“I can’t stop snacking, what is going on and why don’t I have any willpower?”
We teamed up with the delightful Dominique Munday, a clinical nutritionist (in training) and certified life coach specialising in ADHD, gut health, and the real-life gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. She's based in Sydney and sees clients through The Munday Method — her practice built around the idea that behaviour change has to start with identity, not information. Her own late ADHD diagnosis sits at the centre of her work and is why she cares so much about making nutrition genuinely usable for the way neurodivergent brains actually function.
Check out what she had to say here :
A lot of women with ADHD say they’re always thinking about food or reaching for snacks. Why does that happen, even when you’re not really hungry?
There are a few factors at play, but the patterns I see most often come down to meal timing and dopamine-seeking. A lot of women with ADHD wake up not feeling hungry, skip breakfast, and don't eat their first real meal until lunch and that sets off a cycle of snacking for the rest of the day.
The other piece is that we're often just chasing dopamine. When you notice yourself reaching for a snack, I always encourage clients to pause and ask: what do I actually need right now? Is it food? Water? Comfort? Relief from boredom? Once you can name what the snack is serving, you can start replacing it with something that actually meets that need.
If you had to keep it simple, what are the basics of eating in a way that actually helps your brain stay clear and focused?
Three things. Breakfast within 30–60 minutes of waking with at least 25g of protein, ideally savoury and warm so your stomach can actually digest it easily first thing. Water, consistently throughout the day, women need 2.1–2.8L as a baseline, and an extra 500ml for every 30 minutes of exercise. And eating a balanced meal every four hours: protein, fat, and carbohydrates together. This keeps your blood sugar stable and signals to your body that food is coming, so it doesn't go into panic mode.
What happens when you skip meals or just grab whatever’s easy during the day? How does that affect your energy and mood?
Skipping meals throws your blood sugar and cortisol out of balance. Your body shifts into fight-or-flight mode and redirects energy toward keeping you functioning at a base level, there's nothing left over for focus, emotional regulation, or clear thinking. And when you do eventually grab something quick, it's usually carb or sugar-heavy, which spikes your blood sugar and sets up another crash later in the day. It becomes a cycle that's really hard to break out of.
Snacking can feel automatic or mindless - What are some simple ways to cut back without trying to be “perfect” or overly strict?
The first thing I'd say is: stop trying to white-knuckle it. Willpower is not the answer here, especially for an ADHD brain. If the snacks are in the house and visible, you will eat them, that's just how our brains work. So start with your environment. Put the snacks you want to eat less of out of sight or out of reach, and make the better options the easiest ones to grab.
The second thing is to go back to your meals. A lot of mindless snacking is actually just under-eating at mealtimes; not enough protein, not enough fibre, not enough fat to keep you full. If your meals are balanced and you're eating every four hours, the automatic reaching usually quiets down significantly.
And the third thing is that pause I mentioned earlier. Before you grab something, take one breath and ask yourself what you actually need. You don't have to talk yourself out of eating, sometimes the answer really is that you're hungry. But sometimes it's thirst, boredom, or a need for a two-minute break. Naming it takes the automaticity out of it.
Meal prep sounds good in theory, but most people don’t stick to it. How do you make it easier and more realistic?
Honestly? I'm a bit of a tough-love coach here. You're an adult, you get to decide what works for you, but you do have to decide. That might mean prepping full meals, or it might just mean having some cooked ingredients in the fridge so you can mix and match without overthinking it.
What I will say is: use your higher energy days to set yourself up for your lower ones. Batch cook, fill your freezer, so there's always something available when you have nothing left in the tank. Meal prep is in my calendar every Sunday as a non-negotiable. My slow cooker is genuinely one of my favourite tools, low effort, big batches, and it does the work while I do something else. The “I don’t have time” excuse doesn’t work on me ;)
If someone wanted to feel better this week just by changing how they eat, what would you tell them to do first?
Start with breakfast. Eat within 30–60 minutes of waking, prioritise protein and fibre, drink 2.5L of water throughout the day, and eat a balanced meal every four hours. That's it. Keep it simple and stay consistent — you'll notice a difference faster than you'd expect.
What is your favorite indulgence- the thing that never fails to satisfy your treat craving ?
Ice cream, every time. I'm not really a chocolate person, but a good cookies and cream, pistachio, or salted caramel? That never fails to hit the spot.
You can find Dominique here :
