Hold on... is this how "normal" people feel all the time?

[Wildewheat]

I no longer think about food every minute of the day.

I eat a tiny cake then don't want any more.

I leave chocolate in the cupboard untouched for days or weeks - I don't want it.

I eat, notice I'm full then want to stop eating.

I only think about food when I'm hungry.

When I am hungry, I don't want junk food - I actually want "proper" food.

My mind is so quiet.

I've struggled with my weight since puberty. Feeling like this, I can totally see why so many people had no idea why it was so hard and why they'd say things like "just eat less and move more". They must have thought I was mad, just doing something that ruins my health for years when it's so easy not to.

This has also really annoyed me and I really wish I'd been able to experience this years ago. It also makes me wish I could explain how hard it is to people who've only felt this their whole lives.

Not for me.
I'm a healthy weight with no food issues.

I don't want to eat in the morning, never have.
I think about food when hungry (usually by 11am) but it's not a big deal and I sometimes have coffee instead, or something small like a banana

I can crave sweet or savoury, usually sweet after dinner

I can ignore tasty food in the kitchen but it's usually eaten within a few days- I've bought it because I want it!

I love chocolate and eat it every day, because I enjoy it. My DH hasn't got the same sweet tooth and could take something sweet or leave it

On the occasions I've restricted my eating (lent, dairy free when baby had CMPA), I think about foods I'm not meant to have a lot more

Slim here but permanently hungry and always thinking about food. Never just want one cake, always want more.

I have to use a hell of a lot of willpower to stay slim!

I did once experience what they now call food noise. I was very ill and given dexamethasone a strong steroid. I fantasised about food and thought about it day and night, planned what I would eat later. Would wake up feeling hungry in the middle of the night - not unusual but I could not just go back to sleep as I would normally, but had to raid the fridge. So I know that's not normal.

I'm 67 and weigh the same as I did at 20, around 9.5 stone.
Do I think about food all the time? No
Could I eat twice as much as I do? Easily.
I never diet exactly but I have "rules" I follow and have done so for 40 years, such as no snacks until evening, bread only once a week, all bran for breakfast and salad for lunch. All these allow me to enjoy food and never feel deprived.
I eat a huge dinner and nothing is off limits. I eat snacks in the evening such as cake / crisps.

I'm very slim, and I rarely think about food unless I'm hungry. I don't really understand the concept of food noise, but do occasionally crave sweet things

Nope! Even as a slim person all my life I constantly think about food, my next snack/meal, constant hunger etc I just wait until hunger pangs go away sometimes or have one day of indulging and the next of trying really hard to be good to maintain my weight.

I find this belief that only overweight people have food noise really infuriating!

Same. I'm an 8-10 and takes so much effort and self restraint

That is self regulation. Generally speaking most obese people don’t have this

No, I'm "normal" and I often think about food. I often want to eat more than I do and I often want to eat unhealthy food and choose not to do so.

Agree completely. The "you're so lucky" attitude drives me insane. Actually, I make choices every single day to stay slim. I would far rather eat whatever I want and not exercise but I know the consequences.

I'm hungry now, choosing not to eat until dinner which usurpingly will be healthy.

What you describe is how I feel OP. Everyone’s ’normal’ is different I guess. But I’ve always been able to stop eating when I’m full, forget about food between meals, leave chocolate uneaten, etc. Personally I don’t think that is that weird.

I’ve been a size 10 all my life, btw.

@ringoutsolsticebells I was responding the OP’s point that she can now leave chocolate in the cupboard for weeks…I couldn’t do that so it’s best not to buy it at all!

Such an interesting thread!

I never realised that people could think about food that much - I rarely think about food except when genuinely hungry. And even when hungry, I regularly get distracted by other things or can’t think of anything I’d like to eat so just have nothing or a cup of tea. I often take a snack with me to work and then forget about it. This type of things. I have cravings of course, takeway etc but definitely not every day, and I stop when I feel full.
Honestly I’m feeling very lucky and from reading the posts I understand better why some people have difficulties losing weight or not gaining weight in the first place!

I have this exact same issue, including with carbs and sugar bringing on more food noise. A low carb/keto diet combined with intermittent fasting is the only thing that works for me! And I’m a healthy weight with BMI of 23.

