Food Noise Part 2

This week is part 2 of our 2 part episode on food noise. Last week we talked about the biology of food noise. This week were are talking about the other part of the equation. Sometimes food noise is coming from your environment, routines, emotions and the way you have been taught to think about food. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

Featured Mocktails: 

JB Wellness

Trip 

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

Baylee 0:00

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey.

Brianna 0:05

And this is Brianna.

Baylee 0:07

This week, I am drinking, it's from a local company, JB Wellness. I think I've done one of these before while on the podcast, but this is a cold press juice with orange, carrot, beet, and strawberry. So I put this... I just had lunch, so this is along with my lunch. It's a little earthy, it's not bad.

Brianna 0:24

It's a little earthy,

Baylee 0:26

beets and carrots in it,

Brianna 0:27

isn't it? Maybe a little roots in there. I'm just doing, like, a carbonated water. But I did have something last night, and I can't really do it before a podcast 'cause they're magnesium drinks. They're supposed to help you sleep. But they're called Trip. I don't know if you've seen them.

Baylee 0:41

Haven't

Brianna 0:42

They're, like, these magnesium drinks, and it was a cucumber melon, and it was... I've had a couple of them now, and they're delicious.

Baylee 0:48

Oh,

Brianna 0:49

I got it at Whole Foods. Not Whole Foods, Sprouts.

Baylee 0:52

another one. I'm gonna have to do it, maybe I'll do it next week or something. But Full now has, like, their prenatal as a Drink.

Brianna 1:00

Oh.

Baylee 1:01

So, and no, I'm not pregnant right now, but just to get that out of the way, 'cause every time you say prenatal, everyone's "Wait a second." No. But they sent me a sample, so I was gonna try it. But I was like, that would be so much easier 'cause their pills, you have to take eight of them.

Brianna 1:16

Yeah.

Baylee 1:17

It's a

Brianna 1:17

What a good idea to have it in, like, a drink.

Baylee 1:20

Yeah.

Brianna 1:21

Like, make it taste good. Get more fluid. Wow.

Baylee 1:26

So I need to look at it more to see how it compares to the pill form. Right now I can definitely try it for the taste.

Brianna 1:32

Yeah, 'cause eight is a lot. That's A lot.

Baylee 1:35

saw that come through, I was like, "That's

Brianna 1:37

Yeah.

Baylee 1:38

a

Brianna 1:38

Let

Baylee 1:38

idea."

Brianna 1:39

us know. That's a fantastic idea.

Baylee 1:41

This week, it's part two of food noise. I feel like just since we had done last week's episode, I just keep talking about food noise now, 'cause I'm like, really need to talk

Brianna 1:50

Yeah.

Baylee 1:52

so last time we kinda talked more about, like, the biology of it with our hunger hormones, our dopamine, our blood sugar, our sleep, stress, and why our brain is just designed to think about food. then yeah, it sometimes it becomes on the side of, okay, this is a little bit too much. So today, We're gonna talk about food noise isn't always just, like, coming from your stom- stomach. Sometimes it's coming from your environment, your routines, your emotions, the way you've learned about food. So not just simply that I'm hungry. It can sound like so many different things. Like, "I'll be good today. I already messed up. I'll start over on Monday. I can't have that. Should I eat this? I need to earn my dessert. I blew my diet. I need this many calories so I can eat this cookie. What's for dinner? What's for lunch? What should I eat tomorrow for lunch? Do we have dessert? What snacks do I have at home?" Like, "What should I eat later?" It's like, this is what food noise sounds like. So if you're like, "Ugh, that's literally my brain," that is the food noise. So we covered the physical side last time. Today, we're gonna cover more of the mental and environmental side of things because sometimes we are unknowingly like, turning up that volume ourselves with this food noise.

Brianna 3:04

Yes. And I think dieting, we're gonna start with that, accidentally creates more food noise. And, you know, you can think, "If I become stricter, more disciplined, I cut out more foods, I'll finally stop craving them. I'll have more, like, willpower. It'll just be, like, part of my habit." But it often creates the opposite, so foods become more forbidden, cookies are more exciting, pizza becomes more tempting, dessert suddenly seems powerful. You want it. Think about when someone says, like, you cannot... Like, you cannot think about a pink elephant, and, like, immed- immediately you think about it. Or, like, I use the terminology of the car. Like, you're gonna buy a red car, and then suddenly you realize, oh my gosh, there's so many red cars. It was always there before, you're just noticing it now because it's, like, right in front of you. So,

Baylee 3:49

and

Brianna 3:50

yeah.

