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Last updated on July 3rd, 2023 at 09:55 pm
Ever wondered how to stop thinking about food all the time?
You may feel like you’re obsessed with food if:
- You’re stressing about your next meal, even as you’re eating a meal
- 80% or more of your day is filled with thoughts of food or exercise
- You’re constantly worried about if you should or shouldn’t eat something
- There’s a long list of food rules that go into your food decision making
It probably feels like you’re the only person on the planet that can’t just eat normally!
This article will guide you into some of the reasons why you are thinking about food all the time and some strategies to stop food obsession.
Obsessing About Food
You know you’re obsessing about food if food is on your mind all the time!
When it comes to food, you might be obsessing about:
- When you will eat it
- What you will eat
- How the food will change your body
- How much exercise you’ll need to compensate for the food intake
- Your value as a person if you eat certain foods
Obsessing over food is a losing battle. The more we try to create rules about food, the harder it will be to get food off our minds!
You’ll likely be caught in a vicious binge-restrict cycle trying to create order out of the mental chaos you feel around food. You may be eating fast which can cause overeating and discomfort.
Obsessing about food comes from:
- Food restriction
- Thoughts about food restriction
- Faulty BMI expectations for health
- Feeling guilty after eating
- Food rules
- Fatphobia
- Diet culture Leads you to constantly feel fat
- Counting calories
- A list of fear foods
- Food shamers
- Fear of weight gain
Obsessing over food can also be a warning sign of an eating disorder. If you suspect you have an eating disorder, a qualified treatment team including an eating disorder dietitian will be critical in helping you mend your relationship with food and safely renourish.
Why Do I Constantly Think About Food
Have you ever heard of the white bear effect?
The relationship we have with food is the same. Essentially, the more we try not to think about food the more we will think of it.
You are constantly thinking about food because:
- You are attempting to control your biological need for food
- You hate your body or experience body dysmorphia
- You are binge eating
- You’re seeking out zero and low-calorie foods
- You’re trying to lose weight
- You stress about how your meal and snack schedule should look
- You’ve read the latest diet craze
- You are hiding, sneaking or hoarding food
To top it off, there are ACTUAL hormonal and physical changes that happen in the body when we try to control or restrict food that makes us think of it constantly!
These structural and physical changes include:
- Anatomical changes in the prefrontal cortex of our brain
- A heightened dopamine (feel-good neurotransmitter) response when food is present or thought about
- Changes in thyroid function that cause metabolic shifts
- A change in the enzymatic reactions that are associated with hunger
The unfortunate reality is, we won’t stop thinking about food until we honor our body’s biological and psychological need for it. This includes honoring all types of hunger through intuitive eating.
If you are not feeling hungry but want to eat, that’s okay! Resisting your cravings is what will lead to food obsession.
Intrusive Thoughts About Food
Some of the most common intrusive thoughts about food include:
- I’m not going to eat it because I don’t need it
- It’s not lunchtime yet so i’m not going to eat
- I can only have one cookie
- I had a cheat day, so I have to restrict my food tomorrow
- If I eat that, I have to exercise
These intrusive thoughts about food can win their way into every activity in our lives making them feel like a food obsession.
We cannot simply “stop” thinking about food because each food thought is tied to so many other behaviors in our life.
For example, if we were simply to try to say: I’m going to have a cookie, we would be open to addressing:
- The fact that your body might change if you eat a cookie
- If you have one cookie you might become out of control and not be able to stop having cookies
- It might contain ingredients society deems as “off limits”
- Other people might judge you for eating “bad food”
- Others might just you if you gain weight
- If you gain weight you might be less attractive by conventional standards of thin privilege
- If you are not thin society might view you as less valuable
- If you are less valuable and less disciplined, people might not love you
So you see, when it comes to all the implications of our thoughts about food, there is really no such thing as “it’s just a cookie.”
Each action leads to a series of thoughts surrounding the food choice that can make us feel paralyzed in food decision-making.
Why Can’t I Stop Obsessing Over Food
When it comes to biological functions of the body, most things are not a choice.
For example, you don’t typically say: “I really have to pee, but it’s not 12:30 yet which is a time I’ve designated for urinating so I’m just going to hold it.”
For that example, the more you try to stop thinking about how much you have to pee, the more likely it is you’re probably going to focus on how badly you have to use the bathroom!
The same thing goes for food. Food is a biological necessity.
You likely can’t stop obsessing over food because you’re trying to control:
- When your body needs food
- What type of food do you think your body should desire
- How much food do you think is acceptable to eat
Your body actually doesn’t care about your opinions on any of these things. It wants the food it wants when it wants it because that is how it literally stays alive!
You can’t stop obsessing over food because you’re trying to control your body’s biological drive to nourish itself with your own understanding of cultural expectations about food.
How To Stop Obsessing Over Food
In order to stop obsessing about food, you will need to let go of the desire to:
- Meet social expectations about food
- Change your body weight or size
- Eat meals and snacks on a regular basis
- Eat all types of food
- Get rid of off-limits foods
Tools that will help you stop thinking about food all of the time include:
- Having a variety of coping tools for stress, anxiety, and/or depression
- Celebrating non-scale victories
- Using urge surfing if you are experiencing a binge
- Exploring other people’s food journeys through eating disorder recovery books
- Journaling using body-positive journal prompts
- Keep a list of positive affirmations and quotes
- Stopping body checking
- Practice joyful movement instead of exercise to change your body
- Use a hunger scale to learn about your body’s] internal cues
If you want to share in my journey of how I stopped thinking about food all of the time and recovered from an eating disorder, check out my anorexia story.
You are not the only one that feels like they cannot stop thinking about food! This is commonplace in our diet and thin-obsessed culture.
© 2023 Peace and Nutrition
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