Do thoughts about food take up more space in your day than you’d like? Maybe it begins the moment you wake up, wondering what to eat, feeling unsure about your choices, or replaying what you ate yesterday. This constant mental chatter can feel draining and hard to put into words. It has a name: food noise. If food is always on your mind, there’s a reason for it, and gentle ways to find relief.
I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Dr. Meredith MacKenzie, a binge eating therapist and intuitive eating coach. If food feels like it’s always on your mind, you’re not alone. What you’re experiencing has a name, and there are gentler ways to navigate it without adding more rules. For daily support, real talk, and tools to help quiet the food noise, come find me on Instagram.
What Exactly Is Food Noise?
Food feels like it’s always on your mind, some mornings the chatter is a whisper. Other times it’s a roar. It can overwhelm your thoughts before you even brush your teeth. You might plan your whole day around what, when, and how much to eat.
Thinking about treats can bring guilt. You may find yourself sneaking food or still wanting more, even when you feel full. These are signs of food noise running the show. You’re not alone in this. Many people live with mental looping about food and eating. And often the more you try to “fix” it with rules, the louder the noise gets.
Food noise is the inner soundtrack of judgments, cravings, worry, guilt, and rules about food. It is not just hunger. It’s mental and emotional. It shows up as:
- Thoughts like “I shouldn’t eat that” or “I’ll gain weight if I eat this.”
- Worry about whether you’ll have enough food later.
- Chanting nutritional rules in your head.
- Emotional urges to eat when you’re bored, sad, or anxious.
It may seem harmless at first, but over time it drains your energy, pulls your focus away, and slowly takes your sense of peace. And it blocks the possibility of a calmer relationship with food.
Not sure what’s fueling your food struggles? Take the What Are Your Food Struggles? quiz to get clarity and personalized next steps.
Why Diets and Restriction Make Food Noise Louder
Imagine you tell yourself you’ll never eat ice cream again. Your brain hears: forbidden. The thing about forbidden food is that it gains power. The harder you restrict, the louder your mind shouts.
When you diet, you build a fortress of rules. You track, count, avoid. You feel you’ve failed when you “break” a rule. That sense of failure fuels more mental noise.
Restriction triggers emotional responses. Feeling deprived can lead to a binge, followed by guilt or a sense of failure. That’s how the cycle often continues. And after the binge, guilt and regret fan the noise even more. So instead of quieting the voice, the diet fan blows more air into the noise.
If food noise feels constant, it’s not because you lack self-control. In this video, I share why willpower isn’t the answer, and what truly helps quiet the noise.
Calming the Noise Without Adding More Rules
You don’t have to create more rules to still the food noise. In fact, more rules often backfire. Instead, you can work with curiosity and choice. Here’s how:
- Notice the noise. When thoughts flood in, pause and say to yourself, “Ah, there’s that voice again.” Naming it helps you separate from it.
- Offer kindness, not criticism. The voice is part of you, but it’s not you. You can talk to it gently. You can say: “Thank you for trying to protect me. I hear you.”
- Return to the body. Ask: “Am I really hungry? Or am I lonely, bored, tired, upset?” Check your stomach, emotions, energy.
- Take a small, permission-giving bite. If your body wants food, give it food, not more rules. Choose something you enjoy. Eat slowly. Notice what you feel before, during, and after.
- Name other needs. Food often fills gaps in comfort, distraction, or stress relief. Pause and ask: “What else do I need right now?” Could be rest, a chat, a walk, water, connection.
- Refocus your attention. Shift into something caring, read, draw, stretch, talk to a friend. Let your brain rest from food focus.
These moves don’t guarantee silence, but they shift your relationship with the noise. You strengthen your ability to notice and respond, rather than be overwhelmed.
Ever wonder where your thoughts about food and your body really come from? This video explores the beliefs we inherited, and how they shape our relationship with control.
Gentle Tools to Use in the Moment
Here are tools you can use when food noise peaks:
- 5-4-3-2-1 grounding. Name 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, 1 thing you taste. This pulls you into now.
- Body scan. Close your eyes. Start at your head. Move down: notice tension, softness, comfort. Let your body speak.
- “And yet.” When rule thoughts show up (“I shouldn’t eat this”), add “and yet” (“I shouldn’t eat this, and yet my body may need nourishment”) and continue beyond the rule.
- Mindful breathing. Breathe in for 4 counts, hold 2, out for 6 counts. Repeat a few rounds.
- Self‑compassion phrase. Use something like: “This is hard. I am doing my best. I deserve care.” Say it like a friend would say it.
- Pause‑and‑shift. The moment you notice looping thoughts, slow down. Pause. Shift into another activity for a minute.
You don’t need to master all these tools. Try one or two when you feel overwhelmed. Over time, they become easier to use.
Want to keep exploring what a peaceful relationship with food can look like? Read this next: What Does a Healthy Relationship with Food Actually Mean?
Beyond Food: Other Factors That Amplify Food Noise
Food noise doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Many outside pressures can make it louder. Emotional overload, like stress, grief, sadness, or irritation, can create tension in your system. In those moments, food noise often steps in as a way to soothe or distract. When you’re low on rest, your brain is more reactive. You may feel more impulsive around food or crave quick comfort. Hormonal shifts, changes in blood sugar, or your menstrual cycle can also play a role in how often food shows up in your thoughts.
Environmental cues matter, too. Ads, cooking smells, or even scrolling through food posts on social media can spark the noise. If you’re feeling bored or isolated, food can fill the space that might otherwise be filled with connection or stimulation. And if you’re someone who leans toward perfectionism or people-pleasing, food can become one more area where you feel pressure to “get it right.” All of these layers can turn up the volume on food noise, even when you’re not physically hungry.
Finding Peace by Understanding What Is Food Noise
Learning what food noise is gives you a new way to understand your relationship with food. The constant chatter isn’t a flaw in you; it’s a sign that your body and mind are trying to be heard. When you meet that noise with curiosity instead of control, it begins to soften. Over time, food can feel simpler, calmer, and more connected to what you truly need, nourishment, comfort, and care.
If food noise feels loud, there are gentle ways to begin. Food Freedom in a Weekend is a simple first step to help you move out of black-and-white thinking and start trusting yourself with food.
One Body To Love, my group coaching program, offers a supportive space to understand what’s driving your eating and break free from the binge-restrict cycle. If you want more personal support, 1:1 coaching gives you a safe place to explore your patterns and care for your whole self.
You can also check out my podcast or YouTube channel for real talk and practical tools. Not sure where to begin? Book a free discovery call and we’ll figure it out together.
