Food sometimes haunts our thoughts, to the point of distracting us from our tasks. We've barely finished our meal before we're already thinking about the next one. We imagine biting into a burger or digging our spoon into a delicious homemade tiramisu, even though the situation is anything but conducive to indulging. Thinking about food isn't just a pastime for "bon vivants" or a common trait of epicureans; sometimes it's an unhealthy obsession.<\/p>\n
We've barely put down our forks and licked our plates clean before we're already thinking about dinner. We're practically bursting with anticipation at the thought of devouring those melt-in-your-mouth lasagnas, and our mouths are watering just thinking about that pecan ice cream sitting in the fridge. Our inner voice isn't whispering horrors; it's filling our heads with mouthwatering images and speaking the language of fine food.<\/p>\n
Far from reminding us of our to-do list, it presents us with a tempting menu: fries fresh from the oven, a chocolate-filled muffin, a comforting, nostalgic dish reminiscent of grandma's cooking. No need to sniff the aromas of a donut shop or step inside a rotisserie to think about food. Our stomachs are full, but our heads are overflowing with culinary inspiration.<\/p>\n
If a bubble were to form above our skull, it would surely contain a slice of flan, some spaghetti bolognese, a slice of brioche adorned with chocolate, and a vanilla milkshake. Food inhabits us and obsesses us. When we mentally plan our upcoming meals, when we have recurring cravings for snacks, and when we fidget in front of a fragrant shop window without being hungry, it's not just "gluttony."<\/p>\n
This is a sign of an overwhelming "food noise" that drowns out everything else. In a 2023 article<\/a> published in the journal Nutrients, researchers defined this still poorly documented phenomenon as " rumination<\/a> and an obsessive preoccupation with food"<\/em> .<\/p>\n Constantly thinking about food isn't simply about anticipating the evening grocery run or succumbing to the allure of a cookie on a pastry shop counter. It's a relentless rumination on the next food item that will cross our lips, and this thought, fleeting for some, is more persistent for others. Food then ceases to fulfill a vital need; it becomes a mental poison. "Individuals exposed to a lot of 'food noise' can spend 80 to 90% of a day thinking about food,"<\/em> explains Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist with National Geographic<\/a> .<\/p>\n People who are consumed by these food-related thoughts generally share the characteristics of restricting their food intake, following drastic diets, and being overweight or obese<\/a> . However, generalizations are not appropriate; some people may experience these "food noises" at a low intensity, while others feel them at maximum volume.<\/p>\n Ultimately, when faced with "lack" or deprivation, the brain compensates and overrides the hunger signal. We then think about food even when we're digesting or already full. Food, regardless of its shape, size, or quantity, nibbles away at our mental space and holds us hostage, even during work, conversations with friends, and informal gatherings.<\/p>\n Good news: these thoughts, which gnaw at our minds, are not inevitable. The idea is not to "make them disappear," but to make them much less intrusive in our daily lives.<\/p>\n The brain doesn't work like a phone's "do not disturb" button. It needs training to relearn how to savor each bite and stop playing the tempting devil.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Food sometimes haunts our thoughts, to the point of distracting us from our tasks. We've barely finished our...","protected":false},"author":8340,"featured_media":441194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_msn":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-441188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition"],"image":{"medium":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Penser-a-la-nourriture-tout-le-temps-200x113.jpg",200,113,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Penser-a-la-nourriture-tout-le-temps-500x281.jpg",500,281,true]},"custom":{"td_video":"","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Penser-a-la-nourriture-tout-le-temps.jpg","author":{"name":"\u00c9milie Laurent","avatar":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-2f5d8c00d5d5c27f8ce4d9b3f9015467-96x96.png"},"categories":[{"term_id":6145,"name":"Nutrition","slug":"nutrition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6317,"taxonomy":"category","description":" The Nutrition section of The Body Optimist helps you make sense of food without diets or guilt: foods and trends decoded, hunger and fullness, your relationship with food and balanced eating day to day. Our articles are for all women, whatever their body type, with an approach built on the pleasure of eating<\/strong> and listening to yourself rather than on restriction.<\/p>\n Balanced eating means varying what you eat over several days, not following strict rules at every meal. A satisfying meal usually combines vegetables or fruit, a starch (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, legumes), a source of protein and a little fat. Eating at fairly regular times keeps you from arriving ravenous at the next meal. Sit down to eat, ideally away from screens, and take time to enjoy your food: fullness signals take a while to kick in. No food is off-limits: chocolate, fries and pastries all have a place in a varied diet. For general benchmarks, the health authorities in your country publish official dietary guidelines that don\u2019t require following any diet.