What's your check engine light?
Mar 27, 2022What do you do when the check engine light comes on the dashboard of your car?
Do you get mad at your car?
Do you wonder what your car did wrong?
Do you try to second guess the kind of gas you just put in its tank?
I’m guessing that you see it as a sign that your car needs attention, and then you give it some.
What if we started looking at overeating the same way?
What if overeating -- reaching for food when we’re not really hungry -- is just our check engine light?
A chance to pay attention.
Do we need rest?
Water?
A mental break?
On a personal note, I’m heading into my fourth month of helping care for my mother who’s recovering from an illness.
And I’m parenting and teaching and coaching and all. the. things.
Sure -- I’m asking for help and I’m being mindful of my own self-care.
But there are also times my brain just circles back to believing that food will solve the problem at hand.
Oh, a caregiver called in sick? Let’s have a donut.
Behind in the papers I need to grade? Surely, some nuts will help.
Spent most of the day stuck on a tech issue for a class I’m teaching remotely? A glass of wine will make it all better, right?
When we’re working on a better relationship with food and our bodies, our job is just to notice these messages from our brains.
We all have them.
And so many times I’ve judged myself after looking down and finding I’ve mowed through half the bag of chips.
But what if this reach for food -- this mindless munching -- is just our check engine light?
Just a nudge to pause and check in.
What if we thought of it as an invitation to ask ourselves gently, “What’s the matter, love?”
And to start giving ourselves the attention we really need.
Set up a free 45-minute consultation session with me so that we can see if we’re a good fit to work together.
