Food noise. Why can some overcome it and others can’t?

[Foodnoisebattles]

There’s a lot of talk on threads, especially the weight loss injection threads, about food noise. A lot of posters will say that the drugs turn off their food noise and allow them to lose weight. That’s a very simplified version but essentially what is being said. They will say that this lack of food noise must be how slim people stay slim and they dread it returning once off the drugs.

I used to have a severe eating disorder (hence the name change) and food noise was a 24/7 battle. I ignored it. I’m recovered and have been for a long time but still get food noise a lot of the time. I ignore it if I know I don’t need to eat. It’s a challenge and I did gain weight over the Covid lockdowns and tipped into the overweight category but lost it again and am now smack bang in the middle of my healthy weight range. I still get food noise. Every day I find myself wanting to eat, especially things like chocolate, doughnuts, sweets, cake, and lots of it but I tell myself no. I will eat what is a portion of these things then say no more.

What makes some people able to ignore their food noise and others not? I hadn’t heard of the term food noise until I came on mumsnet but it’s a good description of the brain constantly telling me to eat something I shouldn’t because I’m not actually hungry. It takes a lot of self control for me personally. Why is that different for me and people like me? Is it a chemical thing? Behavioural? Do some people not have food noise at all so they don’t need to battle it? It’s worse if I’m bored. If I’m busy I’ll forget to eat. The food noise sets in if I’m not doing much.

I think the rise in food noise, obesity and. compulsive eating is in no small part due to the rise in use of long term medications, particularly antidepressants. Weight gain is a side effect of so many drugs. At least it feels that way when you read the common side effects on the leaflets.

Its the way people are built OP, not a personal failing. Like some people enjoy driving, some people dont, some people are colour blind, some people arent, some people enjoy running some people dont.

The very hard trick is to try to overcome it if its causing weight issues. The medication is a game changer for that. Its also ok to be a bit hungry from time to time.

I reckon it’s to do with happiness levels. If someone is happy they don’t need a feel good boost from food. Miserable people eat their feelings.

I really struggle with food noise. I have ADHD which I think contributes.

Since last Monday I have eaten no UPF as I read an article and it became my hyperfocus. I haven’t calorie controlled or purposefully eaten less or ‘healthy’ just my normal food but substituting ingredients. Weirdly the food noise is now a whisper. I’m still having crisps (only ones that are potatoes, oil and salt) and chocolate (dark chocolate with decent ingredients). It’s making me question what on earth is in food as I feel better. I’m not sure how sustainable it is because it’s hard work and expensive but very interesting if you can give it a go.

Food noise is not about a feel good boost though. I haven’t been miserable since childhood, I have been struggling with disorder eating, whilst also achieving happiness.

I struggle due to having one of my children having a disability. Im always rushing about to do school runs (with one of the schools being further away as specialist) work, cleaning and when children at home it’s very full on as one of my children needing a lot more supervision than a neurotypical child.
I ended up snacking and drinking fizzy drinks just to get through the constant stress. I have now given up any drinks apart from water and am trying really hard not to snack. I tend to be constantly tiered but a lot of the time I’m in survival mode as there is no break. I am actively trying to break the habit as I need to be healthy for my children, especially as my youngest will need care as an adult. I think life has a huge impact on if you can ignore food noise. Sometimes it easier to pick up the rubbish

The fact you “haven’t been miserable since childhood” supports my theory. You eat whenever there is any sign of being miserable.

It's funny how I had never even heard of "food noises" before! Not sure if I had missed something but I had been reading quite a lot about diets, and I learned about nutrition, and had never come across this term before the injections came out.
I always thought I was just hungrier than the norm, but being on the weight loss injection made me realise the problem is food noises.

Before I needed to be really really full to keep them under control. I did manage to lose/maintain weight but I had to restrict carbs a lot (the more you eat them, the more you want them!), and eat a lot of proteins (meat, shakes etc) and veg to fell really full all the time, and I was weightlifting/running 3-4 times a week. Even then it was still hard to ignore food noises, but easier to make better decisions.

The feeling of not hearing those food noises with the injection is so good... I can just move on after a meal, and get that headspace back.

The food we have available to us in this country is part of the problem. Very small section of fruit and veg and fresh stuff, tomatoes are crap, everything uniform and tasteless. No wonder people seek out other foods. Everytime I go to the supermarket my heart sinks.

