“Food noise” has become a buzz phrase on social media recently, especially within the weight loss space. It aims to describe the intense longing for food or constant thoughts about it that become intrusive. Oftentimes, people have a lot of internal back and forth that makes it difficult to eat healthily. Luckily, there are ways to make the noise a bit less loud.
Hunger vs. food noise
Some argue that food noise is just hunger, but it isn’t that cut and dry. Hunger is a normal physiological response to a lack of food. Therefore, everyone thinks about food based on the simple biological need for it.
However, the thoughts can become overwhelming. Constantly thinking about your next meal or snack and obsessively planning your diet while being super rigid about it are two examples of how food noise can show itself.
How to stop food noise
For a lot of people, food noise resolves itself when you simply eat enough. Most commonly, food noise happens when people are on a weight loss journey and trying to be in a calorie deficit. They often sacrifice flavor and satisfaction for the lowest-calorie options. This might help their weight loss efforts, but not overall satiety (fullness).
In order to make sustainable and long-lasting changes, it’s important to eat enough food that also helps you reach your goals. It’s okay to eat egg whites and low-fat cheese if that helps you reach your goals, but it’s important to actually enjoy those foods. Not many people choose these foods as their go-to for the flavor! Eating half instead of a quarter of an avocado or a full banana instead of just half are two examples of small tweaks that can make a big difference.
People have the misconception that weight loss requires always choosing the lowest calorie option at all costs, but that isn’t realistic and often ends up making people crave foods they are trying to limit even more. Many people meet with dietitians about their weight loss goals and talk about how they always ate low calories but didn’t see any real changes.
It usually doesn’t take long to dig a bit deeper and find out that they struggle with a binge-restrict/yo-yo dieting cycle. This isn’t the case for everyone but for lots of people. Restricting food to an uncomfortable point can lead to some progress, but then people are unable to stick it out and then start eating foods that reverse the progress.
Bottom Line
People often feel mentally occupied by the thought of food because they don’t eat enough or don’t prioritize satisfaction in their diets. Usually people who struggle with food noise usually struggle with weight loss because they feel super consumed by the thought of food. It leaves them in an uncomfortable cycle.
Food shouldn’t have to be an overwhelming idea, even if you want to lose weight. Thinking about food is normal because food is great, but constantly thinking about it can be harmful.