How To Use This Glossary

This glossary exists to make food, eating behaviour, and psychology easier to understand — without jargon or judgement.

Throughout the site, you’ll see certain terms linked automatically. Clicking a term will bring you back here, where you’ll find a clear, human explanation of what it actually means and why it matters in real life.

Some articles also include a short glossary section at the bottom, highlighting key terms used in that piece. This allows you to explore ideas at your own pace, without breaking the flow of reading.

This isn’t about memorising definitions. It’s about understanding patterns — and once you understand the pattern, change becomes easier.

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• Appetite Regulation
  Appetite regulation refers to how the body controls hunger, fullness, and satisfaction.
  Stress, poor sleep, ultra-processed food, and emotional load can disrupt these signals — making eating feel chaotic.
• Awareness (vs Control)
  Awareness means noticing patterns without judgement.
  Control means forcing behaviour without understanding.
  Lasting change starts with awareness, not stricter rules.
• Calorie Counting
  Calorie counting is the practice of tracking energy intake using numbers.
  While it can increase awareness short-term, calorie counting often backfires when:
  numbers replace understanding
  control replaces awareness
  tracking creates anxiety
  behaviour doesn’t actually change
  Data without interpretation doesn’t lead to insight.
• Comfort Food
  Comfort food is food used to soothe, signal safety, or mark emotional transitions (end of the day, relief, reward).
  Comfort eating usually has a function — even if the outcome isn’t helpful.
• Cravings
  Cravings are intense urges for specific foods.
  They can be driven by:
  blood sugar swings
  emotional depletion
  stress
  habit loops
  restriction
  Cravings aren’t random — they’re signals.
• Diet Culture
  Diet culture is the belief system that:
  moralises food (good vs bad)
  promotes restriction as discipline
  frames weight as a moral issue
  encourages constant self-control
  Diet culture increases food noise, guilt, and long-term frustration.
• Emotional Eating
  Emotional eating is eating in response to feelings rather than physical hunger.
  This can include eating due to stress, tiredness, boredom, relief, reward, or emotional depletion — not just sadness.
  Emotional eating isn’t a failure.
  It’s often a coping mechanism in an environment that demands too much.
• Eating Habits
  Eating habits are repeated patterns around what, when, how, and why someone eats.
  They are shaped by:
  emotional well-being
  routine
  environment
  stress levels
  beliefs about food
  Eating habits don’t exist in isolation.
• Emotional Overeating
  Emotional overeating happens when food consistently fills emotional gaps rather than nutritional ones.
  It usually appears when emotional needs (rest, safety, support, boundaries) aren’t being met — and food becomes the fastest available substitute.
• Food Jungle
  The food jungle describes the modern food environment — not the individual.
  It includes:
  constant access to ultra-processed food
  engineered combinations of sugar, fat, and salt
  distorted portion sizes
  chronic stress and fatigue
  the assumption of infinite willpower
  In the food jungle, overeating is a predictable outcome — not a personal flaw.
• Food Noise
  Food noise is the constant mental chatter about food — what to eat, when to eat, whether you should eat, and whether you’ve already “ruined” the day.
  It isn’t hunger.
  It’s mental load.
  Food noise often increases when people try to control food too tightly, track obsessively, or live under chronic stress.
  Food noise is the voice that says “just this once” every single day.
• Moderation (The Moderation Myth)
  Moderation is often presented as neutral advice: “just eat everything in moderation.”
  In reality, moderation fails when:
  food quality isn’t equal
  products are engineered for overconsumption
  emotional depletion is ignored
  Moderate health isn’t the goal.
  Understanding is.
  (Insight popularised by Eric Edmeades, founder of the WildFit programme.)
• Stress Eating
  Stress eating occurs when stress hormones (especially cortisol) affect appetite, cravings, and decision-making.
  Stress can:
  increase cravings for quick energy
  weaken impulse control
  disrupt hunger signals
  push eating later into the evening
  Stress eating is biological — not a lack of discipline.
• The Sherlock Mindset
  The Sherlock mindset is an investigative approach to health and behaviour:
  observe patterns
  question narratives
  follow evidence
  avoid emotional conclusions
  look at systems, not symptoms
  It replaces blame with curiosity.
  

Final Note on Glossary

This glossary isn’t about giving you rules.
It’s about giving you language.
When people can name what’s happening, they stop fighting themselves — and start understanding what to change.

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