It’s torture. I’m dieting for for an event in 6 months and I can’t stop obsessing over food. I watch cooking shows, mukhbangs, restaurant reviews etc. It’s hell. So much so that even though the weight is falling off I looked into going on to weight loss jabs. I would too but I’d rather pocket the money for a holiday

Most chefs are obsessed with food, I am I love it, I love recipes and trying new things and flavours and textures. Putting combinations together that havent been done before, different cuisines. To be honest its the main reason I go on holiday thinking about it! I dont think theres anything wrong that as such.

I just have to look at my sons to see how different they are in their relationship to food. DS 15 y old Asd will use food when stressed (he says it's when he's bored) so I have to hide all snacks from him. He loves eating in general and can eat even though he's full. DS 11 y old is very "reasonable" to a point that makes me impressed because I'm not. He likes to eat but he's more in sync with his physiological needs so never eats when he's not hungry/ have more cake just because it's good. He has a friend with Arfid who has no joy at all eating. He can eat a piece of bread and then say he's not hungry anymore. Definitely zero food noice and never takes pleasure in eating, it's just something that unfortunately needs to be done sometimes to fuel up.

So judging by these 3 children's attitude to food I would say we're all wired differently when it comes to food and we shouldn't shame anyone who can't resist the food noise because with Mounjaro they can so it's physical not just psychological.

"Do some people not have food noise at all so they don’t need to battle it?"

This is true for me.

Oh no that’s not what i meant. Of course I have been miserable at times I just mean I haven’t been consistently miserable since childhood. Also, your theory falls apart because at no point did I say I eat whenever there is any sign of being miserable.

For me weight loss injections only stopped food noise for the first 3 weeks of injections and then my body became used to the medication and the food noise came back. Still on the injections but to be honest, I'm now unsure if my slow weight loss is due to controlling what I eat and exercising a whole lot more or due to the injections

Honestly it a willpower thing. The same people who can drag themselves out of bed at 6am to go for a run in the depths of winter are probably the ones who can ignore food noise. You don't see a many high achieving, morbidly obese women.

I'm a greedy person with a big appetite. The only reason I'm not the size of a house is tonnes of exercise and finding big meals I like, which aren't too high calorie to eat during the week. I did a month of mounjaro, lowest dose and lost 10 pounds (from a 25 BMI). I think about food from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep and it was the strangest thing for me to not be able to finish a meal when I had the injections and when I talked to some very slim friends they feel like that all the time, like they can take or leave food. I don't have the willpower to be actually slim, but I am militant about not getting big (over 10 stone 2 for me).

@LavenderFields7 almost. But I’m not a fan of the ‘miserable people’ label. I’m (on the whole) a can-do, look on the bright side type of person, but people close to me have been unbelievably shit to me from very early on in life. So it’s not that I am a miserable person - it’s that I have a lot of painful, scary grief to work through and food helps me cope. It’s low-level addiction. Language matters.

I know I am quite lucky to have very little food noise. The whole “giving into temptation” thing doesn’t really apply to me because I’ve just never been very food driven. I lost my sense of smell a few years ago and now feel even less tempted to eat because everything tastes bland. When people talk about the joy of food I don’t quite understand it. However, I have a real love of good music, and find it amazing that people don’t have the same drive for that… I guess we’re all different.

Food noise is typically related to emotional eating.
It’s often related to childhood/trauma.

As @TeenLifeMum says, it’s the same reason why people get addicted to drugs and alcohol whilst others can have it in moderation.

I think these injections sound fantastic as a temporary measure but I really think some sort of therapy for anyone with addictions/self harm should be available to get to the underlying issues.

One of the best weight loss advice I got was to stay busy and be social.

When I am busy at work then I can easily ignore my food noise but as soon as I get home it hits me even harder.
I try not to get over hungry and keep as busy as possible.

When I was in 6th form I had a friend who was naturally slim. I remember her opening a small bag of Maltesers and putting them on her desk in her bedroom. She would occasionally have one while studying , but only now and then. She didn’t even think about it. A bag of Maltesers would last several days. It blew my mind. No way could I sit at my desk studying, with an open bag of Maltesers in front of me, and not eat them! I honestly don’t think that it was down to her upbringing, or her mental strength, or powers of resistance. She just wasn’t fussed. Her brain was wired completely differently to mine.

Is this a new term - food noise? I've only ever seen it on here in relation to weight loss jabs.

Surely that depends on the food. Maltesers would last me a long time too. Cheese on the other hand.....

Took me nearly a year to get through a box of chocolates someone gave me for last xmas. I have all my christmas chocs from this year currently unwrapped.

Cheese on the other hand....

The term is new, the situation it describes isn’t.