Stop to ask- are you really hungry?
Today I found Pep raiding my pantry again, and I stopped him just before he opened a bag of chocolate chips.
“Are you really hungry right now, Pep?” I asked.
“STARVING!” he said.
“But we just had a protein-packed lunch, Pep. Stop for just a minute and think about why you are really reaching for those chocolate chips.”
“They are delicious,” he said.
“Indeed they are. Are you hungry though?”
“Not really. I just know they are really delicious and I can imagine them melting in my mouth.”
“Don’t you have something else you could be doing right now? Anything you can do to distract you from thoughts of those melty chips?” I asked.
Pep and I figured out that he was just bored and worried about not being at work at the North Pole. Although the melty chips would indeed bring Pep some comfort, we decided to hop on the spin bike instead. Pep agreed that the burning in his quads distracted him from thoughts of anything but his burning quads. After class he felt energized to Face Time with the North Pole to make sure all was well (which it was).