I’m very glad we’ve now got words to describe something I’ve fought against for most of my adult life. I used to wonder what it was, why I just couldn’t seem to stay on a diet for longer than about 3 days and I felt like such a failure. For me it was a constant subconscious thought process that often punched through in the weirdest of ways.
A typical day inside my head could look like this…
Monday - brand new week, this is the day I’m finally going to start losing weight. Start the day with a walk and then some scrambled eggs and a grapefruit…but oh, what will I have for lunch? Salad, yes I’ll have salad.
11am - am very hungry, don’t want salad, want a muffin. Can’t have a muffin because if I do that’s the rest of the day ruined. But I WANT a muffin, CAN’T have a muffin, I will eat a salad. I eat the salad (yay, me!) but because I’ve had a salad, I’ve probably now earned the muffin for being ‘good’. Eats muffin.
I’m not going to let a little muffin ruin my whole day of good eating, that’s just ridiculous. I am strong, I CAN do this.
Afternoon, start to feel hungry but I know I’m not really hungry, I’m just bored, so have a cup of tea and start to think about what I’ll have for dinner. Chicken and veg with a small baked potato. Do I have enough calories left for a light chocolate mousse and oh some sauce to go on my dinner?
Maybe (looks at calorie counter app). Nope, will just make do - it’ll be worth it. But wait, I need to eat the lite chocolate mousse as it’s on its sell by date today, can’t waste food like that. But hey going over your calories every now and then isn’t so bad, I’ve got to live. It can’t all be about restriction! And besides, you’re not really that fat, more just a bit podgy.
Ok, well more than a bit but you’ll tackle it eventually. Maybe calorie counting isn’t for you? Maybe need to try IF again? Or what about Cambridge. That was a hard diet but it worked. Well ok it didn’t work because I put it back on again.
Maybe Weight Watchers, now that WAS good. You know what, I’m going to start Weight Watchers tomorrow, I’m going to be really committed this time. Googles nearest classes - yes, there’s one on Wednesday and if I’m going to start on Wednesday, maybe I need to have a ‘last supper’, get it out my system before I start properly on Wednesday.
Hhmm, takeaway? Starts thinking about chicken cashew nut and fried rice. Maybe some Prosecco? Wait, I thought you were going to have chicken and veg? Well I WAS but now I’m starting WW again on Wednesday I need to have a blowout meal. Well no, you don’t ’have to’.
But by the point the thought has settled in my mind and there is no talking me out of it. And of course, Wednesday at Weight Watchers gets pushed to the following Wednesday and so on.
And without a word of exaggeration that was the constant subconscious battle in my mind. And I never actually knew I had it until I took Mounjaro for the first time - total silence. No more intense debate or battle with myself, just food as fuel. It’s simply amazing.
So you might think food noise is just an excuse but for many, many people it’s the daily soundtrack of their lives. I don’t know where it comes from, it could be hormones, advertising, social conditioning or something else but it’s very real.
Be thankful you don’t have it.