Are you the kind of person who spends a lot of time thinking about where their next meal is coming from?
You could be struggling with an affliction known as “food noise.”
The formidable foe of those looking to lose weight has been around forever, but it’s gained considerable notoriety on the heels of trendy new medications for weight-loss like Ozempic and Wegovy, with users reporting the end of the cuisine-compulsive chatter.
How exactly does it work? Food noise is a catchy term for the “constant, intrusive thoughts about food that are disruptive to daily life and make healthful behavior very difficult,” said Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder and director of Real Nutrition, an NYC-based nutrition, weight and wellness practice.
“[Food noise] can involve regularly fighting the urge/desire to eat even when you’re not hungry,” Shapiro said in an interview with Eat This, Not That! — calling it a biological thing encountered by many overweight people.
That inner voice can be “so intense and intrusive” that it starts to impact all your food choices in an negative way, Shapiro told the outlet.
“Due to the stress that food noise causes, [you] may feel a desire to reach for unhealthy, processed food choices as ‘comfort,'” Shapiro said. “It interferes with one’s ability to follow nutrition and/or exercise plans.”
And while silencing these voracious voices in your head can be a challenge, there are steps you can take to lower the volume.
“Work with a health and wellness expert, preferably both a registered dietitian and a therapist to come up with attainable behavior changes,” Shapiro suggested.
Or, you can apply the practices you may have already introduced into your mental health and wellness routine toward your relationship with eating, she said.
“Practice mindfulness; figure out what your triggers are that may cause the food noise,” Shapiro suggested, along with things like relaxing music, outdoor activity, deep breathing or silent meditation.
Self-talking can also be a valuable tool, Shapiro said.
“Recognize when you start to experience food noise and try to reframe the intrusive thoughts to be more positive—professional help may be necessary here,” she urged.
And then there’s another option — eat more. Well, more frequently, anyway. Smaller meals spaced closer together can be an effective way to keep the chatter at bay.
Finally, remove as many practical obstacles as possible — if the cupboards are filled with potato chips and other craveable snacks, for example, go ahead and empty them.
“Change any environmental cues such as putting triggering foods in a cabinet or on a higher shelf and put the healthful choices closer in reach,” she suggested.