What does ‘food noise’ feel like to you?

[fluffycushionsnear]

I was trying to explain ‘food noise’ to a friend and struggled to put it into words but to me, it’s mostly two things - guilt around food choices or anticipation around food choices.

Guilt happens if I have a choice to make. For example if I’m going out to eat and can choose between a healthy salad or a burger, fries and dessert, I’ll have this almost unconscious battle in my head. If I choose the salad, I’ll stay on track but if I choose the burger (which tastes far better), I’ll ’blow my diet’ and will feel porky in tomorrow’s dress but then to feel better about feeling porky, I’ll probably have another nice meal the following night and as it’s nearly Friday, might as well just keep eating and then start afresh on Monday. Or a thought process like that - all over a burger! Why can’t I just eat the burger, enjoy it and stop thinking about it as though it’s the gateway to Hell itself?

The other one, anticipation around food choice is me, planning to have a big meal on Friday night (nice bit of cooking, bottle of wine) and thinking about it on and off all the time from Wednesday onwards. I can even be sat in a meeting at work and all of a sudden I’m thinking about creamy pasta and Prosecco and the feeling of walking in the door and the lovely food smells and the first glass of wine.

With ‘food noise’, it always seems to be one or the other for me and it’s very tiring. It’s also very privileged to have the luxury of this thought process, especially when so many have so little (and that compounds the guilt).

For years I thought I was going loopy, round and round in self sabotaging loops trying to lose weight but then ultimately defeated by my own brain. MJ has stopped all of that and I’m trying hard to retrain my thought processes.

But yes, wondering what ‘food noise’ feels like to you?

Actually there are methods to manage any kind of thought. Im speaking from experience. People see therapists for OCD and eating disorders for example.

WLI help people manage their diet and especially weight loss. Its not a medication to address unpleasant thoughts in the first place.

If you aren't obese and haven't got a ton of weight to lose you aren't going to have to manage your thoughts AND a complete lifestyle overhaul at the same time.

Im not losing weight just because there is less chatter in my brain. Mostly importantly, the weight is not going to stay off unless people change their mindset.

Work with a therapist if you genuinely want change. WLI aren't the easy way out.

Another thing for me is that the only time I feel satisfied food wise is if I’ve eaten until my stomach feels like it’s gonna burst. Like a huge carby roast dinner. And as soon as it starts emptying a bit I want more. It’s like it’s constantly sending signals to my brain to keep filling it to the top.

I have food noise most of the day which is my brain telling me to eat something, thinking about what I can eat and thinking about what’s in the fridge and cupboards to eat. Unless I’m busy then I don’t have food noise because my brain is occupied. I am a healthy weight at the lower end of my bmi and to maintain it I have to not listen to that noise. Also when I’m thirsty my brain tells me to eat something.

So you are saying that what I experience isn’t ‘food noise’, even though it is identical to what others who are suffering from the disease of obesity have; it is just thoughts that can be modified?

If you aren't obese and haven't got a ton of weight to lose you aren't going to have to manage your thoughts AND a complete lifestyle overhaul at the same time.

But I clearly am having to manage my thoughts AND a lifestyle overhaul. I don’t want to live like this. I want to be able to have biscuits in the house, or have a take away once in a while.

Im not losing weight just because there is less chatter in my brain.

So why take WLIs? What are they doing for you if not taking away the chatter?

This is a medication to treat obesity, not food noise. I think this is where your confusion lies. It is prescribed to treat obesity, it is not prescribed to treat food noise,

if you have unhealthy behaviours then it is counselling or therapy, the poster is right. There is no medication I’m aware of that’s prescribed for food noise.

I have found my people.
Just always thinking about the next thing l can eat. Constantly.

I can't say what you experience. I am not a doctor or therapist. But you aren't obese and by your own description just slightly overweight. So you are not at the same risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke etc as an obese person just judging by the weight. I'm taking WLI because I want to reduce these risks and change my life. It is a huge commitment.

