#now I have to figure out how miffed my boss will be if I'm ducking out every hour or two to have a snack in the hallway

[robotslenderman]

OK I'm off the bus now --

SO BASICALLY

I've always had problems with energy crashes, even when my iron levels are up. And now I'm working full time it's become really, really obvious just how bad it is.

So today I was poking around the internet talking to Redditors when I had a few minutes here and there and asking them how they handle the afternoon crash without resorting to coffee...

... aaaand the internet went, "Uh, that's not normal. Unless you're eating a lot of sugar or drinking a lot of coffee, that is not normal."

I do not drink coffee because I'm already on a stimulant and am ridiculously sensitive to coffee even without it, and my sleep is shit enough.

I do not eat much sugar. I seriously cut down on it in 2016* and have not really gone back, I don't even eat refined carbs unless there isn't a wholegrain/brown version available. I hate white bread, it's too fluffy. If I'm buying a sandwich for lunch it's always white bread because there's rarely brown bread available, but if I can get wholegrain or brown bread, I will. Same with rice; if I can get brown rice, I always go for brown, but I'll eat white rice if it's all that's available (which it often is when eating out).

* ASK ME ABOUT SUGAR ADDICTION SOMETIME. I found it harder to cut out sugar than to cut out alcohol or caffeine. Not to say that sugar addiction is as damaging as alcohol addiction (it will fuck your life up way less), it's not, but holy shit kicking a sugar addiction is no joke. at all. it really, really isn't.

Like. The one exception is Shapes. I'm a slut for Shapes. I might also have some CCs from time to time but... I'm not a big chips person either. Not fond of potatoes.

So basically from everything I'm reading, I should not be crashing this hard. Or at all. But I do. 60-120 minutes after I've last eaten, I'm exhausted.

And the thing is? As soon as I eat something, I perk right up. Like, less than five minutes later, it's almost instant, and if I eat enough I go from falling asleep in my chair with my ADHD going batshit to perky, happy and energetic. Today I finally figured out the amount of food I need to eat and what I need to eat to be able to perk back up.

Every day at work I go through reports. Yesterday, I was fighting this hard -- I was having snacks frequently (but not enough, and not the right kind of snacks) so I was pretty much in a terrible state from 2 hours into my shift onwards.

Today I was operating on 2-3 hours of sleep.

I still got more reports done today, and functioned way better today, than I did yesterday. Because today I finally figured out what foods I needed to snack on, how much, and how often.

(Incidentally, last time I was at uni, I went vegan for a week. I did not get nearly enough protein, I relied heavily on carbs. I was so fucked from the experience it took two weeks of eating meat again before I was back to my normal energy levels. As someone with ADHD I need more protein than most people, and I'm so reliant on getting it from meat that I drastically neglected it. If I ever try veganism again I'm definitely doing a lot of research into vegan protein sources and laying them on. I also tried to go dairy-free when I came home, but that also didn't last; cheese is one of the best foods my ADHD responds to. Cheese and beans. And fuck baked beans, seriously.)

But like. I need to eat a lot of protein for my blood sugar levels to cooperate. If I eat carbs I don't perk up nearly as much, and for not as long.

So I've been looking at foods that are good for reactive hypoglycaemics and Sunday I'll be doing some food shopping and meal prep. Lots of nuts, cheese and chicken. I'll be packing a ton of food bc I just. eat a lot. I've always been a grazer, I eat small meals but a lot of them. And since I've gone on the Zyban my appetite hasn't exactly come back, but when I need to eat I can eat, so it makes a huge difference.

What’s the opposite of diabetes

Bc after doing some research today and mulling over my experiences I’m pretty sure I’m whatever that is