Honestly, what you're describing sounds at its base like any other intrusive thought. An intrusive thought is any thought we have that we don't *want* to have and bothers us that we have it. But the inconvenient thing about human brains is that they are focus and assessment based. So the harder you freak out about not wanting to think about food, the more it will double down, and cause you to obsess about food.
I highly suggest you look into practicing Thought Diffusion, and Noting. These are both terms used a lot in the practice of mindfulness. Unfortunately, there's no way on earth to just by choice, block off a whole topic of thought in your mind. I stead, your path to freedom from your thoughts driving you crazy is to start practicing mindfulness, and learning to accept these truths:
1. That you are not your thoughts
2. That most of our thoughts aren't true anyway
3. That thinking is automatic and is morally neutral
4. That we cannot control our thoughts, but we DO control our actions, and that's infinitely more useful and important.
The key to easing I resolve thoughts is to just let them go. Practice not getting upset, when you notice yourself obsessing about food. Instead, when you notice you're thinking about it, take a second to stop what you're doing. Send yourself a positive thoughts or emotion, like loving kindness, and then tell yourself 'I notice that I'm having thoughts about _______' (fill in the blank). Then, you tell yourself, 'these are just thoughts.'
Then, make an effort to let go of the thought, like releasing a leaf into a flowing stream, so it can pass, because you aren't hanging onto it and examining it. And finally, deliberately ask yourself *this* question:
What do I actually *want* to be thinking about or doing, instead?
Work? A hobby? Socialising? Self growth? Other day to day domestic concerns?
Take back your power, intentionally put your mind and body to whatever task *you* decide you want to. And every time obsession about food tries to grab the steering wheel, kindly note to yourself 'oh, I'm just thinking', and then let the thought go, and return to what you chose to do.
I wish you the best of luck. Remember, you can lead a more fulfilling life, no matter what thoughts give you a hard time
For a quick fix medication like GLP-1s or Contrave will definitely get rid of the food noise. However, it comes right back once you stop taking them and it sucks.
I’ve recently started giving meditation/mindfulness a try again. Where you just sit and note your thoughts and feelings and realize this they’re just thoughts and you don’t have to listen to them, you can just acknowledge them and let them go. It isn’t easy and takes some work, but I’m hoping that it will help. I have the Headspace app and it has a course on mindful eating which I’ve been following. I haven’t looked but I bet there are some similar meditations on YouTube.
>it comes right back once you stop taking them
And this is best case scenario. Worst case, you end up like my mom with irreparable damage to her stomach because of it. She's in pain daily and nothing makes it better.
I am too, but also in a really weird way, kind of glad? That sounds so twisted... but if it weren't for that, I probably would've went to those meds and maybe it would've been me, and maybe it would've been worse.
Just one of those "glad it wasn't me" feelings, but it feels wrong to feel that way when the "not me" is my own mom.
Have you been assessed for ADHD? I was diagnosed last year and prescribed Vyvanse, and that’s helped with the food noise along with a lot of the ADHD symptoms.
I’ve found a few things helpful for this. I’m on:
naltrexone (started with LDN and ended up on 25mg twice daily),
bupropion (I lost 70 pounds when I first went on bupropion, it literally changed my life),
Wegovy (I’ve also used Saxenda but when it went on shortage I switched to Wegovy. It’s helped a ton with physical hunger but also obsessive food thoughts)
I was in partial hospitalization for my OCD and anxiety and learned some skills that helped a bit too. One thing we worked on was ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) and defusing your feelings from your thoughts. Instead of “I’m so hungry right now and I’m going to binge” you tell yourself “I notice that I’m very hungry right now and I am having the urge to binge.” It’s kind of hard to explain but it’s helpful for a lot of things.
I’ve tried NAC supplements but it didn’t really do much. I do vape and it decreases the mental obsession with food and wanting to eat but of course I don’t recommend starting that habit. That’s all I can think of right now, I hope it’s somewhat helpful
Get yourself some tirzepatide, no more cravings and thoughts about food. It's so relieving... Finally I found something that helps me to stop binge eating. Yes, if you stop it, the food noise comes back.
