exercise/meal tracking

[Jay_25]

With this Inattentive ADHD any suggestions on duration of working out that works? Like is it a time thing that would help with being consistent? I already have an exercises picked out but it’s the consistency part I’m struggling with. Same goes for me tracking my meals or on my fitness pal consistently.

[AuDHD3245]

Start with low reps, and low sets. Like 3 x 5 reps of bodyweight exercises. the thing is with exercise is you have to start right, because if you don't you'll either quit early because it's too hard or you'll injure yourself that puts you out completely. The beauty of exercising is, if you start right, you get stronger and stronger, and increase reps, sets and time etc, and when you get there, you feel like you can do more and automatically will. ADHD wont play any part in consistency by that time because you've 'trained' yourself to do it right

[Mamamichl]

doing it in the morning seems to work for me. Also making an alarm to make sure I’m prompted.

[Tigger4me]

Key to success is to find some form of exercise that gets your heart rate up with a lot of deep breathing. BUT it has to be something that you can stick with. I do better working out alone. My ADHD son has to work out with other people. Nothing will work if you don't do it.

For many years, my main exercise program was swimming. I would do a number of 100 yard sets: 50 yards breast stroke then 50 yards free style then repeat. I would swim at least 4 days a week every week all year at an indoor pool in the midwest. During the summer I would also go to an outdoor pool several days a week.

I found that for me (at the time I was between 50 and 65 years old) I would need to swim a minimum of 600 yards each day that I would swim. At 600 yards I could actually feel my ADHD slow down and when I swam more than 800 yards it was almost as if my ADHD had disappeared. Effect for 600 yard day lasted about 4-6 hours.

I was lucky that I was able to use a pool that was a 5 minute walk from work so I did not have to drive or find parking. There was a nice locker room with showers and I could rent a locker and keep all my stuff in locker. Pool even had towel service but I used my own. As an extra bonus there was a huge hot tub that I would use after swimming. I would swim anytime from early morning to early evening depending on my work schedule.

I know this sounds like a lot but it really was so helpful for my work and home life. I was also taking Adderall during this time.

COVID changed all this for me. I now use a fitness center 3 days a week for about an hour each visit. I do about 30 minutes hand weights and core strengthening and 30 minutes on bike and Nu-Step machine. Not as good as when I was swimming but it is what I can do.

[Jay_25 in reply to Tigger4me]

I appreciate the advice, idk maybe sports for me, did them all throughout highschool in and out of school.

[Cutewife in reply to Jay_25]

Maybe look into your local parks and recreation centers to see if they offer any adult leagues of the sport(s) you used to play.

[Jay_25 in reply to Cutewife]

Lovely suggestion, appreciate it

[Zilmita]

Being consistent can be a bit of a challenge. Create an exercise routine that's easy to follow. What I do is that I usually (on my cellular phone) go to my calendar and write down the day(s) that I've made reservations for the gym. I also write the time of the class and schedule a reminder about an hour before the class. I also make sure that the night before I get my gym bag/clothes ready to go as soon as I get up in the morning. When it comes to tracking meals, I usually have food at the same time (or close to it) everyday. I usually get up (soon it'll be earlier since I might be starting a job on January 6th 2025) at about 8:00 a.m. I have my breakfast (usually a slice of bread with either an egg, smoked salmon, or avocado) with a health juice and my pills. At about 2:00 in the afternoon is when my parents and I usually have lunch (lunch in usually the big meal of the day). If we're hungry at night, we usually have either leftovers from lunch, a small bowl of soup, a small bowl of tuna fish, hummus, etc. Some people write down on a calendar or notepad what time they usually eat their 3 meals of the day, what they eat, when they work out, and at what time they go to sleep.

[Jay_25 in reply to Zilmita]

Good looks, I appreciate it.