Baylee 3:50

life.

Brianna 3:51

And it works, like, similarly with food. Like, the more we label things as, like, bad or off-limits, cheating, forbidden, the more mental power then they, they start to have, and you enter into the cycle of, "I'm being good. I slipped. I blew it. I'll restart Monday." And suddenly one cookie becomes, "Well, today's already ruined. Might as well have all of 'em." And then you go back into that cycle of like, "I suck. Why did I do that? I can't..." You know, it's this guilt, the guilt

Baylee 4:17

Yeah.

Brianna 4:18

overeating cycle.

Baylee 4:20

Yes, so the food guilt it creates a lot of noise.

Brianna 4:23

Yeah.

Baylee 4:23

it's very common to where it's like we eat something we really enjoy, most of the time it's like a dessert. We feel guilty, and then we're like, "Okay, we're never eating cookies again." then it's like a couple weeks later it's oh my gosh there's that chocolate chip cookie and we become just like that scarcity mindset And we're like Oh I need to enjoy this because I'm not gonna be able to eat them again for a while And we can accidentally overeat and then just feel guilty again The actual cookie or the ice cream isn't the problem It's the emotional story around it that becomes the problem and we get morally attached to food Like I was good today I was bad today I cheated But Like your food isn't your character flaw Eating ca this is what I tell people I'm like Eating a piece of cake doesn't make you bad You're not like just doing meth Like a salad

Brianna 5:12

Worst

Baylee 5:12

you

Brianna 5:13

things.

Baylee 5:14

good either

Brianna 5:15

yep.

Baylee 5:16

means you ate a cookie or you ate a salad and one of them might they're gonna make you feel differently So when eating becomes tied to that self-worth food starts taking up a lot of mental space so emotional eating is what I would say buzzwords are food noise and emotional eating People hear emotional eating and think like I just don't have self-control But humans we connect food with emotions from the very beginning I mean think about celebrations holidays any type of family gathering date nights comfort after a hard day Food has always carried this emotional Meeting not meani meeting meaning Food it has an emotional meaning to it And the issue isn't the emotional eating in and of itself The issue is when the food becomes that only coping strategy Because eventually stress boredom that loneliness that overwhelming feeling that exhaustion that anxiety they can all trigger that same response of I need something necessarily because you're hunger but because your brain just wants relief or like that dopamine hit we talked about last time

Brianna 6:22

Mm-hmm. And I think sometimes this is exacerbated by, like, the whole, like, food is fuel argument. Which like, yeah, like, it's literally how we run, okay? It's like putting gas in a car, like putting food in our bo- that's, that's where we get our energy. But like you were saying, like, food has always carried meaning, right? And we kind of talked about this last week. Like, it's okay for sometimes you to eat something and the sole purpose isn't fully for fueling your body because then people start to think, well, oh, I... Like, I can't tell you how many times people have been like, "My problem is I just like food. I just love the taste of food." I'm like, "Yeah, okay." Well,