<\/p>\n Our editorial team rejects diet culture: no weight-loss diets, no calorie counting, no \u201cforbidden\u201d foods and no promises of physical transformation. We believe health can\u2019t be read on a scale and that every body has its own needs. When we share a study or an expert\u2019s view, it\u2019s to inform your choices, not to tell you what to eat. Our articles provide general information and don\u2019t replace advice from a health professional: for any personal question, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian.<\/p>\n Intuitive eating is an approach developed by American dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It encourages you to reject the diet mentality, listen to your hunger and fullness cues and make peace with all foods. Its goal isn\u2019t weight loss but a calmer, more flexible relationship with food.<\/p>\n No food needs to be banned from a varied diet unless you have an allergy, an intolerance or a medical reason to avoid it. Very sugary, very fatty or highly processed foods can be enjoyed without guilt, just less often than everyday staples. Labeling foods as \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d can actually fuel frustration and bingeing.<\/p>\n Several signs should raise a flag: thinking about food constantly, feeling guilty after meals, cycling between restriction and binges, making yourself throw up or avoiding eating in front of others. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, can affect people of any weight. Talk to your doctor, who can refer you to appropriate care, or reach out to an eating disorder support organization in your country.<\/p>\n Keep exploring: put it into practice with our easy, delicious recipes<\/a>, find all our content in the Food<\/a> section and take care of yourself every day with the Well-being<\/a> section.<\/p>","parent":6143,"count":230,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":6145,"category_count":230,"category_description":" The Nutrition section of The Body Optimist helps you make sense of food without diets or guilt: foods and trends decoded, hunger and fullness, your relationship with food and balanced eating day to day. Our articles are for all women, whatever their body type, with an approach built on the pleasure of eating<\/strong> and listening to yourself rather than on restriction.<\/p>\n Balanced eating means varying what you eat over several days, not following strict rules at every meal. A satisfying meal usually combines vegetables or fruit, a starch (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, legumes), a source of protein and a little fat. Eating at fairly regular times keeps you from arriving ravenous at the next meal. Sit down to eat, ideally away from screens, and take time to enjoy your food: fullness signals take a while to kick in. No food is off-limits: chocolate, fries and pastries all have a place in a varied diet. For general benchmarks, the health authorities in your country publish official dietary guidelines that don\u2019t require following any diet.<\/p>\n Our editorial team rejects diet culture: no weight-loss diets, no calorie counting, no \u201cforbidden\u201d foods and no promises of physical transformation. We believe health can\u2019t be read on a scale and that every body has its own needs. When we share a study or an expert\u2019s view, it\u2019s to inform your choices, not to tell you what to eat. Our articles provide general information and don\u2019t replace advice from a health professional: for any personal question, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian.<\/p>\n Intuitive eating is an approach developed by American dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It encourages you to reject the diet mentality, listen to your hunger and fullness cues and make peace with all foods. Its goal isn\u2019t weight loss but a calmer, more flexible relationship with food.<\/p>\n No food needs to be banned from a varied diet unless you have an allergy, an intolerance or a medical reason to avoid it. Very sugary, very fatty or highly processed foods can be enjoyed without guilt, just less often than everyday staples. Labeling foods as \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d can actually fuel frustration and bingeing.<\/p>\n Several signs should raise a flag: thinking about food constantly, feeling guilty after meals, cycling between restriction and binges, making yourself throw up or avoiding eating in front of others. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, can affect people of any weight. Talk to your doctor, who can refer you to appropriate care, or reach out to an eating disorder support organization in your country.<\/p>\n Keep exploring: put it into practice with our easy, delicious recipes<\/a>, find all our content in the Food<\/a> section and take care of yourself every day with the Well-being<\/a> section.<\/p>","cat_name":"Nutrition","category_nicename":"nutrition","category_parent":6143}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442698,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441188\/revisions\/442698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Signs that indicate it's not just hunger<\/h2>\n
Techniques to stop being a victim of these thoughts<\/h2>\n
\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Nutrition section<\/h2>\n
\n
How do you eat a balanced diet without depriving yourself?<\/h2>\n
Our approach<\/h2>\n
Our articles to get you started<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What is intuitive eating?<\/h3>\n
Are there foods you should cut out completely?<\/h3>\n
How do you know if you have an eating disorder?<\/h3>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Nutrition section<\/h2>\n
\n
How do you eat a balanced diet without depriving yourself?<\/h2>\n
Our approach<\/h2>\n
Our articles to get you started<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What is intuitive eating?<\/h3>\n
Are there foods you should cut out completely?<\/h3>\n
How do you know if you have an eating disorder?<\/h3>\n