WEIGHT LOSS

Trigger tracker

A 7-day guide to spot your triggers and quiet the food noise.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking about food even when you’re not hungry, you’re not alone - and you’re not doing anything wrong. Food noise (constant intrusive mental chatter about food) is incredibly common.

Our latest survey of 2,000 people* found that:

84%

report experiencing food noise

43%

think about food constantly

30%

say those thoughts feel completely uncontrollable

Why track your triggers?

Once you start paying attention, you realise just how many things can turn the volume up - work stress, boredom, ads, social situations, and even the time of day.

But here’s the good news: once you notice your triggers, you can manage them. That’s exactly what this 7-day Trigger Tracker is designed to help you do.

Food noise rarely comes from hunger alone. Our data shows:

1. External cues are powerful

Half of people say environmental cues - like seeing an ad, passing a bakery, or spotting a biscuit tin - push them to eat. And 77% share that they find it hardest to refuse snacks in social situations.

That’s not a lack of willpower. Our brains are wired to respond to external cues - like visual, smell, and social cues. They activate our reward pathways linked to food, and - in a world full of these cues - the volume of our food noise can feel louder.

2. Emotions play a huge role

Numan’s survey revealed that emotional triggers played a big part in you looking to eat.

Boredom: 38%
Low mood: 28%
Stress: 27%
“I just want a treat”: 29%

These emotional nudges may feel subtle, but they can stack up fast.

3. Timing matters more than we think

Evenings were reported by 31% of people to be the hardest time to manage food thoughts and cravings. And 88% say they’re more tempted when they’re not physically hungry, showing how often cravings are driven by biology, mood, and routine, not a need for fuel.

Tracking helps you see your patterns clearly. Then you can build tiny, well-timed strategies that make the next choice easier.

The different types of triggers

Understanding your triggers makes the whole process easier. Here are the four types you’ll track:

Emotional triggers

These come from feelings or moods - not hunger.

Examples:

Boredom
Stress
Feeling low
Wanting comfort
Wanting a reward or “treat”

Environmental triggers

These come from what you see, smell, or have around you.

Examples:

Seeing snacks on the counter
Passing a bakery
Smelling food
Scrolling past a food video
Walking into a kitchen “just to look”

Social triggers

These come from people or situations.

Examples:

Someone offering you food
Everyone else eating
Feeling rude saying no
Celebrations
Work treats or group snacks

Physical triggers

These relate to your body.

Examples:

Hunger
Tiredness
Dehydration
Blood sugar dips
Habit cues (e.g. “I always eat at 9pm”)

How the Trigger Tracker works

For 7 days, you’ll log any noticeable urge, craving, or moment of food noise. Each entry takes 2–3 minutes.

Build awareness

Notice when and where food noise shows up

Notice patterns

Spot timing, cues, emotions, environments

Try one tiny “plan for tomorrow” each night

Small, specific tweaks

Learn which strategies actually work for you

Strategies to quiet the noise

Your daily log

For each craving or urge, answer just 5 key questions - it should take under 2 minutes:

When + where?

Time of day, home/work/outdoors/social

Example: Tue, afternoon, office

Trigger type

Emotional, environmental, social, physical

Example: Emotional (boredom) + Environmental (biscuits on desk)

Craving intensity

0–10 (0 = no urge, 10 = very strong urge)

Example: 7 (fairly strong urge)

Hunger level

0–10 (0 = not hungry, 10 = physically very hungry)

Example: 3 (lunch 2.5h ago)

Action + result

Note what you did in response to the urge, and how it turned out (ate/didn’t eat, felt better/same/worse)

Example: Drank tea + had apple instead - urge dropped to 3 - felt proud

Weekly review (15 minutes)

At the end of your 7 days, take some time to reflect on your logs. This isn’t about judging yourself - it’s about spotting patterns and planning smarter for the week ahead. The goal is insight, not perfection.

Identify your top triggers

Look through your entries and note the craving or urges that come up most often or felt strongest:

Emotional: boredom, stress, low mood, wanting a treat
Environmental: visible snacks, ads, fast food, kitchen grazing
Social: being offered food, everyone else eating, comments or expectations

Write down your top 3 in each category. This gives you a clear picture of what makes your food noise spike the most.

Notice the hardest times of day

Rank the times when cravings are strongest: morning, afternoon, evening, or late night. Are certain hours consistently tricky? This helps you plan your day to proactive manage for predictable challenges.

Spot patterns by location

Where are your cravings happening? Home, work, commute, social events, or scrolling online? Noticing the “where” can help you change your environment or routine to make healthier choices easier.

Review what worked

Look at your action + result entries. Which strategies helped reduce cravings or make you feel in control? Examples:

Drinking water or tea
Going for a short walk
Eating a pre-planned snack
Mindful breathing before deciding to eat

Review what didn’t work

Notice any strategies that didn’t help or situations where urges felt overwhelming despite your plan. These aren’t failures - they’re information. These are opportunities to tweak your approach next week.

Plan your next week

Set up simple “if-then” plans based on your biggest triggers:

If [emotional trigger], then [specific action]. Example: If I feel boredom cravings at 3 pm, I’ll take a 5-min walk instead of grabbing a snack.

Celebrate wins

Even small successes matter. Did you notice a craving before acting on it? Did a strategy reduce your food noise? Take a moment to acknowledge progress - you’re building habits that last.

The numan take

Tracking your food noise for just 7 days can reveal patterns you never noticed - and that information is powerful. It helps you to build small, practical strategies to make choices easier. Start today, see what triggers you, and take control of your urges one step at a time.

^{*This is general coaching advice and not medical advice.}

KNOWLEDGE

Learn more about food noise

numan news

5 minute read

Understanding food noise: Numan's new insights on how it affects us

Numan is uncovering what's really driving our cravings: food noise. Our recent survey, conducted with Attest, shows that almost nine out of ten people in the UK feel tempted to snack when they're not even hungry.

weight loss

4 minute read

The biology of food noise

You might be working, driving, or sitting in a meeting, but part of your brain is elsewhere, mentally rifling through the kitchen cupboards. This intrusive soundtrack of food thoughts, known these days as “food noise,” is more than just a passing craving. It’s a psychological and biological tug-of-war that scientists are only beginning to map.

weight loss

5 minute read

Why food noise gets louder at night

Almost a third of us are guilty of raiding the fridge at night, after we’ve had our dinner, according to our new nationwide survey of over 2,000 UK adults. It’s only natural to fancy a snack in the evening, even if you’re not hungry.