The Slow Kitchen Podcast

Episode 29 - "Why Do We Eat the Same Foods Every Day?"

• Cat Dillon • Season 1 • Episode 29

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0:00 | 17:30

📌 Episode: Why Do We Eat the Same Foods Every Day?

What we talked about (key points):

  • Repeating the same foods is often a signal, not a failure
  • Cravings can come from biology (sleep, protein, blood sugar, hormones, stress)
  • Highly processed foods are designed to increase craving and override fullness
  • Habits form through reward learning in the brain, not willpower
  • Food often regulates the nervous system (comfort, calm, pause, escape)
  • Decision fatigue leads to default “safe” familiar foods
  • Emotional eating loops: trigger → justification → eating → relief → guilt → repeat
  • Awareness (not restriction) is the first step to change
  • Slowing down eating changes both satisfaction and quantity naturally
  • Ask: “What is this food doing for me right now?”
  • Bigger need underneath food: comfort, rest, connection, relief, stimulation


🧠 Mentions


📚 Resources

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SPEAKER_00

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Slow Kitchen Podcast, your 15-minute space to slow it down, breathe, and reconnect with the nourishment that actually fits your real life. I'm Kat Dillon, registered holistic nutritionist, former chef, and lover of beautiful yet unfusty meals that make you feel supported, satisfied, and steady from the inside out. If you're a woman in midlife, juggling work, family, hormones, cravings, mood shifts, and a world that never slows down, this podcast is for you. Here we take the pressure out of cooking and bring the pleasure back in. I believe that food is more than fuel. It's connection, regulation, sensory, emotional, mental, and even spiritual nourishment. When we prepare food with intention, even just for a few minutes, everything shifts. Digestion improves, cravings ease, energy steadies, and your nervous system finally feels supported. In this podcast, I bring my kitchen to you through simple tips, health-building ingredients, tiny habits that save you from evening overwhelm, and practical, real-life ways to cook and eat more mindfully. Because how you eat is how you live. And when you slow down in the kitchen even just a little, it changes what is happening everywhere else. Let's take this journey together, one intentional, nourishing bite at a time. Before we dive in today, a quick favor: if you enjoy these conversations about food, health, and living well, please take a moment to follow the podcast wherever you're listening. It helps more people find the show and ensures that you never miss an episode. Okay, so let's get into today's topic. Let me ask you a question. Do you have a food that you eat day in and day out? One that seems to call your name at certain times every day. Maybe it's a handful of chips in the afternoon, a bowl of ice cream after dinner, a nightly glass of wine, maybe chocolate, cookies, crackers, or maybe it's something that has simply become a part of your routine. It may not even be your favorite food anymore. It's just what you do. For me, chocolate has been that food. Now, don't get me wrong, chocolate isn't inherently bad. In fact, there can be some wonderful things about it, but there was a time in my day where it didn't feel complete unless I had my chocolate fix. It wasn't really about hunger anymore, it felt like a need. And that got me curious. What was really going on here? Was I hungry? Was I tired? Was I stressed out? Avoiding something, or just maybe it was simply a habit? Or was that chocolate serving a deeper purpose? Today we're going to explain why we can get stuck eating the same foods over and over again. What these habits may be telling us and what we can do if they're beginning to impact our well-being. I'm going to share some of the most common reasons these patterns develop, and I'd love to hear which ones resonate most with you. So send me a message after this episode and let me know. Let's begin with the body because sometimes what feels like a craving isn't really a craving after all. It's information. Your body may be asking you for something it genuinely needs. You may not be eating enough calories. Maybe you're not getting enough protein. Maybe it's your blood sugar that could be fluctuating throughout the day, or maybe you're skipping meals and unknowingly setting yourself up for stronger cravings later. Sometimes the issue isn't even food. Poor sleep, iron deficiency, thyroid imbalance, hormonal changes, chronic stress, and other health challenges can all increase hunger, cravings, fatigue, and the desire for quick energy. Before assuming that your craving is purely emotional, it's worth asking whether you're adequately nourished and whether your body's basic needs are even being met. Another reason why we can get stuck eating the same foods is that some foods are specifically designed to keep