cleansing wipes with me last time (didn't help, but they were harsher than Cetaphil), but I definitely wouldn't have every thought of the potassium thing. I'm going to try that this weekend, and if it works, I'm going to flip.

The only thing that's ever remotely helped so far is isolaz laser treatment and Bactrim, but you can only get isolaz so often and you build a tolerance to Bactrim after a while. The only thing that stops the breakouts completely is not sweating. But I hope to hell I can find a better solution that allows me to run again. Fingers crossed for the banana!

Let me know when if you ever get that blog up and I'll add it to the site's sidebar.

[Lilah]

Be aware that it might not totally work if the rest of your diet is still high sodium/low potassium, because if you have overall low levels potassium relative to sodium, one simple banana is not going to do the trick. If you have persistent acne problems, you might need a diet overhaul.

Just for the sake of example, here's what I ate today. This is the type of diet that seems to be helping my skin slowly but surely.

BREAKFAST: Smoothie of one organic d'anjou pear, half cup mixed frozen berries, 1/4 cup fresh raspberries, half cup organic unsweetened vanilla hemp milk, 1.5 cups chopped kale, 1 tablespoon flax seed. Also a glass of fresh squeezed tangerine juice on the side. I also dissolve 1 tablespoon of brewer's yeast in a glass of water and drink it. Brewer's yeast is very high in B vitamins, a deficiency in B vitamins can cause oily acne prone skin.

MORNING SNACK: Little 200-calorie packet of raw almonds

LUNCH: Salad of romaine lettuce, handful of edamame, handful of garbanzo beans, slice of red onion, grape tomatoes, low fat vegan peanut dressing. On the side I drank a coconut (you know those fresh young coconuts they have at Thai places that you can cut open, stick a straw in and drink raw... that's the real coconut water. Its extremely high in potassium and delicious) I also took a cod liver oil supplement on the side.

AFTERNOON SNACK: Organic Granny Smith apple

DINNER: Stir fry of broccoli, cauliflower, red bell pepper, carrots, onions, cashews, parsley. For the stir fry sauce I used rice vinegar (sparingly, high in salt) fresh ground pepper, minced ginger and minced garlic. After cooking I diced up some raw kale and threw it in (cooking destroys the nutrients.... kale is the most nutrient dense of all vegetables against which all others are measured) I also took a Bio Zinc pill on the side.