What Does Food Noise Feel Like?

A look into the epidemic that no one knows even exists.

This week's topic comes to you to the benefit of my X followers who, when asked which of two topics should I write about, overwhelmingly said they want to know more about food noise.

Background

One of the major disconnects that drove me to start Patchwork was that people who have been relatively lean their entire life and managed to move give or take 15 pounds of body fat up and down seem to think that their experience and their advice can be applied to somebody who is significantly overweight or even obese.

Having just written that down, you must realize how absolutely absurd such an idea even is.

Yet it continues - almost every diet or food influencer on the internet has never really understood what it is like to struggle at the higher end of the scale and then to successfully come down.

And the one major disconnect that I'm going to dig into today, which these influencers cannot even begin to empathize with, is the issue of food noise.

Here's my caveat. I believe that in the last year I have suffered from acute food noise at times which led me to seek out other people who have suffered from food noise. I've now spoken to over a thousand people who have dealt with this issue.

Furthermore, the only existing modern solution is basically taking a GLP-1ra’s, and Patchwork is building the solution to this that doesn't need drugs. We’ve understood the drivers and causes, what you need to do to calm it and ultimately solve it.

The goal of this post is to hopefully give you a basis to build some empathy with your fellow humans and understand just absolutely how hard it is to suffer with this issue.

And I have to state - No, therapy will not solve this issue. Not sure where this idea came from but it is unhelpful to the sufferers.

So what is food noise and what does it feel like?

One of the insane things about food noise is that doctors have only really started to put a name to it in the last two to three years and they have absolutely no understanding of it.

Any attempt by me to explain what it actually is would do a disservice to those suffering from it.

So, what I'm going to do below this is just give you excerpts of quotes from all of the conversations I've had in the past year - so you can hear directly from the sufferers. Each quote is from a different person/conversation.

You need to separate this from hunger. Many sufferers call it hunger because we don’t have good language for it yet. This is not a grumble in your stomach or getting hangry. This is not craving a specific food from nutrient deficiencies.

This is a hormonally driven subconscious directive to gain weight. Any person that things “discipline” or “fasting” or “calorie counting” can beat this is a oaf.

I feel like I am doomed to either become obese or to spend the rest of my life fighting this. It is miserable. I want to sustain a healthy lifestyle so bad but I am in absolute disbelief at how wild my brain is trying to force me to eat all the time, for no reason.

I was shocked to discover there’s a name for something I’ve been struggling with for so long. You just have a constant, intrusive stream of thoughts about food—what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat.

the most distressing for me was the rapid weight gain and insatiable hunger. I’m a little over 5’10 and I went from a very comfortable 140lbs to probably 180lbs in 18 months. For much of that time I was absolutely RAVENOUS for no apparent reason, and it was so upsetting because I didn’t know what to do and I couldn’t seem to stop the weight gain!…

…I could easily eat 2000 calories before noon and still be hungry…

…It was hellish and so confusing

The constant thinking of food. For instance, when I’m eating breakfast, I am planning my other meals. Food noise is the nagging voice in your head telling you to eat all the cookies you had your husband hide from you. Food noise is searching my house endlessly to find something that tastes sugary.

I obsess over food. I spend my whole day thinking about it, what I ate last, what I want to eat next, what I could eat this weekend. I think about cookies and cheese and fried chicken and the damn desire to eat takes up so much of my mental energy.

If i touched fast food it would go very bad for me because something about my body makes me easily addicted to food. I actually dont really like sweets, my body never really longs for cake

The inability to stop. I could be full and have the container of ice cream in front of me after having ate a good amount and food noise is “one more bite one more bite”

Also thinking of food constantly. My mood depended on food. Being at for example the bakery getting a muffin and a coffee and also saying “wow that scone looks good. I NEED that scone AND the muffin.”

When you have issues with food, it’s just all foods. There’s not much distinction. For some they have never experienced not having that.

I cannot get rid of the constant raging voice that tells me to eat just for the sake of eating. It yells to EAT THIS; EAT THIS; EAT THIS NEXT; WHAT ARE WE EATING NEXT, completely regardless of what is going on. I could be literally finishing a huge meal, the voice will yell to eat some next thing, even though I actively do not want to eat any more food, I know for a fact I am not hungry and I do not need any more.

Want to Everything. All the time.

For me it was any junk food that was located near a destination I was already going go - like a Krispy Kreme near Costco. Since I was going to Costco, I felt like I deserved a donut - or three.

All of it. People who hear food noise, hear it 24/7 about any kind of food.

I craved nachos more than any other food. My sinuses were partly blocked and it diminished my sense of smell and taste. The texture was just as important as the taste and spiciness

For me, it's better described as hunger noise. Eat a normal meal and be starving 30 minutes later and thinking about what is the next meal, and when can I eat it. And white knuckling until I could.