us coming back. Many highly processed foods contain combinations of sugar, salt, fat, flavorings, and textures that are incredibly rewarding to the brain. And in some cases, they stimulate appetite while at the same time decreasing satiety. You eat them, yet you still want more. This isn't necessarily a willpower problem. It's often a predictable biological response to the foods that have been engineered specifically to be highly appealing. Of course, food isn't just fuel, it carries meaning. Sometimes food represents comfort and safety, pleasure or connection. And certain foods reconnect us with childhood memories or family traditions, celebrations, or periods of life when things felt simpler. Food can also help us avoid emotions we'd rather not feel, such as boredom, loneliness, sadness, frustration, anxiety, or overwhelm. In those moments, we're not always hungry for the food itself. Sometimes we're hungry for the feeling the food provides. I can remember for myself in my childhood what felt so comforting was eating a bowl of cream of wheat and cinnamon on top. That was very warming to me, and it reminded me of the care that my mother had brought in my early years. So I oftentimes in the morning crave something with cinnamon. I also see this happening a lot because of decision fatigue, especially among busy women in midlife. Think about how many decisions you make every day. You're managing work, family, appointments, responsibilities, finances, meals, and countless other tasks. By the end of the day, your brain is tired. Reaching for the same food requires almost no energy. It's familiar, predictable, and comforting. And when life feels chaotic, familiarity can feel incredibly soothing. Food can also become a way to regulate the nervous system. Crunchy foods can feel grounding, sweet foods can feel comforting, warm foods can create a sense of safety. And sometimes eating itself provides a pause from stress. Some people eat to calm themselves, others eat to focus, others eat because it provides a temporary escape from whatever they're experiencing. It's like a coping strategy. The issue isn't necessarily that it works, the issue is when it becomes the only strategy we have available. This brings us to dopamine, which is very misunderstood. Many people think of dopamine that it's the neurotransmitter of pleasure. However, addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Judd Brewer explains that dopamine is more accurately involved in reward learning. Dopamine helps us to remember what felt rewarding and how to get it again. When something creates a rewarding experience, the brain takes notes. It remembers where you were and what you were doing and what you were eating and how you felt. The next time you're looking for that reward, the brain suggests this same behavior. So if chocolate helped you feel comforted after a stressful day, your brain remembers. If chips helped you to escape boredom, your brain remembers. If ice cream helped you to unwind before bed, yeah, you got it, it remembers that too. And over time, these pathways become stronger and even more automatic. And the brain isn't necessarily chasing pleasure, it's chasing the expected reward. And that's why these habits can feel so powerful and why they often persist, even when we consciously want to change them so much. Before we go any further, I want to touch on something important. Having a food you eat every day doesn't automatically mean you have ADHD or are neurodivergent. However, repetitive food habits can sometimes be a strong indicator. Many neurodivergent individuals thrive on routine predictability and familiarity. Certain foods may feel safer, easier, and more regulating. There can also be a heightened sensitivity to texture, taste, smell, and sensory experience. This is not a diagnosis, but if you've noticed very rigid food preferences or strong attachments to specific foods, it may be worth exploring whether neurodivergence is part of the picture. Many repetitive eating habits follow a predictable cycle. An emotional trigger occurs, maybe it's stress, loneliness, boredom, frustration, or overwhelm. Then comes the rationalization. I deserve this, I've had a hard day, I need this, or I'll start over tomorrow, and then we eat. Does this sound familiar to you? Yeah, it does to me too. Often we feel temporarily, we leave, but shortly after we might experience guilt, disappointment, frustration, regret, or physical discomfort. And that emotional discomfort can then become the trigger for the next episode of eating, creating a loop that reinforces itself over time. The good news is that we don't have to fight the food. We just need to understand the cycle. If these habits are affecting your health, energy, mood, or quality of life, the first step is mindfulness. Not changing or fixing or restricting, just observing, being a scientist of your own experience. And here's something really, really critical to remember. Sometimes we're going to choose the