Yes, if you do not have a ton of weight to lose but suffer from the intrusive thoughts a therapist might indeed be able to help you with that. WLI are not approved for people who just want to lessen food noise or deal with intrusive thoughts. It is a medication for a disease which you do not have. You may well have a different condition considering how much these thoughts bother you to the point you consider WLI even though you do not meet the criteria.

As I already described, WLI help you feel full sooner and stay in a calorie deficit and be consistent with it. It helps avoid yoyo-ing. I have an appetite and could eat, but not the constant hunger. So if thoughts creep in I can resist and reason because I am not hungry. Other days I do not have the food noise and do not have to worry about it. I'm less likely to fall off the wagon and abandon any changes I may have made and go back to old ways. I can be consistent for 1 or 2 years until I am no longer obese.

There is other help for you out there.

For me it’s an addiction to food. Always wanting the next fix. Then never being happy with just eating one, or a portion, but eating until I can’t eat anymore and feel so uncomfortable. If there are treats at work, I will have one with everyone else and then be thinking about eating more all day until I do, then binge uncontrollably. Whenever and wherever there is food, I’m drawn to it above anything else, even if it’s not that nice, or I’m not really enjoying it. It has a massive hold on me, like a voice in my head telling me I have to eat that food. It’s such a debilitating noise!!!

For me it's like the food has a voice and is constantly reminding me it's there. I can never just not be aware of food, it's always distracting me from what I'm trying to focus on. So I end up eating it to shut it up so I can just stop thinking about it.

Chocolate brownies have very loud voices!

And WLI totally switched it off until I am genuinely hungry. It's wonderful. Not simply because of the weight loss, but because of mental peace and increased ability to focus.

Out of interest, do the other food noise people have any ADHD type traits?

I’m exactly the same. Love healthy foods but crave the junk.

I've been thinking about this thread driving home from work just now. My stomach is actually rumbling a little because I had a small lunch. But my response to this is very abstract - I don't think "quick, gimme crisps" I just think ooh, better have dinner a bit earlier tonight... I'm not thinking of the food at all, or eating; I'm just thinking about stopping feeling hungry. In fact, I'm off to the gym now, so won't actually eat until 8.30pm, and that's OK..... I will have a glass of water and forget about it till then.

About dealing with food noise through therapy ... surely this must be possible? After all, you can use counselling to help you give up smoking, to deal with OCD, or challenge any undesirable thought pattern. And habit-forming - don't they say if you do something for 2 weeks it becomes hard-wired as a habit? So if you get used yo never snacking, presumably this eventually hardwires your brain that it's not something you do....

Just idle thoughts on the subject....I'm in no way belittling the challenge a lot of people have in this area. Just interesting that I love food but it doesn't get to boss me around.

I will say, it's not just food, pretty much everything in the world I have an interest in or an obligation to is shouting at me all the time.

The problem with the food noise specifically is just that it makes me eat too much.

Whilst WLI are not prescribed to treat food noise, there is increasing evidence that they do have an impact on addictive behaviours. GLP-1 receptor agonists bind to specific receptors in the brain, especially in areas tied to the reward system. These regions regulate dopamine and motivation. By targeting these receptors, the drugs blunt dopamine release and reduce reward signaling. That means people feel less driven to seek out food, alcohol or drugs.

My own experience is obviously anecdotal, as I am just one person but I can feel the MJ wear off and the monkey brain food chatter increase. When I inject, it disappears again. I had no idea any such thing was possible before.

I thought it was a medication to treat diabetes but has been repurposed, so, if it does quiet food noise, as a lot of users say it does, why can't it be repurposed again for those of us who aren't obese* but still struggle with food noise?

*I used to weigh 90kg and had a bmi of 30, which according to the NHS is obese, but went on a really strict diet and lost about 20kg and have maintained a healthier weight for about 15 years. So maybe I do have the disease of obesity, but have managed it myself? People can and do manage many diseases without medical intervention, it doesn't mean they wouldn't or shouldn't benefit from new drugs that would ease symptoms, just because they have been managing in the past.

@CointreauVersial said
About dealing with food noise through therapy ... surely this must be possible? After all, you can use counselling to help you give up smoking, to deal with OCD, or challenge any undesirable thought pattern. And habit-forming - don't they say if you do something for 2 weeks it becomes hard-wired as a habit? So if you get used yo never snacking, presumably this eventually hardwires your brain that it's not something you do....

