Food noise - describe it to a newcomer

I always said it was like having a radio in my head stuck on the food station, no static knob. Down about 29 lbs now and I notice the quiet most in the evenings, which used to be my worst hours for snack planning. The OP nailed it with the next-meal-while-still-chewing thing, that was my whole life.

Mine was more like a nagging to-do list that never had "done" at the end -- the second dinner was cleared I was already negotiating with myself about what sounded good later. Down about 20 lbs and the biggest change for me has been realizing evenings exist without plotting snacks. It took a couple weeks before the silence felt normal instead of unsettling.