Nina Kaufmann

So you just ate a delicious lunch. Yet, the moment your plate is empty, or even while eating lunch, you start thinking about your next meal, or when will you be able to eat again. Or how you shouldn’t have eaten carbs or “that much.”
Sounds familiar?

What you’re experiencing is known as food noise. Food noise doesn’t have an official definition, but if you’ve experienced it, you will definitely know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the constant preoccupation with food, bordering on obsession, feeling perpetual hunger and cravings. Individuals struggling with food noise can barely focus on any other aspect of their lives. In the background, they’re always eaither thinking about their next meal, or calculating how much they’ll “be allowed” to eat, or thinking about the cookies in the cupboard they’re “not allowed” to eat. It makes it challenging to ever feel satisfied after eating because the noise persists.

These intrusive thoughts steal your life, making it difficult to be fully present in any moment because half of your attention is always preoccupied with food and food rules.

Food noise is different than real hunger: it’s a neve-ending mental chatter created by food rules, restrictions, guilt and being hyper focused on food.

Why Does Food Noise Happen?

For some individuals, food noise might happens because of hormonal imbalance, and for others it might be related to neurodivergence or ADHD.

However, in many cases, reasons for food noise boil down to:

1. Physical Restriction:
If you’re not eating enough, intentionally or not, you can expect intense craving and preoccupation with food to happen. It’s perfectly normal – your body is sending stronger and stronger signals in order to get enough food to thrive. One of the most significant studies to show this is the well-known Minnesota Starvation Study, focused on determining effects of prolonger dietary restriction. Men who participated in the study showed extreme preoccupation and obsession with food – even after the experiment was finished, as is to be expected.
The subjects in the study were reported to dream about food, fantasize about it, developed elaborated ways to prolong the meals they were given, some of them even went on to become chefs. They started collecting recipes, conversations they had mainly revolved around food, even when watching movies they were preoccupied with food in the movies. (1)

All of this to say: food noise is expected when physical restriction is happening, and it’s not a reflection of your “lack of willpower.” Even when we can’t, out bodies recognize the importance of eating enough and will do everything in their power to signal the need for food.

2. Mental Restriction:
Even if you’re eating enough physically, food noise can happen if you’re mentally restricting. This might look like “only eating clean foods,” or labeling foods as good or bad, then experiencing food guilt if you happen to consume “bad” food.

Naturally, if we desire to enjoy a cookie, but restrict the cookie and eat an apple and a chewing gum instead, our craving will not be satisfied. Therefore, we might end up thinking about that cookie we “aren’t allowed to eat” all day long; in the meeting, while playing with our pets, or spending time with our friends, in the background we will be going back to the cookie in the cupboard.
Often, this ends up with binge eating all of the cookies, feeling guilty and starting a new restriction phase.. and the cycle continues.

A scenario I, like many of my clients, remember all too well. But don’t worry, you can free yourself from it!

3. Emotional Needs:
People who experience unbalanced relationship with food are prone to use food as a coping mechanism more than people with a healthy relationship with food. Pair that with a tendency not to fulfill their emotional needs in general, and we have a recipe for food noise! In this case, stress, boredom, anxiety and any other emotion might be felt as food noise because the person is not in touch with their emotions. And often, food is the only (or one of the only) comforts in life.

Goes without saying, it’s absolutely possible to heal from emotional eating and food noise; I offer an extensive solution in Peace With Food course, or you can work with me.
The key to healing is intentionally staying in touch with your emotions, and creating an array of ways to nurture your emotional wellbeing in a regular basis, so that the food is just one of many comforts in your life.

4. Cultural Conditioning:
A lot of food noise we experience isn’t our own voice, it’s simply what we’ve picked up and learned living in a world obsessed with diets and thinness. Not a single baby in the world suffers from food noise.

Many of the “I shouldn’t eat this” and “I’m allowed to eat that” rules are an echo of the diet culture that teaches us to micromanage our every bite instead of listening to our own bodies and honoring their needs.
The safest way to quieten the food noise is to get off the diet ride, and reconnect with your own inner wisdom.