You can learn to behave in ways to avoid unwanted behaviours but if there is a chemical imbalance that is causing the behaviour, (as @MargoLivebetter has said), then it won't remove the craving and the nagging at the back of your mind. Hence the alcoholics who are sober but still class themselves as alcoholics and have to work on staying sober.

I doubt it will ever be repurposed as solely a mental health drug for people proclaiming to have food noise. It has a physiological effect, hence why it is used to treat obesity, it is a physiological drug, not a pschyological one.

i don’t think anyone is qualified on here to discuss drugs for mental health.

as for your weight, you were once obese and none of the health authorities are willing to prescribe medication to someone who once had something bit is currently in remission or not suffering from it.

its like saying I had high blood pressure, I manage it through a low sodium diet and staying a healthy weight, so it is now healthy blood pressure, can I have blood pressure medication as it was once high. The answer will always be no, it will need to be high before you get the drugs, as the drugs will bring it down.

and same for glp’s. Or any drug.

I didn't think having low GLP-1 (or whatever it is that causes obesity) is a mental health condition.

And like I said before, these drugs were actually developed to treat people with diabetes but found to be beneficial for a different condition. It happens a lot - viagara was developed for hypertension but found to be beneficial for erectile dysfunction for example.

Additionally, lots of drugs are prescribed to prevent disease, not just to manage existing diseases, including mental health conditions. I have a friend with bi-polar who will be on ADs for the rest of her life. She could 'manage' without them but her life would be pretty miserable and chaotic. Why shouldn't WLIs be moved over to that category if they can be developed to minimise side effects?

For me it is constantly thinking about the next thing I will eat. Especially if there’s an excuse for buying food outside the house. I will be doing the morning school run and then remember I have an appointment at 11am and so I could get McDonalds on the way home for lunch. Or that I am travelling with work and will be in a big London station around breakfast time so I could get a bacon roll/pastry/coffee. Or that I’m away with work/have house to self for the evening so can get a Chinese and bottle of wine. Or that I could swing by drive through Costa on the way home from a food shop. Or that I have nice cheese in the fridge (so eat a chunk just for passing the fridge). Or that I have a hard piece of work to do so just fetch a snack first to put it off.

I basically think about food all day every day. So I am in a permanent losing battle against eating. It takes up a ridiculous amount of my brain, and makes it very hard to lose weight.

An overwhelming feeling of needing food. Thinking about what I can eat at the next meal before I’ve even finished eating the previous meal. Smelling the aroma of a chip shop or a bakery and my mouth watering and my stomach gurgles and I instantly feel hungry. Eating a lovely satisfying meal but 2hours later my tummy rumbles and I start to get hungry again. Feeling anxious at a restaurant or Buffett that my food won’t be a big enough portion or there won’t be enough to go around, feeling anxious if we go spontaneously to a cafe or garden centre that the queues for food will be too big and there won’t be a table free. Not being able to eat just a bit of something and leaving the rest for another time. Worrying that someone may touch or eat my food if I leave it unattended. I’ve spent years labelling myself as a greedy pig with no self control but 2 years on mounjaro has shown me that it’s not my fault as the food noise and food anxiety just fades away when I’m on the jab. It’s like a weight has been lifted. Food no longer controls me.

It feels like “What have I got that I can eat?”

I watch the clock a lot at work to justify whether or not I can have another sweet / chocolate / biscuit out of the tin.

It is boredom, I am not hungry in the slightest - if I only ate when I was hungry I am sure I would be tiny 😅 does MJ stop the boredom eating??

Yes

I could have written nearly all of these posts as they describe what is going on in my head.

For me, it’s the same as above (I’m tired what shall I eat, I’m having a cup of tea what shall I eat, I’m in the car what shall I eat) but also, I can be hungry and my brain can’t think about anything else; like I might actually die if I don’t eat a family size bag of minstrels now. On WLI; I can and do feel physically hungry but it’s like the connection that then makes my brain desperate to eat isn’t there.