Spiritual Lessons We Can Learn From Weight: Part 3

We live in a world where weight, body fat, and extra pounds are a pretty big deal. And yet, our strategies when it comes to weight loss aren’t working and are often causing us to do battle with our own body. The good news is, there’s a dimension that goes beyond what we can see and understand when it comes to weight and its loss. It’s the domain of the spiritual. Join Marc David, Founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, in this #IPEtv video where he shares about an important spiritual lesson we can discover from weight: Love. We think you’ll find this to be a fascinating and results oriented approach to weight.

Below is a transcript of this week’s video:

Greetings friends, this is Marc David, founder of the Institute for the psychology of eating

Today’s Topic: Spiritual Lessons We Can Learn from Weight

Have you noticed that we live in a world where weight, body fat, extra pounds, gaining it, and losing it are all a very big deal?

Our collective concern around weight is one of the biggest conundrums that impact the human heart and mind. The amount of pain and suffering that occurs around this topic is huge.

Clearly what we’re doing when it comes to sustainable weight loss doesn’t quite work.

It’s time that we all do our best to shed more light on this subject.

To think way outside the box so we can discover some smarter and more effective strategies.

This means looking to other dimensions to help find pieces of the weight loss weight gain puzzle that may be important.

In my 30+ years of research, clinical experience, inquiry, curiosity and deep care around this topic, I’m often led to this one particular and unexpected place:

Spirituality.

By the way, if you don’t like that word or if it doesn’t apply to you – don’t let it get in your way. If you’re an atheist, then substitute the term “character growth and development.” If you come from a faith and Bible-based approach, then substitute the term “how God is asking me to grow.”

And if you’re good to go with the term spirituality, here’s what I mean:

There’s a dimension that goes beyond what the eye can see. There’s a hidden architecture to the universe. There are unseen forces that move us and guide us that we tend to know very little about. And the great saints, sages, prophets, religious and spiritual leaders throughout history have all pretty much agreed that when we set our sights towards the realm of the spiritual or sacred – our vision opens up. New possibilities are born.

And when I say weight, by the way, I’m talking about the challenges we face in trying to lose it, in not weighing the number that we want, in dealing with the prejudices and judgments of others, and the challenges we face when it comes to our own harsh commentary about the body we’ve been given.

Here’s one of the bottom-line spiritual lessons we can learn from weight:

Love.

Who would have thought?

How can we possibly learn about love from something that most people tend to hate – excess body fat?

And that’s exactly the point.

A majority of people are taught to believe that extra weight is the enemy, and we must attack it, starve it, and beat it down with exercise. Once it’s finally gone, then we can finally stop the self hate and feel the self love.

But how in the known universe can we expect to take a road of self-hate and self-attack and expect it to end up at the destination called love? It’s impossible. The journey informs and defines the destination.

Having body fat is one of the most powerful excuses that people can use to not love themselves. The amount of self-directed hate that humans aim at themselves because the number on the scale isn’t to their liking is profound.

And it’s an awful way to live life.

The tremendous amount of energy we drain in body hate takes away from living the life we’re meant to live. It reduces us to a whining, complaining, ineffective way of living that keeps us stuck in a fog of pity and loathing. And we rob the world of all the gifts we could be giving.

Extra weight, for so many people, is here to teach us about love, plain and simple.

This is a spiritual teaching.

It’s about learning to love without conditions – unconditional love.

Would you say to your baby, “I’m not going to love you until you lose all your baby fat and have six pack abs”? Absurd sounding, isn’t it?

Well, that’s how we speak to ourselves.

Planet Earth is the ultimate classroom, and just about everything can be considered our teacher.

Food and weight are powerful teachers for so many people.

But we have to listen, and learn the lessons we’re being taught, in order to graduate and move on.

Weight challenges are asking us to access a higher love. It’s asking us to grow in ways that we often don’t like. It’s asking us to step beyond our petty judgments and find love for self – even though this is a place where love is often absent.

Can you see the higher lesson here? Can you embrace a whole new way of looking at your weight challenges?

Self love and self acceptance

Loving what is – is one of the most powerful acts a human being can do. It’s not about giving up. It’s about being victorious in love, and then using self love as a motivation to get where we want to go.

I hope this was helpful, my friends. Thanks so much for your time and interest.

Please email us at info@psychologyofeating.com if you have specific questions and we will be sure to get back to you.