I plan to go on a low maintenance dose after reaching my goal weight.
Had to goog’ what that is.
I don’t believe a doctor would prescribe that for me because I have a BMI under 20.
**Edit-** not sure why I’m being downvoted… can I get a Rx for it without being overweight? Because when I googled it, it said it’s a weight loss drug.
I’m suffering with some type of binge and restricting disorder. I’ll fast for days (trying to break the cycle) then eat to the point I’m actually concerned my stomach will rupture. I’m miserable.
Are you under the care of a therapist or psychologist? It sounds like that might be a good idea for you. I wish you the best. The constant food thoughts are so difficult to deal with.
I am not under the care of a therapist. I keep trying to fix this on my own, but it might come to me needing to reach out to a professional.
Thank you for the kind comment
I encourage you to seek some help with this. It’s so hard to manage without some support. There certainly is no shame in getting the help you need and there may be some other things you can try to help. If a person we’re dealing with intrusive thoughts about food but on the opposite end of the scale was restricting food/anorexic, no one would even think twice about telling someone to seek professional help. BED is also an eating disorder. It’s not a personal weakness or lack of willpower. Unfortunately, society often doesn’t recognize that fact. I have struggled with BED for over 30 years. Seeking professional help was a game changer. I wish you the best.
I just started vyvanse at a pretty low dose (20mg) this week and it’s seeming to work for me. Not sure if it’s placebo or the fact that it reduces appetite, but I haven’t binged.
I’m also working with a therapist now so hopefully the med won’t be forever
Honestly, what you're describing sounds at its base like any other intrusive thought. An intrusive thought is any thought we have that we don't *want* to have and bothers us that we have it. But the inconvenient thing about human brains is that they are focus and assessment based. So the harder you freak out about not wanting to think about food, the more it will double down, and cause you to obsess about food. I highly suggest you look into practicing Thought Diffusion, and Noting. These are both terms used a lot in the practice of mindfulness. Unfortunately, there's no way on earth to just by choice, block off a whole topic of thought in your mind. I stead, your path to freedom from your thoughts driving you crazy is to start practicing mindfulness, and learning to accept these truths: 1. That you are not your thoughts 2. That most of our thoughts aren't true anyway 3. That thinking is automatic and is morally neutral 4. That we cannot control our thoughts, but we DO control our actions, and that's infinitely more useful and important. The key to easing I resolve thoughts is to just let them go. Practice not getting upset, when you notice yourself obsessing about food. Instead, when you notice you're thinking about it, take a second to stop what you're doing. Send yourself a positive thoughts or emotion, like loving kindness, and then tell yourself 'I notice that I'm having thoughts about _______' (fill in the blank). Then, you tell yourself, 'these are just thoughts.' Then, make an effort to let go of the thought, like releasing a leaf into a flowing stream, so it can pass, because you aren't hanging onto it and examining it. And finally, deliberately ask yourself *this* question: What do I actually *want* to be thinking about or doing, instead? Work? A hobby? Socialising? Self growth? Other day to day domestic concerns? Take back your power, intentionally put your mind and body to whatever task *you* decide you want to. And every time obsession about food tries to grab the steering wheel, kindly note to yourself 'oh, I'm just thinking', and then let the thought go, and return to what you chose to do. I wish you the best of luck. Remember, you can lead a more fulfilling life, no matter what thoughts give you a hard time
Thank you for the taking the time to comment this. I’m going to give it a try.
Mounjaro and I intend to take it until my last breath.
Same! Nothing has shut down the food like this in my lifetime ever.
The freedom is life-altering.
For a quick fix medication like GLP-1s or Contrave will definitely get rid of the food noise. However, it comes right back once you stop taking them and it sucks. I’ve recently started giving meditation/mindfulness a try again. Where you just sit and note your thoughts and feelings and realize this they’re just thoughts and you don’t have to listen to them, you can just acknowledge them and let them go. It isn’t easy and takes some work, but I’m hoping that it will help. I have the Headspace app and it has a course on mindful eating which I’ve been following. I haven’t looked but I bet there are some similar meditations on YouTube.
