I had the same kind of thoughts, that I was different but didn’t know exactly how, until I was diagnosed with ADD in my twenties. Once I read about ADD, I remember thinking I had never seen anything that I related with so well. Not saying you have ADD but there might be something undiagnosed. It’s a huge benefit to know what you’re dealing with.
The human body is good at adapting to a poor diet. Don’t let that fool you into thinking you won’t run into major problems long term. You will eventually and it might be too late then. You would be very wise to get on a healthier diet. I notice a huge difference in my mental state when I eat better. If I cut out sugar for a few days I feel like a super hero.
I did the slow carb diet which is dead simple, and while losing some weight was nice, the biggest benefit is how much better I felt. Here is a quick summary:
Here’s what I do: canned green beans or frozen broccoli, canned pinto beans or refried beans. For green beans and pinto beans, cook in a pot with a little butter, salt, and pepper. You can get frozen broccoli that you throw the entire bag in the microwave. If I’m doing green/pinto beans I usually add guacamole. Wholly Guacamole makes individual single serving packs. For the protein component, sometimes I cook eggs or make taco meat, but the simplest solution is a protein shake. I do Premier Protein chocolate shakes. On Sundays I cook up a big batch of green beans and pinto beans for the week. Makes following the diet all week very simple. For snacks I usually eat cashews. Not technically on the slow carb diet, but I’m not doing it for weight loss anymore, just for staying productive.
I sometimes switch from slow carb to low carb, and I’ll do things like taco salad without the chips. I cook up a big batch of taco meat and use that for a few days. Just microwave, add some cheese, salsa, guacamole, maybe some beans.
This works, I believe, because it prevents insulin response, so you don’t get blood sugar spikes and subsequent crashes.
The slow carb diet says that eventually your metabolism will slow down, so they suggest one day a week eating whatever you want. So that’s nice.
I found this green/pinto bean, guacamole, and protein shake regimen to be super fast, easy, cheaper than fast food, and pretty tasty.
My doctor was not aware of the slow carb diet, but he says he basically tries to cut out carbs during the week (not completely, that’s impractical if not impossible), and eats whatever he wants on the weekends. If you are looking for something simple, I think that’s a good guideline. Making life/habit changes is hard, so keeping it simple is very wise. Once you are in a routine that includes some small improvements, you can try to do more. If you try to make bigger changes you are more likely to give up. For example, for me I tried cooking chicken and eggs for my protein at first, but I didn’t stick to it. Busy mornings, need to leave for work, I would just throw up my hands and hit the drive thru because I’m not proficient at cooking in general.