Baylee 6:58

That's great

Brianna 7:00

don't, you know? There truly are people that, like, could care less. Like, if cardboard gave them what they needed, they would. Cool. That's not the majority of people. So I think that just kind of, like, exacerbates it 'cause then you're like, "But I do feel good. I do enjoy this," and then you feel, like, this shame, you know? But the other thing is your environment is constantly triggering you, and people, like, often think like, "Oh, I've just got this craving out of nowhere." No, probably not. Like, there's food cues everywhere. You wake up and you scroll on your phone. There's coffee videos, dessert videos, restaurant content, what I eat in a day. You know, there's commercials. Not really, I guess, that much anymore, you know? But I guess our social media, like commercials. And then, you know, coworkers bring in donuts, ads, snacks sit out on counters. People bring you gifts, like, especially, like, teachers and stuff. Like, people bring in, like, thank you gifts. It's, like, mostly food, or you get gift cards for places. So your brain starts to notice patterns and even if you aren't physically hungry, your environment is triggering you to c- like, want to eat. Why? 'Cause it's triggering you to, you wanna feel good. You wanna have all those things. So a lot of times, it's not that you're craving cookies because your body needs cookies, you're craving it because you've seen cookies 15 times today, and it's like, "Oh yeah, by the way, cookies taste good." So a lot of times it's being able to just notice like what is triggering to me. And like we said last week, like if the chips are really triggle- triggering for you, don't have them in your pantry right now. Like you have to do something to create this like beat, you know? If you're someone who's really, really struggling with this, don't go into the break room at work and eat when you know there's gonna be 50, 60 different donuts in there and you're already having a hard time. You know, just think...

Baylee 8:46

are a good thing to bring up too I catch myself all the time where it's like you wanna get something for someone and it's like a sweet or A lot of times it has something to do with sweets And so I've been really trying to be aware of what I'm gifting to people to take food out of the equation and sometimes it can be really triggering not triggering challenging Like even Giana's Easter basket like you think about Easter and it's all these little chocolate bunnies and everything I don't put any candy in his things like stockings Like I won't even put candy in Josh's

Brianna 9:17

Everything is

Baylee 9:18

gave him

Brianna 9:19

like...

Baylee 9:19

last year

Brianna 9:20

I love it.

Baylee 9:21

He's like Seriously I was like You're gonna get candy elsewhere You're fine And that's the thing where it's this is inherently but I know it's going to come from other areas So okay I'm

Brianna 9:32

with that, I think people really need to understand that sometimes when you're struggling with food noise, and you do emotionally eat, and you really have those issues, that like sometimes you just need to remove yourself a little bit from it. And like it's okay to not have a ton of Easter in the Easter basket, right? Or, 'cause I get this a lot, like, "Oh my God, my kids are gonna have Easter candy," or Valentine's candy, or Halloween candy, or, "My kids have it, they come home from school," that like... If it is like super stressful to you, you don't have to do that, And it's gonna be okay. Your kids are not gonna think you hate them.

Baylee 10:06

Yeah And spending money on this candy and even stuff like you can get Like Play-Doh for the same amount

Brianna 10:12

Yeah.

Baylee 10:13

Just different things like that I think it helps just to think Okay if my automatic was r response is to fill a cup with chocolates gonna give to this teacher like okay maybe put like a little ChapStick in there Like just do something a little different this is like a weird side way Like that has nothing to do with your food noise but just saying like how common it is to Gifting Just is involved in a lot of things even like social media being on social media affect like our food noise a little bit where it d it our attention but it also affects food thoughts because Constant novelty like trains the brain to seek stimulation Next video next post next

Brianna 10:52

Yep.

Baylee 10:54

become a part of that same cycle So you may notice like I wasn't hungry until I sat down and here I am scrolling TikTok Are eating because they're under-stimulated sometimes we're over-stimulated and sometimes it's just trying to fill mental space it's Okay we're scrolling and someone posted this cookie dough that's like high protein and we're gonna try it where it's okay even though it's high protein we're satisfied and good and we've met our goals we don't need to eat a little bit

Brianna 11:20

Yeah.

Baylee 11:22

might be overeating and then we become very out of tune there but that food noise can be rough I

Brianna 11:30

Yeah.

Baylee 11:32

they can definitely help with that food noise That's like one of the first things people talk about is that like just took away my food

Brianna 11:41

Yes.

Baylee 11:42

so GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy and Zepbound they mimic

Brianna 11:46

No. And

Baylee 11:47

the hormone GLP-1

Brianna 11:48

that's why most of the

Baylee 11:53

that like once they start these peptides food noise kind of starts to decline So cravings are decreasing appetite feels more stable There's less urgency around foods There's less binge eating So in other words like that GLP-1 peptide it quiets the noise by changing biological hunger and rewarding like signaling pathways So for someone who's battled like binge eating for years that quietness can almost feel like quite life-changing But while they do reduce like the biological intensity of food noise they're not addressing like these long-standing food rules we have for ourself or like relationship towards food or fear of certain foods or body shaming It's taking care of that biological point so if we don't understand Where like the environmental triggers or the psychological triggers are coming from that's when they're like Eh it didn't really help the food noise for me where it's okay that it wasn't necessarily a biological problem more outside our environment or things in our head that are affecting it Because simply starting a GLP-1 it is not going to fix your relationship eating