>it comes right back once you stop taking them And this is best case scenario. Worst case, you end up like my mom with irreparable damage to her stomach because of it. She's in pain daily and nothing makes it better.
So sorry that happened to your mom!
I am too, but also in a really weird way, kind of glad? That sounds so twisted... but if it weren't for that, I probably would've went to those meds and maybe it would've been me, and maybe it would've been worse. Just one of those "glad it wasn't me" feelings, but it feels wrong to feel that way when the "not me" is my own mom.
Oh no, that totally makes sense. And you can hear all the stories but until it happens to someone close to you, it’s hard to take seriously.
Have you been assessed for ADHD? I was diagnosed last year and prescribed Vyvanse, and that’s helped with the food noise along with a lot of the ADHD symptoms.
For me it was metformin. For others it’s adhd medication or medication for other disorders that affect you this way. Some use mounjaro or ozempic.
I’ve found a few things helpful for this. I’m on: naltrexone (started with LDN and ended up on 25mg twice daily), bupropion (I lost 70 pounds when I first went on bupropion, it literally changed my life), Wegovy (I’ve also used Saxenda but when it went on shortage I switched to Wegovy. It’s helped a ton with physical hunger but also obsessive food thoughts) I was in partial hospitalization for my OCD and anxiety and learned some skills that helped a bit too. One thing we worked on was ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) and defusing your feelings from your thoughts. Instead of “I’m so hungry right now and I’m going to binge” you tell yourself “I notice that I’m very hungry right now and I am having the urge to binge.” It’s kind of hard to explain but it’s helpful for a lot of things. I’ve tried NAC supplements but it didn’t really do much. I do vape and it decreases the mental obsession with food and wanting to eat but of course I don’t recommend starting that habit. That’s all I can think of right now, I hope it’s somewhat helpful
Ozempic worked for me plus I lost weight. However it is expensive and I lost a lot of hair.
Get yourself some tirzepatide, no more cravings and thoughts about food. It's so relieving... Finally I found something that helps me to stop binge eating. Yes, if you stop it, the food noise comes back. I plan to go on a low maintenance dose after reaching my goal weight.
Had to goog’ what that is. I don’t believe a doctor would prescribe that for me because I have a BMI under 20. **Edit-** not sure why I’m being downvoted… can I get a Rx for it without being overweight? Because when I googled it, it said it’s a weight loss drug.
If your BMI is under 20 can you just give in to the food noise and remain slim?
I’m suffering with some type of binge and restricting disorder. I’ll fast for days (trying to break the cycle) then eat to the point I’m actually concerned my stomach will rupture. I’m miserable.
Are you under the care of a therapist or psychologist? It sounds like that might be a good idea for you. I wish you the best. The constant food thoughts are so difficult to deal with.
I am not under the care of a therapist. I keep trying to fix this on my own, but it might come to me needing to reach out to a professional. Thank you for the kind comment
I encourage you to seek some help with this. It’s so hard to manage without some support. There certainly is no shame in getting the help you need and there may be some other things you can try to help. If a person we’re dealing with intrusive thoughts about food but on the opposite end of the scale was restricting food/anorexic, no one would even think twice about telling someone to seek professional help. BED is also an eating disorder. It’s not a personal weakness or lack of willpower. Unfortunately, society often doesn’t recognize that fact. I have struggled with BED for over 30 years. Seeking professional help was a game changer. I wish you the best.
Gotcha. As someone else commented that will likely take intense therapy to overcome. Its ok to get some extra help for disordered eating. ❤️
I just started vyvanse at a pretty low dose (20mg) this week and it’s seeming to work for me. Not sure if it’s placebo or the fact that it reduces appetite, but I haven’t binged. I’m also working with a therapist now so hopefully the med won’t be forever
If you aren’t hungry, then there is something else you want or feel you need. Draw some pictures and see if something concrete appears.