12 Steps to Weightloss

Many of us have struggled with our self image. The constant bombardment of the media ensures that if you are not a skinny thin, size zero, you tend to feel just a little bit hesitant about your body type in public. The concept of self love and self acceptance takes a while to filter in and yes, it is totally worth it when you can finally say “I love and accept myself exactly as I am” and mean it from the bottom of your heart. Getting to the point where you can say this affirmation with ease and honesty does take a while.

The journey will ensure that you work through a number of obstacles, and I was interested in reading the 12 steps to weight loss that the Overeaters Anonymous follow in the United States of America. I doubt they have an Indian counterpart as yet, but the information was made interesting to me as each step was underlined by a spiritual principle. Rather than just focusing on reducing the food you eat and exercising more than you do, they advice you to get in touch with your true self. A fact that is reiterated in a book called, A Course in Weightloss by best selling author, Marianne Williamson.

Does being spiritual have anything to do with your weight gain or loss? I submit the material to you to see if you can make the connection. Here are the Principles in the Twelve Steps (as listed in Step Twelve of The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous)

Step One:  Honesty

Step Two:  Hope

Step Three:  Faith

Step Four:  Courage

Step Five:  Integrity

Step Six:  Willingness

Step Seven:  Humility

Step Eight:  Self-discipline

Step Nine:  Love for others

Step Ten:  Perseverance

Step Eleven:  Spiritual Awareness

Step Twelve:  Service

When we take each step one at a time, we begin to build a new self image of ourselves. One that is not based on the media and what it expects so called attractive women to be. Rather it is based on being true to your own self, your own needs, wants and desires. You choose to lose weight if you are overweight because you love yourself and want to be healthy, not because you are trying to fit in to a world of super thin women who are considered beautiful.

As you are honest with yourself about what you want, you develop the hope that you can achieve your desires. You begin to have faith and courage to follow through with your own convictions. Since you are doing this for yourself you do it with integrity and willingness. You know your limitations and face them with humility even as you enforce self discipline to overcome them. As your love for self increases, so does the scope of love for others. You are persistent as you are aware of your spiritual path as well as the material world that you reside in. And best of all, your service begins to make a difference to everyone near and dear to you, as you serve yourself first!