PART 6:
OVERCOMING CHRONIC FOOD NOISE
Chronic food noise refers to persistent thoughts or mental chatter about food, even when you’re not physically hungry. It can feel like a constant preoccupation with what you might eat next – sometimes intrusive, sometimes subtle – but always present in the background as an ongoing running loop.
And the reason it can be so problematic and interfere with your weight loss progress (and your life in general) is because it can lead to the following issues:
Persistent Thoughts: Constant thinking about food, including what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat.
Intrusive Cravings: Unwanted and intense cravings for specific foods, even when not hungry.
Difficulty with Focus: Struggling to concentrate on other tasks due to the constant thoughts about food.
Emotional Eating: Relying on food to cope with emotions, even when not hungry.
Obsessive Behaviours: Engaging in behaviours such as compulsively checking menus,
over-planning meals, or fixating on what others are eating.
Difficulty with Satiety: Feeling unsatisfied after eating, even following a full meal
Chronic food noise can feel like a barrage of unmanageable thoughts that drive you towards foods tied to your coping mechanisms, ultimately hindering your overall progress.
It can also make it difficult to recognise true hunger and fullness cues, often leading to overeating, and it can gradually erode your self- esteem.
And all of the time chronic food noise is present, losing weight can be extremely challenging – and, for some, seemingly impossible.
But what causes chronic food noise to begin with?
Diet Culture: Diet culture, which has been prevalent since the 1970s, promotes the idea that certain foods are “good” or “bad”, creating guilt or shame around eating. It also encourages restrictive eating as a way to ‘manage weight’, which is usually only a short- term solution. This mentality fosters unhealthy patterns, often leading to cycles of restriction and bingeing.
Emotional Factors: Many people use food as a coping mechanism to manage emotions such as stress, anxiety or sadness. This leads to emotional eating, where food becomes a source of comfort rather than nourishment.
Childhood Experiences: Beliefs and behaviours around food are often shaped in early life. Being rewarded or punished with food, experiencing food scarcity, or receiving criticism about eating habits can all influence long-term attitudes towards food and eating.
Mental Health Conditions: Conditions such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders (e.g., anorexia or bulimia) can deeply affect one’s relationship with food. These issues often stem from complex, deeply rooted feelings about control, self-worth, and identity.
Social Influences and Societal Pressure: Family dynamics, peer influence, and cultural norms all play a role in shaping eating behaviours. For example, growing up in a restrictive food environment may lead to feelings of deprivation. Social media also contributes significantly – promoting unrealistic ideals where being ‘skinny’ is portrayed as the ultimate goal. Entire movements like ‘skinny to’ push harmful narratives, implying that thinness should be pursued at any cost. These societal standards can lead to disordered eating behaviours, including restriction, bingeing, and extreme weight control practices.
Lack of Education: A limited understanding of nutrition can lead to confusion about what it means to eat healthily. Exposure to misinformation about diets and nutrition exacerbates the problem.
Health Conditions: Medical issues such as food intolerances or gastrointestinal disorders can lead to anxiety around eating, which may result in restrictive behaviours or avoidance of food altogether.
There’s no discrimination — anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background, can develop unhealthy eating behaviours. Ironically, most people who develop an unhealthy relationship with food do so in pursuit of the “perfect” body and optimal health.
For me personally, my relationship with food became unhealthy at a very young age. I grew up in one of the most impoverished areas in my city. My family, like many others in our community, knew what it was like to struggle to make ends meet.
There were times on our council estate when some children would steal food just to eat. During the periods when my dad was incarcerated, things became even harder. I remember my mum scrimping and saving in the weeks we would visit him just so we could share chips on the way home — it was a happy occasion to see him.
When my dad was home and earning, he’d treat us to takeaways and sometimes take us to the corner shop, giving my brothers and me ten pounds each to buy whatever we wanted. I’d stock up on crisps and chocolate, then binge on them while watching my favourite shows. My brain began associating food with happy times and treats. But as I got older and experienced trauma, and as my mental health declined, I began to use my wages to binge and isolate myself — food became a form of escapism.
Before long, my weight was out of control, and I entered a cycle of habitual dieting and bingeing. My relationship with food deteriorated further. The next two decades were a constant struggle — a cycle of restriction and bingeing that led to me abusing my body to the point of becoming morbidly obese. At my heaviest, I weighed 23 stone 12 lbs, was pre-diabetic, and suffered from mobility issues that led to six blood clots over the years.
One of my deepest regrets about my former unhealthy relationship with food is the core memories it robbed me of. My daughter loved to bake — she’d proudly bring me beautiful treats she had made. But I was always on a diet, and I would refuse even a bite, believing those foods were the enemy.
Those beautiful creations, made with love, went untasted. The disappointment on her face should have been enough to snap me out of it, but I was too consumed by my toxic relationship with food to recognise the moment of connection I was missing.
Looking back, I don’t think I ever truly realised just how harmful my relationship with food and eating behaviour had become — how much ‘food noise’ consumed my thoughts and how broken my life was because of it. But once I did recognise the issue and began addressing it, everything started to change. I saw a significant improvement in how I looked and felt.
