Food noise: a not so sweet song
I spent the better part of my early adult life reading books such as Skinny Bitch and trying diets that cut out sugar, gluten and meat yet somehow often finding myself with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in bed at the end of a challenging day. My belief about food was that in order to reach and maintain the ideal weight I had in my mind I needed to withhold any food that was pleasurable and if I did “slip” I needed to punish myself with intense exercise. This led to an obsessive attitude about food which is down to a phenomenon folks are now calling “food noise.”
Food noise refers to the persistent, often unwanted, and intrusive thoughts about food that can disrupt daily life. It's characterized by a constant internal chatter about what to eat, when to eat, and cravings for specific foods.
If you’ve ever found yourself soul shatteringly bored at work or dealing with an unpleasant emotion like sadness, leaning on food helps you to numb out or feel good momentarily. Evolutionarily, when food was scarce, dopamine receptors fired when we ate to give a burst of pleasure that would help our ancestors go the extra mile to source it. Food isn’t scarce for those of us in developed countries in the twenty-first century, but the brain wiring remains (see our craving blog here). Furthermore, research reveals that when we are told not to think about something (like a chocolate biscuit) it becomes the only thing we can think about and crave. This is why restrictive diets don’t work and why taking steps to change our relationship with food instead can lead to a more sustainable lifestyle that is aligned with making healthier choices as the default.
So how can you turn down the volume on food noise?
Organize your environment. Willpower is great in theory but when you are busy, stressed or tired the call of Uber Eats can be overpowering if you’re not set up for success. With a little advance planning in the grocery aisle and in the kitchen, healthy eating is the default and cravings don’t have to be a test.
Stop labeling food as “good” or “bad”. Diet culture teaches us to label food in this way which creates or adds to the incessant chatter in our head about what to eat or don’t eat. Moralising food and thoughts around food restriction are just as likely to trigger food noise as physical restriction. Our brain becomes focused on what is off limits and perceives this as a threat.
Practice mindful eating. Mindful eating encourages us to notice how we feel when we are reaching for food as well as the effect food has on us. Are we eating because we are hungry, need a distraction, or are feeling low? Sometimes reaching for food is the default soothing tool but there are other things we can try such as journaling, practicing box breathing or calling a friend to regulate ourselves when we feel out of sorts.
This stuff can be really challenging to navigate on your own, which is why we are here to support you. One of our most consistently requested wellness subjects is nutrition and our Four Week Group Nutrition series covers the fundamentals of nutrition, explores mindful eating, navigating the grocery store and food preparation, and helps build the structures for ongoing support.
Get in touch so we can help your team to reduce food noise and feel better.