I know, it likely feels impossible that you personally could ever trust your body, and that quieting the food noise is achievable for you, but I promise you – even though the beginning might be challenging, trusting your body gets easier and easier the more you practice it. Besides, reconnecting with your hunger and fullness isn’t about perfection — after all, it’s not a diet.
Obviously, the easiest way to make sure you quiet the food noise is with a professional support – that’s where I come in! Whenever you’re ready to gently heal your relationship with food so you don’t have to spend every waking moment obsessing over the next meal or carbs “you shouldn’t have eaten,” I’ll be here for you. Just a quick call away!

How Intuitive Eating Helps Quiet Food Noise

Intuitive eating is a framework that reconnects you with your inner body wisdom. With IE, there is no control or micromanaging every bite. It’s about learning to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, while being grounded in compassion.
Intuitive eating teaches you to truly nourish yourself in every aspect so you can enjoy long term health.

Some of the important ways it helps quiet the food noise:
– You learn to eat enough: consistently, every day, not just when you feel like you “deserve” it. If you’re constantly low key hungry, you will constantly think about food – it’s just biology, your body wants to keep you alive.
– You remove the morality from food: so chocolate becomes just chocolate, not a forbidden fruit, helping you release the food guilt. If you haven’t broken any rule, there’s nothing to feel guilty about.
– You learn to listen to your hunger and fullness cues: not some rigid food rules made by an app that has no clue what’s happening in your life, or what you truly need.
– You build emotional resilience: so food isn’t the only source of comfort anymore. You learn to handle your emotions without food.
– You heal your relationship with food: by offering your body true care and nourishment, not pointless control.

When you commit to this journey, food noise will lessen, and then disappear, over time. You get to focus on other areas of your life! You get to truly tune in and consider what you’re happy with, what not. And because you have all this mental space, you get to change what doesn’t work for you instead of settling for bare minimum, trying to find some comfort at the bottom of the chips bag. The whole journey allows you to experience peace, starting with food, expanding over your whole life.
It’s why I always say: intuitive eating leads to intuitive living.

Steps You Can Take Today

You can start tackling food noise right now, a tiny step by tiny step it builds up to some real changes!

1. Acknowledge the food noise: Instead of fighting it, simply name it. “That’s food noise. That’s a thought, not a command.” This simple moment of mindfullness often gives you space to respond to the thoughts instead of simply reacting. In that moment, you get to choose your next action.

2. Eat enough: Food noise often comes from hunger: real, physical hunger that exists for a reason, to keep you alive! Undereating fuels the food noise, and without consistently eating enough it’s near impossible to ever quiet it. Please, if you take with you anything from this article, let it be that hunger is good, natural and exists for a reason. I know diet culture is obsessed with making hunger this horrible demon, but it’s really not. Without hunger, we .. die. So try to make peace with hunger, and thank it for existing!

3. Remove “good” or “bad” labels: Make peace with one food that’s been on your “bad” list. Bring it back into your life mindfully. This might look like allowing yourself to enjoy one cupcake completely guilt free, and really taste it while eating. My clients often make a little date out of this exercise; choose the food you’d like to make peace with, go to a nice place that offers it, and enjoy it fully. Taste every bite of that cupcake, notice the texture, the smell, truly be present when eating. Now, that feels better than stuffing it in a rush, doesn’t it?

4. Meet your emotional needs: Ask yourself often and gently, “What do I really need right now?” Sometimes, the answer isn’t food; it’s rest, connection, or comfort. Then go ahead and give yourself what you need.
And if it really is food, eat!
Naturally, this step (and all the others) needs some practice, please don’t expect yourself to know exactly what you need the first time around. But it’s important to ask and keep asking, sooner or later, a whisper will appear that lets you know exactly what to do.

Support Is Always Available To You

Dismantling food noise is a daunting task, I know. Not a single client of mine jumped into healing sure that they will succeed. All of them had their doubts, thinking quieting the food noise might be possible for others, but surely they would be an exception. (Spoiler alert: They weren’t. And you aren’t either.)
But they still jumped in, doubts and all. And it’s always so worth it!

It will be worth it for you too.

Rebuilding trust in your body, learning to truly listen and honor your needs is the greatest magic you can ever gift yourself, and I would love to support you on your healing journey.

If you’re ready to stop obsessing over food and finally feel at home in your body, book your free discovery call and let’s see how I can help you.