Episode 10 - Breaking Through The Food Noise: Silencing Diet Culture and Reconnecting to Hunger Wisdom
Ever wonder why you can’t stop thinking about food even when your stomach isn’t growling? Or even right after you’ve eaten?
In this eye-opening episode of Bariatric Mindset Success, Dr. Kristin Lloyd unpacks the phenomenon of food noise—those relentless food thoughts that hijack your mind.
Food noise isn’t a character flaw. It’s your body and brain sending notifications, shaped by biology, psychology, trauma, diet culture, and even neurodivergence like ADHD. Dr. Lloyd explains how:
* Sleep deprivation can push your body to crave 300–400 extra calories a day.
* Highly processed foods trick your brain into addictive cycles while leaving you malnourished.
* Low interoception (difficulty sensing your body’s internal cues) makes it hard to tell the difference between true hunger and head hunger—especially for those with ADHD, a history of trauma, chronic stress, or following bariatric surgery.
Dr. Lloyd goes deeper into how trauma and diet culture disrupt body trust. For trauma survivors, disconnecting from hunger cues often served as protection when the body didn’t feel safe. But in the long term, that same disconnection makes it harder to distinguish true physical hunger from emotional appetite. Add in diet culture’s constant message that hunger is something to fight or suppress, and you’ve got the perfect storm for shame, restriction, and rebound eating.
You’ll also discover how autopilot eating and dissociation are survival responses—not laziness or lack of willpower. Your nervous system is wired for protection, not happiness, and when it’s dysregulated it will grab for the fastest way to self-soothe. Understanding this helps you step out of judgment and into curiosity about what your food noise is really telling you.
The game-changing insight? Hunger is sacred. It’s a primal, physiological signal that deserves respect, not ridicule. When you can separate hunger from appetite, and when you can see emotional eating not as failure but as a coping mechanism that once worked for you, you open the door to true healing.
Throughout this conversation, Dr. Lloyd shares practical insights and tools to help you reconnect with your body: developing emotional literacy, increasing interoception (awareness of internal signals), and practicing nervous system regulation. She reminds listeners that breaking free from food noise isn’t about silencing your body—it’s about learning to listen differently.
🎧 Tune in now to Breaking Through the Food Noise: How to Tune Into Hunger Signals Beyond Diet Culture, and grab Dr. Lloyd’s free Food Noise Freedom course in the show notes to start your journey toward food peace.
Chapters
00:00:00 - Understanding Food Noise Beyond Hunger
00:02:51 - Understanding Food Noise and Sleep Connection
00:08:35 - Understanding Food Noise and Stress
00:11:17 - Understanding Hunger vs Appetite After Surgery
00:15:37 - Trauma, Dissociation and Autopilot Eating
00:19:04 - Breaking Free from Body Disconnection
00:21:49 - Understanding Hunger vs Appetite Signals
00:28:45 - Sugar Creates More Sugar Cravings
00:31:48 - Food Noise and Emotional Eating
00:34:55 - Tools for Healing and Self-Care
00:37:00 - Building Skills Beyond GLP-1 Medications
00:38:56 - Food Noise as Emotional Symptom
00:41:30 - Understanding Non-Biological Food Cravings
00:44:13 - Breaking Food Noise Patterns
00:47:33 - Understanding Food Noise Beyond Hunger
Key Takeaways
• Food noise is your body’s notification system, not a personal failureThose intrusive food thoughts aren’t proof you’re “weak.” They’re signals—set off by sleep loss, ADHD, trauma, stress, or even processed food chemistry—that your body and brain need something.
• Trauma survivors often lose body awareness as a survival strategyWhen your body once felt unsafe, disconnecting from hunger cues was protective. But that same disconnect now makes it hard to tell the difference between physical hunger and emotional “head hunger.”
• Autopilot eating is a nervous system response, not lazinessMindless eating is often your body’s way of coping with dysregulation or overwhelm. The fix isn’t more restriction—it’s learning to regulate your nervous system and build safer ways to cope.
• True hunger vs. appetite is a game-changerHunger is a sacred, primal physiological need. Appetite, on the other hand, can be driven by emotions, environment, or habit. Knowing the difference helps you respond to your body with compassion instead of control.
• Diet culture has trained us to mistrust our own hungerRestriction makes hunger signals louder, not weaker. What looks like “emotional eating” is often your body overriding deprivation. Healing requires unlearning diet rules, not doubling down on them.
• Neurodivergent brains face unique challenges with food noiseADHD and low interoception (trouble sensing body cues) make it harder to notice when you’re truly hungry or satisfied. This isn’t about willpower—it’s about wiring.
• Healing food noise starts with curiosity, not criticismWhen you notice food thoughts, ask: is this hunger, appetite, boredom, stress, or something deeper? That one shift can turn “shame spirals” into moments of self-connection.
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✨ Ready to quiet the chaos of food noise?Grab my FREE mini-course: Food Noise Freedom and start learning how to decode your body’s signals today.
If you haven’t already:👉 Subscribe here on Substack to get fresh tools, insights, and mindset shifts delivered straight to your inbox.👉 Join our free Facebook group, Bariatric Mindset Mavens, where thousands of bariatric patients are breaking free from diet culture and finding real support on the journey.
Your freedom starts with one click—don’t wait. See you on the INSIDE!!
Bariatric Mindset is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