Thankfully, my past didn’t discourage my daughter. She went on to become a qualified chef. And now, when she brings me cake, I eat it — not out of emotional need or as a response to a trigger, but because it’s beautiful, made with love, and because one piece of cake eaten mindfully and joyfully is good for the soul.
Food plays a central role in our relationships — whether it’s a first date at a restaurant, a celebration, a time of mourning, or a gesture of support. It’s not just about physical survival; it’s emotional and social, too. But food should never dominate your thoughts or dictate your life.
When it comes to overcoming chronic food noise it is incredibly important that you stop extreme/restrictive dieting as it is proven to trigger chronic food noise due to the fact that restricting calories signals scarcity to the brain, spiking hunger hormones (ghrelin) and decreasing fullness signals, making you obsessively think about food.
This leads to a vicious cycle
of restriction: You cut calories or foods.
Biology Reacts: Hormones signal hunger; brain focuses on food.
Food Noise Intensifies: Constant thoughts about what, when, and how much to eat.
Overeating/Guilt: The noise leads to out-of-control eating, followed by shame, restarting the cycle.
It is important to follow a balanced diet where no foods are taboo or ‘off-limits’, and to also shift your focus from “what you can’t eat to lose weight” to “what you should eat to feel good”. Because yes, weight loss may be a goal, but the focus must be on feeling better physically and mentally. No one — in the history of ever — has achieved lasting weight loss results through deprivation and misery as those feelings create resistance and stress which just triggers the cycle and fuels the noise.
When you constantly focus on what you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” eat it creates a rigid mindset that can damage your mental health, increase feelings of anxiety or depression, and even trigger eating disorders — which are far more complex to recover from.
The key is to listen to your body and shift your mindset to focus on what you can eat to feel your best. This creates food freedom—and, with it, mental peace.
It also causes disruptions to your hormones and blood sugar dysregulation.
This is because skipping meals acts as a physical stressor, which triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes blood sugar to spike and then crash, leading to a cycle of hunger and cravings and further amplifying food-related thoughts.
The brain also needs a steady supply of glucose (energy) to function optimally. Skipping meals causes unstable blood sugar levels, which prompts the brain to urgently seek quick energy sources, leading to heightened cravings and food thoughts.
1. The Preoccupation Loop-
What is sounds/looks like-
“What / when / how much will I eat?”
Thoughts sound like:
“What should I eat next?”
“When can I eat again?”
“Did I eat too much?”
“What will I eat later?”
This loop occurs because the brain senses uncertainty or scarcity, so it keeps scanning for reassurance, and it reoccurs because thinking about food feels safer than not knowing.
2. The Permission/Prohibition Loop-
What is sounds/looks like-
“Can I or can’t I?”
Thoughts sound like:
“I shouldn’t eat this… but I want it.”
“I’ll be good now and fix it later.”
“If I eat this, I’ve failed.”
This loop occurs because of conflicting rules which create unresolved tension, and it reoccurs because the brain hates ambiguity and keeps replaying the decision.
3. The Anticipation/Relief Loop-
What is sounds/looks like-
“Eating will make this stop.”
Thoughts sound like:
“Once I eat, I’ll feel better.”
“I just need something.”
“After this, I can relax.”
This loop occurs because dopamine fires in anticipation, not consumption, and it reoccurs due the sensation of relief reinforcing the prediction.
4. The Compensation Loop-
What is sounds/looks like-
“I’ll fix this later.”
Thoughts sound like:
“I’ll eat less tomorrow.”
“I’ll work it off.”
“This is the last time.”
This loop occurs due to the brain using future restriction to justify present eating, and it reoccurs as it strives to preserve control and permission, but that’s only ever temporary.
5. The Hypervigilance Loop-
What is sounds/looks like-
“Am I hungry or not?”
Thoughts sound like:
“Am I actually hungry?”
“Is this emotional or real hunger?”
“I shouldn’t eat unless it’s hunger.”
This loop occurs due to over-monitoring internal cues creates anxiety, and continues to reoccur as that attention amplifies sensations and thoughts.
6. The Moral Judgment Loop-
What it sound/looks like-
“Good vs bad.”
Thoughts sound like:
“I was bad today.”
“I have no willpower.”
“I don’t deserve to eat this.”
This loop occurs as shame activates stress systems, and reoccurs because stress increases food salience and self-criticism.
7. The Body Consequence Loop-
What it looks/sounds likes-
“What will this do to my body?”
“This will make me gain weight.”
“I can already feel it.”
“I ruined my progress.”
This loop occurs as fear heightens threat detection, and reoccurs because the brain tries to prevent future danger by replaying it.
8. The Escape Loop-
What it sounds/looks like-
“Thinking about food instead of feeling.”
Thoughts sound like:
“I just want to eat and zone out.”
“I don’t want to deal with this.”
“Food would distract me.”
This loop occurs due to thoughts displacing harder emotions, and reoccurs because avoidance feels protective in the short term.
The audio tool below has been specifically designed to weaken and break these loops, and replace them with new positive loops that support your weight loss journeu.