Can you hear the food noise?

There’s a lot of, um, noise, about food noise at the moment. From a place of obscurity, known only to those who experienced it and who, like me, assumed that everyone did, it’s now having its time in the spotlight.

Why? Well, largely thanks to the additional effect of the Mounjaro weight loss medication, which works not only on reducing appetite, but also on quietening down the constant thoughts about food that are common to many people who struggle with their weight or eating behaviours.

If that’s you, you’ll be familiar with what food noise is, but if not, I’ll try to explain.

It’s a non-stop running commentary in your brain, a constant to-and-fro about what to eat, when to eat, if you’re hungry or not, if you feel you should be hungry or not, if you’ll make the right food choices, how you’ll atone for the wrong ones, how long it was since you last ate, what people might think of you for eating…. From morning until night, this goes on and on and on, a relentless stream of second-guessing, overthinking, overwhelm and, often, disappointment or disgust.

It is exhausting, boring and leaves us utterly stuck. In many cases, food noise builds up over years of absorbing diet culture rules around what we should eat. Foods are seen as “good” or “bad”, “healthy” or “unhealthy”, “naughty” or “nice”. There are countless mixed messages about the “right” way to eat, especially for weight loss: low calorie, low fat, high protein, low carb/keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, clean, little-and-often or one meal a day. Perhaps from growing up with dieting family members or media influences, food feels weaponised, as if it’s there to trip us up rather than just be a thing we all need to feel well.

So, how to shush that voice in your head and find some calm around food?

Turn down the food noise volume

I mentioned Mounjaro, and that’s one way for sure. The only problem is that once you stop taking it, the food noise will probably return, which is one of the reasons why weight gain is highly likely after treatment.

Away from medication, one of the best things you can do is to examine the rules you follow around food and ask yourself where they have come from and if they serve you in any way. Write a list of any you can think of and for each one, try to answer the question “Why?”.

For example, “You shouldn’t eat bread, it’s fattening”. Why? Who says? What does that mean? How is it fattening? Can that be true? What does fattening even mean? Bread makes you fat – does it? How much, what kind, what about other foods you eat or how much you move?

Once you’re more aware of these rules, it’s time to step back from them. A lot of food noise is about trying to stick to the rules and worrying about the consequences of breaking them. But what if there were no rules? What if you chose an approach that makes conscious choices that recognise you as an intelligent, autonomous adult? What if you chose food that, more often than not, you enjoy and does you good?

Give yourself unconditional permission to make those choices. Have the Nutella, or don’t. Have the ice cream, or don’t. Or have some now and some later. Have the nutritious breakfast because you love it and it makes you feel good, not because you ought to.

Take back control

Take back the power from the Pringles. You choose, not them. Put the control back with your own body and your own judgement. It takes practice, but it can be done.

I did that on my own, but it wasn’t easy. If you’d like someone by your side to help you get there, who knows how hard this can be and understands where you’re coming from, 1:1 Nutrition Coaching is here for you whenever you’re ready to leave the noise behind.