food. Sometimes the food route is exactly the route we're going to take, and that is okay. Mindful eating is not about never eating the chocolate, the chips, the cookies, the ice cream, all of it. It's about being aware that you are making that choice. Instead of eating on autopilot, can you be fully present for the experience? Can you notice the smell before the first bite? The texture, the flavor, the way it feels in your mouth and the way it changes and the way your body responds. This takes patience, it takes practice, and it takes a willingness to stay present through every bite and every sensation. What many people discover is something very surprising. When they slow down enough to fully experience the food, one of two things often happens. Either they realize that they don't actually want as much as they thought they did, or their enjoyment increases so dramatically that a smaller amount feels completely satisfying. The goal isn't deprivation, the goal is awareness. And when we're truly present, we move from mindlessness and mindless consumption to conscious enjoyment. And that shift can completely change our relationship with food. The next time you reach for that food, pause and ask yourself what triggered the urge. What are you feeling? What are you needing right now? And what are you hoping this food will provide? Then pay attention to the results. How do you feel immediately after eating? How do you feel 15 minutes later? Well, how do you feel one to two hours later? This is where powerful insight begins. Many habits persist because we're paying attention to the anticipation of the reward rather than the actual outcome. If you'd like some help with this process, I've created a simple habit awareness tracker that walks you through identifying the trigger, the behavior, and the need you're trying to meet and the results afterwards. I've linked it in the show notes for you. Sometimes a simple act of writing things down helps us to see patterns that have been running in the background for years. What feels like a food problem often turns out to be a stress pattern, a loneliness pattern, exhaustion, or simply a habit that's been operating on autopilot. One of the most important things you can ask yourself is what need am I trying to meet? Maybe the need is comfort, maybe it's rest, connection, maybe it's pleasure or stimulation or even relief from overwhelm. When we identify the need, we create an opportunity to meet it in a different way. This is where Dr. Judd Brewer's concept of the bigger better offer often becomes so useful. If the habit is providing a reward, can we find something that provides an even better reward? Something that satisfies the need more completely? If the chocolate is providing comfort, maybe the bigger better offer is a meaningful conversation with a friend. If the chips provided stress relief, maybe it's a walk outside, stretching, or 10 minutes of quiet. If the nightly dessert provides pleasure, maybe it's creating more joy, creativity, play, or connection throughout your day. The goal isn't simply removing the habit, it's finding something that serves you even better. Other tools can help as well: mindful eating practices, somatic exercises, nervous system regulation tools, breath work, journaling, cognitive behavioral therapy, blood sugar stabilization, eating insufficient protein and calories, improving sleep quality, circadian rhythms, and creating more balance in your relationship and responsibilities can all play a role. Sometimes what appears to be a food issue is actually a signal that another area of life needs attention. As we wrap up today, I'd like to leave you with a simple question. The next time you find yourself reaching for that food you eat every single day, pause for a moment and ask yourself, okay, what is this food doing for me? What need is it meeting? And is there another way I might meet that need? Because food is rarely the problem. More often, the food is the messenger. And when we become curious about the message, we can begin to create meaningful and lasting change. Thank you so much for joining me on the Slow Kitchen Podcast. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message and tell me which of these reasons feel most true in your life right now. Until next time, remember how you eat is often how you live. Stay curious, slow down when you can, and nourish yourself well. Before you go, if you found this episode helpful, it would mean the world to me. If you'd share it with a friend, you might need to hear it. And if you're enjoying the Slow Kitchen podcast yourself, take a moment to rate and review the show. Not only does it help more people find these conversations, but it also reassures that the podcast algorithms that I am not just sitting alone here in my kitchen talking to myself about chocolate and nervous systems. Every review here helps more people discover a gentler, more nourishing approach to food and health. Thanks for being here. See you next time.