Friend of Julie: The Dog and the Broom

Do you remember the metaphor Julie uses about the dog and the broom? Last week I had an experience that helped me understand what Julie's analogy means, only my experience was with my cat Ginger instead of a dog. For those who don't remember the dog and the broom story, I'll refresh your memory.

The Kitty and the Broom. Photo by Theresa

The Dog and the Broom

A man has a dog and the dog does whatever the man commands him to do, because if the dog doesn’t obey the man he is beaten with a broom. The dog often cowers and this makes the man angrier, so he beats the dog with the broom even more. The dog doesn’t trust the man, but the dog is chained and he cannot escape.

One day the dog sees an opportunity to escape and he takes it and runs away. After running as far and as fast as he can, the dog is found by a kind and loving man who adopts him. There’s an instant bond of love and respect between the dog and this new guy. The guy takes the dog on long walks twice a day and this makes the dog willing to do anything for the guy.

One day the guy knocks over a plant in his living room and he grabs a broom from a closet to clean up the dirt. The dog sees the broom and, full of fear and shame, he immediately cowers.

The broom in this story represents the scale. Our bodies react to the scale in the same way the dog responds to the broom: our body becomes full of fear and shame and no longer trusts us.

The Kitty and the Broom

Last week, I had my kitty Ginger on my shoulder and I quickly stepped into the kitchen to grab my phone. I should have known better, as she gets skittish if I carry her near the basement door. My instinct to hold her even tighter only made things worse. After getting badly scratched, I finally put her down.

It was in that moment that I understood the broom and the dog story in a way I had not before. I always suspected Ginger had a trauma before I took her home from an animal rescue. I'll never know what happened, but her body has never forgotten it, because she gets skittish if she feels vulnerable.

Ginger's body won't forget her pain, just as the dog won't forget his. Our bodies will not forget the pain we've inflicted all those years by overeating.

A big part of our weight loss journey is teaching our bodies to trust us again and that we will no longer harm it. This is where Julie comes in. Julie negotiates with our bodies to trust us. Each time we go off program, our body stops trusting us. Every time we follow the program rules, even if they don't make logical sense to us, our bodies learn we can be trusted.

Why is it so important that our bodies trust us? If our bodies don't trust us, it feels fear and it holds onto our weight. Trust is essential. Here's an example of something I did a few days earlier, which broke the trust with my body...

I overate. This was something I hadn't done for a long time. Everything I ate was on program, but one of our agreements with Julie is to stop eating when we're full. I ate an entire pot of beef chili. I was full after the first bowl, but I kept eating until the pot was empty. I had forgotten what it felt like to overeat. It felt horrible and my stomach still hurt three hours later. Getting to sleep that night with a belly ache was difficult.

The next morning I wondered what caused me to overeat like that. I didn't have any vodka, so it wasn't because I drank too much. Did I overeat because of stress? Did I let myself get too hungry? I still don't know the reason, but what I do know is that I have some work to do to prove to my body I can be trusted again.

What kind of "work" do I have to do? Eat clean. Follow the rules. Exercise.

You know what to do if this happens to you: stay the course. Forgive yourself and move on.