Ep 69- How To Stop Food Noise
June 05, 2025
How to Stop Food Noise: Naturally Reduce Constant Thoughts About Food
Let’s dive into food noise: what it is, where it comes from, and how to turn the volume down.
Whether you call it food obsession, food addiction, or just thinking about food all the time, this is your go-to episode for quieting the mental chatter so you can finally feel free around food.
You’ll learn:
What exactly is food noise?
The 4 root causes of food noise
Real examples of what food noise sounds like (so you can spot it)
The 3-step method to reduce food noise naturally without relying on willpower or medication
How your phone might secretly be making it worse (no one talks about this!)
What Is Food Noise?
Food noise has become a popular term recently, and I wanna talk to you about how you can change the food noise you have. This experience has been around for many years. In the medical sense, we might call it a food preoccupation where you are hyper focused on food.
In my journey, I would say things like, I just think about food all the time, or I have this food obsession. I feel addicted to food. That is how I would describe food noise, but it’s all the same thing. Food noise is just thoughts about food. We call it food noise because it sounds noisy, loud, and frequent, like our brain is consumed with these thoughts.
But food noise is just thoughts about food. It’s not a random phenomenon, disease, or disorder. It’s just having frequent uncomfortable thoughts about food.
What Causes Food Noise? 4 Common Root Triggers
1. Food Rules and Restriction
Food noise often starts from lots of food rules. If you’ve had rules like, I can’t have carbs, or only one piece of bread, or no eating past 8:00 PM, all these rules make eating confusing. You hear different advice that clouds together until you’re constantly thinking about food decisions.
2. Perfectionism and Eating Habits
Food noise can come from perfectionism. If you expect perfect eating, whatever that means for you, you’ll keep thinking about living up to that standard. This happens in other areas too, like work or parenting. A perfectionist mindset makes your brain hyperfocus on reaching that goal.
3. Not Eating Enough
Food noise also comes from not eating enough. If you don’t eat enough, your brain will tell you to eat more. Like being thirsty when you don’t drink water, or feeling colder the longer you stay outside, your brain yells at you to survive. If you lack calories or nutrients, your brain will speak to you all day, telling you to get more.
4. Emotional Eating and Avoidance
Food noise can happen when avoiding feelings or decisions you don’t want to face. Food thoughts act as a distraction, a way for your brain to procrastinate by focusing on food instead of what needs handling.
Real Examples: What Food Noise Sounds Like
So if we dive into what food noise sounds like, people tend to think, I just wanna get rid of my food noise. But what I want to offer is that the content of your food noise is what will help you stop binge eating. It gives you valuable insights through these food thoughts. Remember, food noise is just thoughts about food.
Ask yourself, what are my specific thoughts about food? Some examples from my old food noise:
When am I going to eat again?
What did I eat yesterday?
Did I eat too much?
What’s for lunch today?
Is nut butter too high in calories?
What rules can I make to stay on track?
...and so much more.
3 Steps to Reduce Food Noise Naturally (Without Willpower or Meds)
Step 1: Identify Your Food Thoughts
Find your specific food thoughts. Keep paper or open your notes app, and when you feel lots of food noise, write down the thoughts inside that bubble of food noise.
Step 2: Change the Quality of the Thoughts
You want to think about food less, but many realize that having more positive thoughts around food makes it less bothersome. Food noise is stressful because of the tone of the thoughts, so instead of pushing them away, shift their tone.
Step 3: Decrease the Quantity Over Time
This takes months. You need to create safety for your brain. If it’s scared you’ll restrict, diet, or give up binge eating, it won’t decrease food thoughts. Coaching helps create psychological safety based on your history with food, so your brain feels comfortable letting go of these thoughts.
How Social Media Increases Food Anxiety and Noise
I thought of something I have never heard anyone talk about which is how phone technology and social media impact food noise. When you scroll Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or listen to podcasts all day, your brain is flooded with so much information and ideas from many sources.
At first it can feel helpful like you are learning but many people come to me confused because they have not decided what approach to take. They hear all this different info on how to eat and it feels confusing.
Part of food noise happens because that noise is other people’s voices, influencers and people online telling you how to eat, how much, and what. This disconnects you from your own body and wisdom especially if you are not grounded in your values and body signals.
It is easier to be swayed when other people’s opinions fill your feed. Without your own opinions about your body and eating, confusion grows creating a vicious cycle, the more overwhelmed you feel, the more you search, and the louder the food noise becomes.
I recommend going on social media less which is hard. I have a podcast episode on six lessons on moderation that can help. The link is in the show notes.
Choose two to three people to follow and trust for advice that empowers you to make your own decisions. If someone says they know exactly what your unique body needs, run away, no one knows that but you.
You need to learn skills to trust your body and make your own decisions. Find someone who teaches you to tune into your own wisdom so you can stop feeling confused and overwhelmed.
Final Thoughts: Rebuild Body Trust to Stop the Food Noise
If that is what you want, that is what I do with my clients. I help you relearn your own body signals, your hunger and fullness, so you do not need me forever. I want you to trust your own body and live your best life as a natural normal eater.
That is what I have for you today on how to stop the food noise. Check out the podcast worksheet bundle to dive deeper with this episode.
If you want more support, go to www.theconfidenteater.org/work-with-me to find out how you can work with me to stop the food noise for good.