GLP-1s, Food Noise, and What to Do With It All

If you are a woman, you are likely no stranger to the never ending train of thoughts throughout the day surrounding food. 

“How long can I make it without eating?”

“I have breakfast plans with my friend today but I don’t want to eat, what will she say?” 

“My stomach hurts when I eat…everything. That's just who I am.” 

“I ate too much at dinner, what will they think about me?”

“She ordered a salad, I have to get a salad now I guess?”

“I am going out of town this weekend so I have to eat really good this week.”

“I just want to drop these 10 pounds, then I will be happy.” 

The list keeps going, and know that you are not alone with the rat race of thoughts around body image, food, “trying to be healthy,” and navigating it all. 

But what If I told you that you could be set free from the never ending train of thoughts that most women have been experiencing since an early age? 

I had coffee with a friend this morning and we started discussing GLP-1s (as every woman in her late 20s does these days). She told me that a lot of women on GLP-1’s discuss the experience of “I no longer have the chatter anymore.” The removal of chatter is one reason why women love being on this medication. They no longer think about food all of the time and finally have headspace since they trust that this medication will make them less hungry and ultimately help them lose weight. 

I find this fascinating. I think that the topic of GLP-1’s is a spicy one and I won’t fully give my take on them today, but I do want to address the topic of food noise, why it is important, and how you can work to eliminate it without taking a GLP-1 medication. 

First, what is food noise? While there is no official definition of food noise, The Cleveland Clinic wrote an article on this topic and defined it as a feeling of continuous hunger and a preoccupation with food. We as a society think about food constantly. What to eat, what not to eat, the result of not eating or eating, you get the picture.

Why is this something to pay attention to? The Cleveland Clinic article states that the issue with food noise is that it makes it harder for people to maintain a healthy weight. 

While that is true, I want to propose a different issue: food noise distorts how we relate to food and others.

I asked a question on my social media feed a few weeks ago and asked what it was that people valued the most. Every single person who responded said either their family or relationships. It is widely known that humans were created for connection, but I wanted to see if that rang true in my own audience. It does. 

When we think about valuing family and relationships, we often connect over shared experiences, quality time, travel, but more specifically and cross culturally, shared meals. 

If we have this society plagued by food noise, self consciousness, and worry consuming our thoughts around meals and what we are eating, can we on some level expect that it would affect our relationships as well? 

As a woman who used to live with an extreme amount of food noise in her head, here is an example: I found myself sitting at a tapas place with my girls wanting the last bite of patatas bravas. I loved the garlic aioli and potato combo. I hadn’t quite got my fill. I would listen to my friend but no one was eating it. Should I eat it? What would that make me look like to the girls? Am I eating more than they are? How many calories would that be? They are so much skinnier than me…probably because they don’t need the last bite of patatas bravas. I ate it. I felt guilty after. I went home and felt shame for being the girl at the table eating the most. 

Next thing I know and I totally missed what my friend across from me was saying and making the entire evening about my internal narrative around food…all about me.  

Once I healed and established a healthy relationship to food, I made meals about connecting with the other person. I ended up nourishing my body better and savoring the food even more. 

You want to level up your relationships? Become a better friend? A better mom? A better partner? 

Create a beautiful space. Savor the food. Make it really freaking good. And then silence the noise and make the entire night about listening to the other person and valuing their presence in your life. 

How is this possible? 

I have two ways. 

The first is to learn how to heal your relationship to food and body. 

When neural pathways are formed they create a road of thought. The more you think about the thought, the harder it is to change it. It becomes the cruise control of our minds. Identifying food as “good” and “bad” is a cruise control thought created by the narrative of society. Stressing about what to order, how to eat, how to lose the weight becomes cruise control thoughts. The path to a healthy relationship to food and body starts with creating new roads. New neural pathways that train your mind to think differently. New thoughts lead to new results. You want to change the food chatter that never shuts up? Create new roads of silence. 

The second is a little more practical and that is to balance your blood sugar. Blood sugar is a sexy topic these days and for good reason, our health is so incredibly affected by it. Our brain function, cardiovascular health, energy levels, and hunger cues are impacted to name only a few. GLP-1s work to slow gastric emptying which keeps you fuller for longer, increase insulin sensitivity, and lower blood sugar.

 Here’s the thing though, for the average healthy woman, you can balance your blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity in just a few tweaks in your daily habits…and you keep the weight off or silence the chatter forever. You balance your blood sugar by balancing your plate. The marriage of protein, carb, and fat works wonders. By doing this, you remove the peaks and valleys in your blood sugar each day. How do you know if you are on the rollercoaster? You have the food noise telling you are hungry mid morning and at 3pm. The drop in blood sugar creates that desire for snacking. When you have balanced meals, you have a stable blood sugar and that keeps you fuller and more satisfied throughout the day. Another perk? You get more energy too. Balancing your blood sugar also leads to less high blood sugar levels in your body reducing chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. 

Why do it the hard way instead of taking the GLP-1? Well, what happens when you get off of the medication? You lose your ability to control the food noise, you are hungry again, and you aren’t as insulin sensitive. The weight will likely come back. 

The payoff of getting to the root cause? Peace of mind around food. Healthier relationships because you can hear their voices over your own. Sustained energy throughout the day. Hormones that are in range. Confidence in yourself. Probably some weight loss as well. 

Knowing why this matters to you is what creates sustainable change. I personally didn’t care about balancing my blood sugar until I realized the effect it had on my personal relationships. Being a better wife, friend, and more confident version of myself has quite literally changed my life and that is why I am passionate about sharing this with you! 

If all of this sounds overwhelming, I hear ya. This is exactly why I have made it my mission to empower women to heal their inner narrative around food as well as their hormonal health so that they can thrive and live a life aligned with their values-connection. If you are looking for someone to help you with any of these concerns, I would love to work with you to create sustainable change. Fill out the Contact Me form on my website to schedule a discovery call with me!