Brianna 13:05

recommendations now are if you're on it for weight loss, you'll be on it forever because you aren't addressing those things, you know? And yeah, it can quiet that food noise, but if- And we're gonna talk about practical ways to help that food noise. If you're not doing all those things already, well then, when you get off of it and you don't have that thing helping your physiological hunger, it's gonna come back with a vengeance, and then you're gonna be like, "Holy crap, this is what this feels like again. What do I do?" You know? So,

Baylee 13:35

And while these GLP-1s they're fantastic and they

Brianna 13:37

yeah.

Baylee 13:38

so many people and I am not against them I think sometimes it we give them too much credit

Brianna 13:45

Yes. 'Cause,

Baylee 13:45

think Okay

Brianna 13:46

yeah. Yes.

Baylee 13:48

If I just take this GLP-1 am not going to overeat at night I am like

Brianna 13:53

It's gonna fix everything.

Baylee 13:55

weight Like it's just gonna it's gonna be that magic p wand that everyone wants And sometimes on the outside it looks like that and I s hear this from people all the time They're like I'm literally just watching this person doing the same exact things and they're just like shedding weight

Brianna 14:11

Yes.

Baylee 14:12

yes that can happen If they did not change anything else yeah it probably is gonna come back once they get off of it

Brianna 14:20

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And...

Baylee 14:22

also people where Like I have someone she's on a the lowest dose and she's she works out four times a week We're working on reverse dieting She's meeting her calorie goals

Brianna 14:33

She's actually eating.

Baylee 14:35

yes Those pieces like yeah she started losing weight just adding the GLP-1 She didn't have a lot of l weight to lose like 10 more pounds And so there like people don't really say anything because number one they don't notice that she's on it then that's where she's creating these habits that are actually taking care of all areas of food noise not just relying on this GLP-1 for food noise And there's always gonna be some level of food thoughts in our brain

Brianna 15:06

Yeah, that's normal.

Baylee 15:07

of have to plan your day out

Brianna 15:09

Yeah, yeah. And that's, kind of brings us to, like, our, you know, practical ways to turn down the food noise, not eliminate it, 'cause like you said, there's always gonna be thoughts of food. That's normal. We just don't want it to be so loud where it's like, "This is all-consuming. This is all I'm thinking about." Okay, no. So number one, stop skipping meals. And this is a little bit what drives me crazy about the GLP-1, because I'm like, it's not helping your food noise. It just took away your appetite completely, and now you forgot about food. That's really what it is. But if you come off that GLP-1 and you have just not been eating, we are going to have to establish this again, and it's not that you suck or you can't lose weight without the GLP-1, it's that we just didn't have these things in place. So, don't skip meals. Many people are accidentally under-eating all day, and then at night-time they feel, like, chaotic, like, "I'm really snacky, I'm hungry." Yeah, it's, you're finally sitting down for the first time, you're de-stressing, it's the end of the day. You're not go, go, go, and you have under-eaten. Of course you're gonna feel insatiable. So- The other thing is, is your body gets used to eating at the certain times of day. So you will get really used to, like, eating for the first time at 3:00 PM, and then eating a ton of food, rinsing and repeating. Like, you're gonna feel horrible. And yes, you're gonna always think about food. If you're skipping meals, like, your brain and your body actually need energy. Its job is to tell you, "I'm hungry," when you're skipping. So no skipping meals. And then when you are having meals, build meals that actually satisfy you. So obviously protein, fiber, fat, carbs. PHFF, like protein, healthy fat, fiber, and carbs. Because these are gonna help to satiate you, give you what you need mentally and physically. You're gonna feel more satisfied. It's easier to kind of, you know, when you haven't been skipping meals, and you've had a balanced meal, and you're scrolling TikTok to be like, "Oh, that looks good. Maybe I'll try that another time. I'm actually fine right now." And you're not, like, all of a sudden obsessed about, like, the high-protein cookie dough that you must have right now because you've had meal. You know?

