Dialing In: Phone Addiction & Food Habits

If you feel like you can’t live without your phone or if you’ll emotionally eat, this one’s for you! Do you get the weekly summary on your phone that shows how much time you’ve spent across the week and cringe? This episode will explain why our phones have such a hold on us, and share the connection between phone addiction and food addiction, plus what we can do about it. 

Today, Jenn is talking about phone and food addictions and how they are actually quite similar. She kicks off the episode talking about how our phones are set up for addiction and what the factors are that lead to phone addiction. There are some fascinating reasons why you are not able to put your phone down! Jenn discusses the effect boredom has on both our phone and eating habits, and how innovation has impacted both. Lastly, she covers how to shift the dynamic with our phones with tangible tips you can take to reduce phone usage. Tune in for this informative episode that'll give you tips to reduce your phone addiction. Perhaps you can use this approach to your shifting your phone habits as a surrogate for adjusting your relationship with food

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

●   [7:24] How do our phones set us up for addiction?

●   [14:18] What are food and phone addiction similarities?

●   [17:01] How does our memory work and how can our phone usage affect our memories?

●   [18:16] How do phones impair our sleep?

●   [20:33] Jenn discusses the use-case and how food and phones help us avoid feeling unwanted feelings.

●   [24:06] How does boredom impact our habits with our phones?

●   [29:26] How has innovation impacted both food and electronics? 

●   [34:08] How can we shift our dynamics with our phones?

●   [41:22] How long does the wave/craving last if we don’t give in?

●   [42:47] Tips for reducing our phone addictions. 

●   [47:38] How can we redirect our time?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

●   Many times the reason why we cannot put our phones down or step away from them is because we are waiting for the dopamine hit. Each time the phone rings, pings, or sends a notification, we get a little hit of dopamine that makes us feel good or important. We never want to miss what could be coming through for us. 

●   Statistically, Americans check their phones about 47 times a day. Ages 18-24 average 82 times per day. That is more than 9 billion phone checks a day. Oftentimes we don’t know why we picked up our phone, or we end up scrolling on social media and forget why we originally picked it up. 

●   There are ways to create a positive relationship with our phones and technology. The first step is creating awareness of how much time we spend on them and why we are using them.  

QUOTES: 

“Both of them can make us feel bad about ourselves but keep us coming back for more. Interestingly, they change the structure and function of our brains, including our ability to form new memories, think deeply, focus, and absorb and remember what we read.” - Jenn Trepeck 

“Every interaction we have with the phone, from the colors it uses, to the alerts that it's giving us, to the ‘why did I pick up my phone, now I'm in a rabbit hole of Instagram, like I know I picked this up for a reason’. That is the overwhelm, it is almost instant decision fatigue. And so it disrupts our ability to pay attention.” - Jenn Trepeck 

“When we reach for the phone, what is it that we’re trying to do, and what is it that we’re trying not to do. Are we trying to do something or are we trying to avoid something? And we can start to take some notes on that or just notice what’s happening.” - Jenn Trepeck 

“To me, all the disease outcomes of the processed food and the food "innovation" is what we're starting to see from the phones, creating this mental health crisis.” - Jenn Trepeck

"It's not about abstinence, it's about consciousness and being deliberate in the choices." - Jenn Trepeck

RESOURCES:

How to Break Up with Your Phone

Become A Member of Salad with a Side of Fries

Jenn’s Free Menu Plan

A Salad With a Side of Fries

A Salad With A Side Of Fries Merch

A Salad With a Side of Fries Instagram