I constantly think about food...I'll literally be thinking about dinner when I'm eating lunch. I have to use immense amounts of willpower not to keep going into the fridge and picking. However, I manage to stop myself by rationalising that I'm NOT hungry. I'm 5ft 5 and weigh 9 stone. Never dieted as such, but do a low carb lifestyle and work out every day.

I think it’s about breaking habits and eating more naturally. I’ve lost 7kg over 2 years, without injections, not masses but enough to go from a large size 12 to a mid size 10. Since eating less sugar/ processed food, I haven’t felt anywhere near as hungry as I used to, my appetite is way easier to control without all the crap. . I notice that as soon as I eat anything UP or sugary now my appetite goes wild again.

I hear you, OP. I am hungry now, but will wait until dinner and can distract myself till then. But I don't get the blood sugar crash that I used to. I don't get cold sweats, dizziness and confusion, headaches and blurred vision. I don't get so irritable I'm snapping at colleagues and can't concentrate on work. I'm hungry and am resisting food, but at least it's do-able.

I have a slightly underweight BMI and think about food when I'm hungry - I don't recognise the idea of 'food noise'. I eat 3 times a day and a snack around 4pm and don't do well if I miss a meal. If I feel hungry outside of that then I eat something. I try not to have too much chocolate/biscuits/cake in the house as I'm not great at rationing junk but try to eat healthyish most of the time.

I think most people are consumed by thoughts of food - the majority of people in the UK are overweight! So having food noise Is probably more "normal" than not

I am slim and always been, never really changed my weight as an adult, very constant and I rarely feel hungry if I eat regularly. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, rarely snack as I don’t think about it and if I am working and have one call after the other I sometimes forget to lunch although then by 6pm I feel hungry, I realise I did not have lunch and I eat a good dinner. But if I am out in front of food, especially sweets but also chips I can’t resist. I hate when people keeps on bringing cookies or cakes at work, I wonder why they do it, when it is sooo unhealthy, why to tempt people. My view is I don’t buy junk at home so I just don’t it it. Since working mainly from home I am even slimmer, like few kilos less, as I don’t have the treats always brought by the same baking ladies at work or drinks after work with chips and greasy food.
I always thought people could stop eating if they just did not buy things at home.. and packed their own lunch at work so they did not buy snacks (and maybe had sensible coworkers stopping baking!)
it is interesting to read this thread and realising some ppl actually feel hungry all the time! What happens if they don’t have food at home? Like just healthy stuff (rice, meat, veg) ? They do go out and buy it as the hanger is just too much?

This! I'm 52/53kg and I'm obsessed with food. I don't want one piece of toast, I want four. It is a constant battle in my mind. I've just eaten and I'm so full but I could just keep going and going because it's so delicious.

It's all about willpower.

Yes this is how I feel. If I am hungry I will eat but if I am not hungry I don’t want to think about food. I love a biscuit but will eat a few and then have had enough. I am very lucky that I am this way and have never had any weight issues. These weight loss injections seem like a miracle and a great thing for so many people, I’m happy it’s working for you.

I love food, love thinking about food, love eating food.

However I really don’t struggle with “food noise” at all.

I can easily have lots of nice food in the house and just not eat it. We still have Easter chocolates untouched!

I do however have ADHD and really relate to the issue of controlling mental “noise”, and when something is occupying my mind I have great trouble in just putting that thought to the side, or I act impulsively and am not being able to wait for something.

I always thought people could stop eating if they just did not buy things at home.

The problem is, if you live with someone who has no need to worry about their weight (see my post about underweight DH below; I'd also imagine many on MN have hollow-legged active teenagers who need plenty of fuel) you can't really stop 'tempting' snack food coming into the house.

It's lucky I'm not a particular fan of biscuits because my skinny DH gets through insane quantities of them, but he also has things I like such as chocolate, cake and mini-cheddars in the cupboard all the time and if I'm dieting, I just have to do my best to ignore them - but they are there if I have an urge to comfort binge, whereas I'd almost certainly not make a trip to the supermarket to get them specially if they weren't in the house.

Same thing that happens to your cholesterol when you stop stating, or to your blood pressure if you stop those meds. Or to literally any medication that manages a chronic condition...