Baylee 17:20

Yeah And a lot of times like if you're not satisfied at meals it's because your carbs or your

Brianna 17:24

Yep. Yep. Yeah.

Baylee 17:27

So checking in on those areas to see am I getting enough Because yeah Brianna said a lot of times when you are truly hungry your body is telling you

Brianna 17:35

I

Baylee 17:35

for a reason Or if you're having those emotional cues like okay then it's time to identify what's actually going on identify the trigger Asking yourself Am I hungry or am I stressed Am I bored Am I tired Am I procrastinating Sometimes the answer actu the answer actually is hunger sometimes it isn't But being able to just like and see what is going on We're very bad about that is just like stopping We re we just react very quickly on emotions So being able to check in and be like Hey what's going on here And lot of times it's just like we just get a little overwhelmed and we're like Eh I don't know Eh a cookie Like just yeah So just some time pause think what you really need And if it's overwhelmed think about Okay what am I overwhelmed about How do I break this down to make my life seem a little bit more manageable tonight or for tomorrow So checking in with yourself there And then and stress biology and behavior always overlap If we are stressed and exhausted your brain is much more louder around food And then we also we don't metabolize carbs as well when we are sleep-deprived We're also gonna crave more carbs when we're stressed So then if we do eat more carbs than what we need okay now we're on a blood sugar rollercoaster and now we're just gonna crave even Cycle So having all these pieces in play working together is where you can find that magic there

Brianna 19:08

Yeah. Yeah. And tying this all together, and I think, you know, we are sold pain points on social media. Okay? You go on it and you're like, "Oh, my gosh, someone is telling me what my problem is. This is how to fix it." Yeah. And sometimes how to fix it is appropriate, and sometimes it's just, "You suck, you need this." And so I think tying this all together and realizing like, "Oh, you know, food noise isn't just about willpower, it's biology, plus my environment, plus habits, plus emotion." Like, it's complicated. Let me, like, figure out what's going on in all those areas, you know? Like, if you've spent years just having food take up your brain and wanting to lose weight, and all of a sudden understanding like, "Oh, my gosh," like, "of course I, I feel like that afternoon slump. I'm stressed out at work." Like, this is what I... I don't need, like, a sweet treat every day. Like, let me move some stuff around to actually, like, do something that makes me feel good during that time at work. Or, wow, I realize I do have willpower around donuts. I just need to not, like, intermittent fast until 2:00 in the afternoon. Wow. Like, look at how much easier that was to say no to a d- It's a lot of things. So it's not, you know, stop asking, like, "What's wrong with me?" And start acting like, "Ask me what's driving this. What... Is it me? Is it my habits? Is it my emotion? Is it my environment? Is it my diet? Is it all of those things?" Probably.

Baylee 20:33

Yeah

Brianna 20:33

Yeah.

Baylee 20:34

to figure out Okay how can I navigate this a little bit easier We c- stop just relying on that willpower to magically kick in.

Brianna 20:42

Yeah.

Baylee 20:43

let's actually figure out what's going on here before we're just like, "Eh," put a Band-Aid on it. Like, "Just put some willpower on it,

Brianna 20:49

You can do it. And the other thing,

Baylee 20:51

figure out what's going on, like, where's the bleed occurring?

Brianna 20:54

there are people that struggle with food noise much more than others, and, like, we've talked about how, like, there could be hormonal imbalances. Even if that is you, I don't want you being like, "Oh, I have this, so no matter what, I'm gonna have this." You have to do these foundational things to make it more easier to manage. It does not have to be as loud as it is.

Baylee 21:13

Yeah, no matter what, these are all pieces that are helpful. So none of them are gonna hurt. These are all things that everyone should be doing regardless of food noise

Brianna 21:22

Yeah.

Baylee 21:24

but overall, it is gonna help you focus a little bit better, have more energy, digest your food better by just following these practices too.

Brianna 21:32

Yeah.

Baylee 21:32

everyone. We hope this little two-part series was helpful, and we will be back next week with a brand-new episode.

Brianna 21:41

Bye.