However, when I would finally say f-it, I can't take this anymore, and eat I would certainly reach for tasty foods. And we have an inate drive to eat the most calorie dense foods available, so it's hardly surprising. So, would I eat cheese and crackers v carrots, of course. But that doesn't meal that food noise was only from cheese and crackers.

Obsessing about all food, planning the next meal as soon as I finished one. It became the first priority to make sure I carry snacks, as if I might starve.

I was never driven for like normal homemade meals. Like my food noise wasn’t “omg I need some baked chicken” more like “omg I need a pizza”

A few minutes after I wake up, I start planning breakfast in my head, even though I won’t eat for 2–3 hours because I first walk my dogs, work out, and take care of a few other things. Within 30 minutes of eating breakfast, I find myself thinking, “Three more hours till lunch.” The cycle continues throughout the day. Lunch, dinner—it’s all the same. It feels like a significant part of my mental energy is always focused on food.

After dinner, it’s an even bigger challenge. I constantly battle the urge to snack, and I don’t always win that struggle.

I held out. I said "I have to figure this out!" But I'm 42 now and I'm not getting any younger and I've been trying to figure it out for 15 years. I'm tired. And now I realize I was battling hormones, something outside of my control. I was never going to figure it out. So I just ate, but the noise doesn’t go away, you just get bigger and bigger.

I quit drinking by making ONE decision. I quit smoking by making ONE decision. I have to decide about eating over and over and over again, every day.

I was thinking today that it's like I have two brains that don't communicate with each other. One says, "I don't want to be overweight anymore. I won't overeat today. I'll make better food choices. I can not tolerate continuing to not lose weight."

The other says, "Hm maybe I should have a milkshake."

It's so frustrating.

It took over my life for years. For me, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never totally eliminate it, but I have managed to turn down the volume considerably.

I am always hungry. I've even done a 3 day water only fast, so I know what actual hunger is. But, I don't really feel satisfied when I am done with a meal. I could eat a huge dinner and still crave junk.

When it's strong, I usually find myself watching loads of cooking content and reading recipes and planning meals

Omg there’s a term for this!?

I’ve had food noise for 20 years!!!

I struggle with this tremendously. It’s constant. Ive gained so much weight due to food noise. I don’t know what to do. I feel so defeated.

Food noise is a side effect of me being at my preferred weight. I had to accept that it doesn’t go away. I live with it and what really helps is having lots of low cal raw veggies or pickled things as snacks

I think about food and meals constantly even if I've just eaten.

I've struggled with this my entire life.

I just started hearing food noise when I started dieting.

I have lived with food noise for so long it wasn’t until I heard the term last year that it dawned on me that I had it.

My "food noise" only happens at night, around 9 PM, it's this constant biatch in my ear, saying, EAT, and I say, stfu I'm not hungry. But there I am, in the kitchen, in the cupboards finding anything to eat.

It drives me nuts. It is absolutely insane and I can genuinely say that it is unbearable to a point where my quality of life is severely impacted.

Unfathomable urges to eat on a binge-level, as strong as urges to pee. Constant, obsessive thoughts about food. The thoughts are intrusive and raging inside me like no tomorrow.

It doesn't matter that I physically resist and not cave in, such as not buying things, not visiting certain places - I am spending a CRAZY amount of willpower on it, throughout the entire day, and that is just exhausting. It doesn't matter that I win this battle. Just the fact that I have to fight these absurd mental struggles ALL THE TIME drains so much energy and joy out of me.

I feel like I lack mental capacity and concentration in many other things because I am spending so many "brain resources" on battling not to snack and overeat ALL THE TIME. A reaslistic estimate is that in 1 hour, I spend 40 minutes thinking about food. I feel uncomfortable around trigger foods, in supermarkets, at events I experience serious distress and by that I don't mean uneasy, I mean literal anxiety-attack niveau, full blown screams in my head that override everything.

It is intrusive "eat this, keep eating that, what is for eating next, what can I eat, I have to eat, what is there to eat, oh can we eat this, there is something to eat there" thoughts racing around that never stop. Even if I do follow them and eat, they do not stop. And ignoring it, as I said, it's like holding out having to pee or trying not to sneeze, it is THAT strong and it never stops.

So my whole life. I could not for the life of me understand why people weren’t obsessed with food like I was. It was all I could think about. What I’m going eat, when I’m going to eat, every time I went to the store for soap, toilet paper, a birthday card - whatever - I would get a “treat”. It was exhausting and I was miserable.

40 mins of every hour thinking about food

Food noise is just that constant thinking about food. Planning meals hours or days in advance and obsessing over them. The inability to stop eating after a reasonable portion is another part of it, for me, at least.

food noise for was like an itch that needed to be scratched and I can’t think about anything else until I eat the food. Like if someone brought brownies to work, I’d try and try not to think about them and just stay busy but I would not be able to truly focus on anything until I gave in.

