Evidence based 
Many of us have found ourselves in this situation. We set weight loss goals, join the gym, do our best to remain disciplined, and still find ourselves thinking about food all the time.
This is frustrating and tiring, to say the least. If you are constantly thinking about food, there might be various causes for this:
Also, read – How are eating disorders caused?
- You’re not eating enough food. This is not rocket science — if you eat way less than you need, your body will signal hunger cues and make you think about food until you feed yourself. Remember that your mind and body are working together to keep you alive. So if you are physiologically undernourished, your mind will keep thinking about food. However, if you are trying to lose weight, sometimes hunger might occur. But ensure that your weight loss process is not too strict or aggressive. Instead, try a gentler approach where you lose weight slowly and gradually so that you do not starve yourself.
- You’re trying to avoid difficult emotions or difficult situations in your life. Besides nurturing us, food also has a pleasurable aspect. We eat to feel good. We eat when sharing happy moments with our loved ones. Therefore, food is naturally linked to pleasure and feeling good. If you’re wondering why you’re always thinking about food, consider the idea that you might try to escape an uncomfortable situation in your life. Since eating feels great, you might try to seek comfort and relief by thinking about food more often than you’d like to.
- You might suffer from an eating disorder. Conditions like binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, or anorexia lead people to form an obsession with food and think about it all the time. In most eating disorders, the relationship with food is highly negative because people try to restrict it as much as they can. Therefore, if you suspect yourself suffering from an eating disorder, get treatment from a qualified professional to repair your relationship with food.
There are simple tips for how to stop always thinking about food. These include distracting your attention to something else, removing food from visible places (such as your working area), or ensuring that you eat enough throughout the day.
Asked by: Alice E.
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Teodora is a cognitive neuroscientist with a background in Psychology and Integrative Psychotherapy. She has experience working in clinical trials with Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients and adults with various mental health diagnoses. She has an integrative approach towards mental health and aims to help people recognize the importance of physical, emotional, and spiritual health to their overall mental wellness.
