“DROP 100 LBS WITHOUT DIETING: Arizona State researchers I.D. the mental habit that transforms body chemistry to melt fat super-fast!” So proclaims the cover of the latest issue of one of my favorite magazines, First For Women. I took a look at the article and found that the “mental habit” mentioned is prayer. The article refers the reader to a couple of web sites: First Place and Weigh Down. These are both organizations for weight loss based on Christian principles. While I am not specifically Christian, I figured it could be worthwhile to dig a little deeper and find out more about their approach. I checked with my local library system and found that they had a book by the founder of Weigh Down: The Weigh Down Diet by Gwen Shamblin. The beginning pages of the book speak of how we are born with two empty places in our bodies: our stomachs and our hearts. Problems arise when we try to satiate heart hunger with food. Love is for the heart, and food is for the stomach. And so begins that reading journey.
As I looked through resources relating to spirituality and weight loss, I was reminded of The Joy of Weight Loss on the Beliefnet site. When I looked for other items about weight loss on Beliefnet, I came across an article about mindful eating. How often do we grab something on the run and eat it unconsciously without really paying attention to what we are doing much less where the food came from or how it got to us? Another article on Beliefnet, Getting Fit for God, has some good ideas to work with as well.
I would like to glean good concepts from these readings about spiritual weight loss and put them together in a more generalized form. It isn’t to secularize them but to separate them from specific religious references. I like the idea of calling on Higher Power to assist with goals and will definitely incorporate that into what I do.