How to stop thinking about food

For years, food ruled my thoughts.

I'd be in a meeting, nodding along, pretending to listen while silently planning what I was going to eat next, checking My FitnessPal app to see how many calories I had left for the day, or replaying what I’d eaten earlier and wondering if I’d “ruined” everything.

And the worst part? I wasn’t even hungry most of the time. It just wouldn’t stop.

If you’re nodding along right now, I know exactly how you feel. This is one of the most common things people tell me: “I’m just tired of thinking about food all the time.”

Let me tell you why that happens, and how to stop thinking about food.

1. You might not be eating enough

One of my clients once told me, “I don’t get it. I eat so ''healthy'' all day, but by the evening, I lose control.”

And when we unpacked it, it wasn’t “losing control”, nope... her body was simply asking for more!

She was eating light meals, avoiding carbs, and trying to stay “healthy”, but behind the scenes, her body was running on empty. That constant thinking? It was her brain shouting: feed me!!

Your body doesn’t know you’re trying to be “good” or "healthy". It just knows it needs fuel. If you’re not eating enough (or often enough), your thoughts will naturally fixate on food. That’s survival, not failure.

2. Food might be your main source of comfort

There was a time in my life when food felt like the only reliable thing. When I was overwhelmed, anxious, or lonely, food was there. Not to fill a hole in my stomach, but to soothe something deeper.

So I thought about it a lot. Looked forward to it. Needed it. If food is your main emotional coping mechanism, it makes sense that it takes up so much space in your mind. That doesn’t mean something’s wrong with you. It just means you might need different support, other self-care practices to soothe you.

What else could comfort you, even just a little bit? A walk, a cry, a journal, a voice note to someone you trust?

3. You might be stuck in the binge–restrict cycle

This one’s big. You wake up promising today will be different. You skip the bread, say no to snacks, and try to hold it together. But by evening, you’re knee-deep in the biscuits and already planning to “start fresh tomorrow.”

Sound familiar? That cycle—restrict, binge, shame, repeat—is a trap. It creates the food obsession. Because when your body senses restriction, it responds with cravings, urgency, fixation. Again: it’s not you. It’s biology.

The way out is to start by letting go of the food rules, eat regularly and say yes to foods you've been avoiding. You can’t heal food obsession with more control.

4. You’re trying to eat “perfectly”

I remember making lists of good and bad foods, the amount of calories and macros % for each of them, trying to follow them to the letter! It was sooo exhausting! And every time I “messed up,” I felt awful. I wasn’t just eating, I was failing.

What helped me was giving myself unconditional permission to eat and practice self-compassion. Saying: I don’t have to do this perfectly, or I just have to eat in a way that feels okay right now, always brought me back into my body, and out of the obsessive noise in my head.

So, how do you stop thinking about food all the time?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, unfortunately, but here’s what often helps:

• Eat enough, regularly

• Drop the guilt and the rules

• Give yourself permission to enjoy food again

• Start noticing what you really need, emotionally and physically

If this feels hard, that’s okay. It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to figure it all out alone.

This is what I do: help people untangle their relationship with food, rebuild trust in their body, and finally have some mental space back.

If you want support, I offer a free 30-minute session to talk through where you’re stuck and how I can help.

BOOK YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY

Thinking about food all day isn’t something you just have to “deal with.” There’s a reason it’s happening, and there’s a way to feel calmer, clearer, and more connected again.

And you deserve that peace.

How to stop thinking about food