In Charge versus in Control
Being in control
I’ve always controlled my eating. In truth, I was never in control—food controlled me. Since high school, I’ve carefully monitored my food intake, and how much exercise I needed to maintain that weight. Ultimately, I failed and regained the few pounds I’d lost.
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s blog, my weight started to increase and control and exercise stopped working for me.I’d always felt closely monitoring everything I ate was my only option, but then I read Eat What You Love and Love What You Eat, by Dr. Michelle May.
Being in charge
In the very first chapter, Dr. May discusses the distinction between being in control and being in charge of your eating.
When I first read it, it resonated with me, but I wondered why. I mean control and charge are basically the same words, right? Curious, I looked up the synonyms for control and found—controller, power, regulator. For charge I found—duty, care, custody, responsibility. They are similar, but being in control felt more rigid to me than being in charge.
Listen to your body
And as I considered the difference between in control or in charge of my eating, it struck me that my body is one of a kind. There is no other body like mine—it’s special, unique. And if I’m in charge of it, responsible for it, shouldn’t I give it the very best care I can? And shouldn’t I start by listening to what it tells me, because besides being unique, it’s brilliant. It’s been specifically designed to know what it wants and needs.
And while I’m still learning how to be in charge, it’s becoming easier to ask myself, ‘Am I hungry?’, and trust that my body will tell me whether it is or isn’t.
What do you think? Is there a difference between being in control and being in charge of your eating?