If You’re Still Thinking About Food All Day, Something’s Wrong

Let’s clear something up straight away.

Thinking about food a bit is normal.

Thinking about food constantly is not.

If what you eat is taking up more mental space than your job, your relationships, or what you’re doing this weekend, that isn’t “being healthy”. It’s a sign that something in your approach has gone wrong.

And no — it doesn’t mean you lack willpower, discipline, or motivation.

It means the system you’re using is broken.

Food Was Never Meant to Be a Full-Time Thought

For most of human history, food was practical.

You ate when food was available.

You ate what was around.

You ate enough — and then you got on with your life.

Now?

Food has become a project.

A spreadsheet.

A personality.

A moral test you sit three times a day.

Calories, protein targets, food rules, “good days”, “bad days”, resets, tracking apps, cheat meals, optimised breakfasts, forbidden snacks.

No wonder your brain won’t shut up about it.

Obsession Isn’t a Sign of Commitment — It’s a Side Effect of Restriction

Here’s the uncomfortable truth most diet culture won’t tell you:

The more you restrict, the more you think about food.

This isn’t psychological weakness. It’s biology.

When your body senses scarcity — whether that’s calories, carbohydrates, pleasure, or flexibility — it turns the volume up on food-related thoughts.

That’s why:

• The stricter the rules, the louder the cravings

• The more you “try to be good”, the more food occupies your mind

• The harder you grip control, the more chaotic it eventually feels

You don’t become calmer by tightening the system.

You become calmer by making food predictable and boring again.

“But Everyone Thinks About Food, Don’t They?”

Not like this.

People who have a genuinely settled relationship with food:

• Don’t mentally negotiate every meal

• Don’t replay what they ate yesterday

• Don’t plan “damage control” before they’ve even eaten

• Don’t need to start again on Monday

They eat, feel fine, and move on.

That mental quiet is the real marker of success — not how clean your diet looks from the outside.

Social Media Made This Worse (Obviously)

Scroll for five minutes and you’ll be told:

• This food heals your gut

• That food is toxic

• One diet fixes everything

• Another diet is “literally poison”

Every platform thrives on extremes. Calm doesn’t go viral.

So you end up stuck between:

• Wanting to be sensible

• Feeling like you’re missing some crucial secret

• Constantly wondering if you’re doing it “wrong”

When food advice is contradictory, your brain stays alert.

And an alert brain doesn’t relax around eating.

The Goal Isn’t Better Eating — It’s Less Thinking

This is where most people aim at the wrong target.

They try to:

• Optimise meals

• Improve food quality endlessly

• Track more precisely

• Learn more nutrition

But learning more doesn’t always lead to peace.

Sometimes the most progress you can make is stopping.

Stopping tweaks.

Stopping resets.

Stopping the search for the perfect way to eat.

Because the end goal isn’t brilliance.

It’s background noise.

What Calm Eating Actually Looks Like

Calm eating isn’t flashy.

It looks like:

• Repeating meals without boredom or guilt

• Eating foods you enjoy without turning them into rewards

• Not needing a plan to recover from a normal day

• Feeling steady even when life gets messy

It’s stable enough that you don’t need to keep checking it.

And that’s why it lasts.

Why “Good Enough” Is the Real Win

There’s a dangerous idea floating around that you should always be improving.

Better diet.

Better habits.

Better optimisation.

But food isn’t a skill you need to keep levelling up.

Once eating feels calm, predictable, and mentally quiet — you stop tinkering.

That’s not giving up.

That’s finishing.

“Good enough” isn’t settling.

It’s the only state you can live in long term without burning out.

If This Sounds Familiar, You’re Not Broken

If food still feels loud for you, it doesn’t mean:

• You’re weak

• You’re addicted

• You need more discipline

It means you’ve been given systems that create obsession and then blamed yourself for the result.

Anyone would struggle under constant rules, judgement, and contradiction.

What Scrummy Is Actually About

Scrummy isn’t about eating perfectly.

It’s about:

• Making food mentally quiet again

• Replacing chaos with rhythm

• Removing rules instead of adding them

• Building something that works even on a stressful Tuesday in winter

When eating stops feeling dramatic, everything else gets easier.

And when food fades into the background —you know you’re finally doing it right.

Final thought

If you’re still thinking about food all day, don’t try harder.

Try calmer.

That’s where things finally start to work.