You know how some people say “I forgot to eat today”? I always thought those people are insane, as I constantly think about food

A constant fixation with food, thinking about future meals, feeling like I could still eat (mainly dessert) even though I just ate a healthy filling meal. A constant hankering for whatever got us gaining weight in the first place etc. I was properly addicted to sweets, and couldn’t get full until I’d eaten something sweet after every meal. The food noise was just the struggle to put off eating dessert … how many hours can I go without reaching for chocolate…. Can looking at cakes on insta fill me up without wanting to actually eat some? Just the constant mental calculations about how much longer I can put off a craving, or, the shame around how often I give in to a craving.

Walking by the pantry or through the kitchen and not being able to not open and grab something to snack on. It was also seeing a commercial on TV or online about some type of food and feeling the need to have that food. It was sitting at my desk at work and my brain telling me snack snack snack snack snack even if I wasn’t hungry. It was also my brain telling me I needed to eat everything on my plate every time. I’d absolutely stuff myself and not be able to stop because my brain would never tell me to stop eating- this was especially true when going out to restaurants.

I remember hearing people say they’re not a “sweets” person, or worse those who claim they “don’t like chocolate” thinking they must be aliens.

Every day is still a struggle. I’ve changed almost all of my eating habits, with an occasional treat within my weeklies, but I am always craving more food and especially fatty high point foods. It has taken a toll on my mental health at this point as it feels like I’m constantly restricting myself and thinking about food all the time (whether it be craving food, or making food, or meal planning) and it’s just exhausting.

I’ve been dieting since 5th grade. I’m now in my mid-30s.

I’ve never not had food noise

I've lost and gained weight my whole life. I've lost 100 lbs multiple times, and I can't say it's ever gone away.

Have you ever had a stressor in your life that was all you could think about? Maybe it was a project for work or school where you’d worry constantly about what you’d done, what you have left to do, waking up in the middle of the night thinking about. Maybe it was an event you were planning, like a wedding, where you worried about every last detail, wanting everything to be perfect. Maybe you have anxiety in general, where you can’t stop worrying about ALL. THE. THINGS. Well, food noise is similar. It’s not that I thought about eating all the time. I didn’t. I’d forget to eat all the time. It’s more like that internal anxiety dialogue but centered around food.

I could be doing ANYTHING—watching tv, emails—and what I wanted to eat would be running in the background. Like doing an inventory of what was in the pantry or fridge. I would think all day about what I wanted for dinner. That sort of thing. It’s awful.

Constantly obsessing over my next meal to the point where I couldn’t get things done.

I am constantly making deals with myself.

You can have that piece of cheese but you really need to buckle down at dinner and just have salad. And then shock of all shocks just a salad wasn’t enough so I’d break my bargain and hate myself all night and start thinking about my food budget for tomorrow.

The cycle of constant negative self talk is so toxic. It controls my life and made me a feel less than.

The constant thought about meals, snacks, treats, holidays, special dinners, what to make, how much to make, how much to eat, what's my limit, what will make me feel bad, what will make me feel good, what will other people like to eat, what is a good way to make food that is healthy, what isn't healthy, should I try a new recipe, what's delicious, eat out or delivery? eat in or delivery? how much to spend on food, how much is too much to spend on food, what's the difference between a healthy lunch and a lunch I really want, why am I still fat? Did I already eat? Is it time to eat again? Is it time to think about dinner? Did I take meat out of the freezer? Is it time to clean the kitchen/clean the fridge/organize the pantry? Should I make a cake? I love cake. We all love cake. I should make cake. What kind of cake? Mmm, cake. Ooo cookies! Oh, yeah I can't have Oreos. I love Oreos though. If I make coffee, I bet I could eat something sweet with it. It's relentless. On and on and on, an internal dialog related to food that never seems to go away.

Do you have food noise?

Four quick tests to see if this is putting a name to something you or a loved one is suffering with - Ask yourself:

1. On a scale of 1-5, What is your preoccupation with thoughts of food?

   (1) I never think about food - (5) I always think about food

   If you get 3-5 you likely are.

2. How soon after waking are you thinking about food?

   If you’re thinking about food before you leave your bed, you likely are suffering from food noise.

3. When was the last time you ate half your meal/dessert/plate and your body just rejected food - it just sent all the subconscious signals to tell you to stop eating?
   If the answer is not at some point in the last week - you are likely suffering from food noise.

4. When was the last time you didn't think about food and when you got hungry you literally had zero idea what to eat or what was in your fridge?
   If the answer is not at some point in the last week - you are likely suffering from food noise.

Conclusion

Is that heartbreaking to read? Well it was heartbreaking to hear, and even more so to revisit and write.

Next time you see some always shredded dude on TRT saying “If you’re hungry, drink a glass of water” make a mental note that they are full of it.

I hope this post gives you an ounce of empathy for those suffering.

Want help?

Struggling to navigate all the diet tribes, but just want to feel great again? We help people decipher their own energy & weight loss with DNA testing, experimentation and extremely easy to follow hyper personalized plans - come check it out at Patchwork.

We promise there’s no cardio or calorie counting required.