Since each of us is at one and the same time a physical and spiritual being, everything in our lives, every problem we confront, has both a physical and spiritual aspect. Even those things that seem simply physical in nature, such as our bodies, are in truth also spiritual.  It makes sense then that if we go deeply into our relationship with our physical selves that we will soon find ourselves in the realm of spirit. At the root of everything lies our relationship with God[1]. We find Him wherever we look, even when we look into our most bodily selves as we struggle with weight

A spiritual approach to any pursuit—even one as seemingly mundane or material as weight loss—always brings us to a deeper truth. Some people who have an aversion to God or religion are drawn to this deeper truth, while others who profess to be spiritual are secretly avoiding the truth. We can be in denial or unaware of the existence of God or of truth, but that doesn’t diminish the existence of either.

The crucial thing to realize is that the realm of spirit is the realm of truth. Here we cannot pretend to be something we are not; we cannot be in denial of our choices and the fruits they bear. Being brutally honest with ourselves is standing naked before God. As long as we hide behind our proverbial clothes or avoid the scale, the truth-teller, we cannot have a close relationship with our Creator.

[1] In this piece the term God is used to denote the divine masculine/feminine omnipresent energy that touches us every moment of every day but the terminology doesn’t matter: I invite you to substitute any term that brings you comfort.

Applying the principles of seeking truth to God 

Going deep brings us closer to God because it allows us an opportunity to stand naked before Him—open, honest and free of our proverbial clothes (the coverings that come between us and the truth, the various ways we avoid exposing our real selves). This is head-to-toe intimacy with God: naked on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

Removing our proverbial clothes is the first step toward total spiritual nakedness. Through meditation we can invite God to bear witness. Here we can reveal the details of what happened (physical), how it felt (emotional), the story we told ourselves about the incident based on our past experience (mental), why we attracted the situation and exposure of that old wound for healing and growth (spiritual). Standing naked before God is inviting God to touch us, with wisdom, understanding, healing, joy... ultimately with His Love in all its many forms. It invites God to shed light where there was darkness, to offer healing where there were wounds, and to bring understanding where there was confusion. 

Applying the principles of denying truth to weight gain

If seeking truth brings me closer to God, then avoiding truth separates me from Him. That separation from God can manifest itself as weight gain. When we go through a period of eating poorly we typically avoid the truth-teller-scale. That is, we avoid standing naked—facing the fruit of our choices.

The guilt many people feel around weight gain is often really anger toward themselves—making them feel even worse about themselves. The guilty person can then either continue to avoid the scale (to avoid facing the truth) or use the increasing numbers as a punishment with which to shame themselves—both being acknowledgments of failure. Subsequently people will often gain even more weight and hence the downward spiral. Feeling bad created the weight in the first place, and feeling worse just adds more weight. The person is literally weighed down with guilt. If you just fight with the scale to control your weight you are likely to find yourself lost in shame, denial and further from the truth.

 In my own journey I attempted to come to grips with weight through control. I remember telling myself that I would eat better and weigh myself in a few days. I didn’t address why I was eating poorly in the first place—I didn’t stand naked before myself and God—I just controlled my choices better. There was no learning, no healing and no growth.  While common sense tells us that weight loss requires greater self-control, the spiritual truth is that if we are only in a contest with ourselves for control, we are not really standing naked before God. As long as we are completely focused on controlling ourselves, we are not ready to abandon ourselves to his Love.

We are ready to face the scale when we are ready to own our choices and the results of those choices, forgive ourselves, have compassion, and make changes in how we live and cope. If we just control the weight with exercise and diet, we are likely to find ourselves here again or in some other struggle at some point in the future because we haven’t learned what our weight gain was really about.

Applying the principles of seeking truth to weight loss

When weight is the issue brought in to me by a client, we use it as an opportunity to learn, heal and grow. Once the intention has been set to address the message brought forth by excess weight, the client is taught to identify and embrace the universe’s response to her request. Our prayers are always answered, but there is no shortcut to permanent transformation. True transformation is a journey requiring effort and discipline. It is fulfilling and rewarding on every level from physical to spiritual.

The universe’s response to a request for weight loss will likely present opportunities to confront living habits on the mental, emotional and spiritual levels. This will take us to unfinished business from our past that is impeding our adult journey. This is where we stand naked before ourselves and God—where we speak our most urgent truth to begin the journey that will lead deep within ourselves.

Physical truth: Sheila’s most urgent truth was that she was making poor eating choices. Emotional truth: Acknowledging this truth led her to her next truth: that she eats for comfort when she is stressed. Then it was necessary for her to face the things that triggered her stress, allow herself to experience the stressful emotions she was escaping and learn to process them. Mental truth: This brought her to memories of verbal abuse that had stripped her of her self-esteem. She had concluded that she was stupid and worthless and this belief had greatly impeded her journey. Spiritual truth: Once we lifted the veil of shame and pain the belief had created, she saw the low self-esteem of her perpetrators and that she had been their scapegoat. The wound was exposed. She had been blamed for the worthlessness of others and had carried it as her own. She also saw that she was abusing herself with food. She had designated her body as her scapegoat. Standing naked before herself and God she requested love, forgiveness and healing. She saw the truth and was able to forgive her perpetrators for how their pain had come through them and onto her. She was also able to forgive herself for the fruit of her own pain. This changed and liberated her. With every step she took toward truth God shed more light. She emerged more loved, and empowered with wisdom, understanding and compassion that she can thrive on. Avoiding the pain of worthlessness had come to consume Sheila and the truth had set her free. 

This is fulfillment at its best. When we let go of false beliefs about ourselves, space is opened in our hearts and minds for God to fill with love and truth. We no longer need extra sweets to make up for a lack of affection, fatty foods to cushion potential blows from abuse, or carbs to stifle our passion. We see our feelings as fuel for growth and healing and learn how to use them to experience God at work in our lives. Walking this path allows us to witness how our relationship with our world is divinely orchestrated based on our intentions rather than random and chaotic as we once thought. From here we can adopt new eating habits that nurture our new state of being.

Once the real issues are addressed, eating healthily is easy and fun because there is no longer a purpose to unhealthy eating choices. And if we do find ourselves in an unhealthy eating pattern or some other struggle in the future, we know that it is just a heads up from the universe, a signal that it is time to confront a truth that will bring us into even deeper intimacy with ourselves and God.

Conclusion

When we make choices based on fear or shame, we are likely to avoid God, the source of Truth and Light, just as we avoid the scale. We don’t want Him to see us; we flee from the truth as we avoid facing up to our own behavior, whether it’s late night snacking or secret stashes of junk food. We tell ourselves we’ll talk to God when we are in a better place, just as we postpone pursuing our desires (taking that vacation, buying that dress, going on that interview, seeking that relationship) until we lose a little weight. But avoiding the truth just prolongs our agony while it immobilizes us.

When one is on a path to control and avoid feelings, one is also on a path to avoid growth. Losing weight to avoid deeper issues will provide temporary success at best. Any problematic issue is a call to go deep. If you heed your call and follow it to that place of naked truth, you will meet God there. Whether you acknowledge His presence or not is your choice, but the view is insightful and humbling regardless.

Regularly standing naked before God shows our reverence. There really is no point to life if we have no relationship with God because this divine presence is everywhere. Be it religious or metaphysical, there is no fighting it, no controlling it, no deceiving it. We can evade it, but only to our own detriment. The truth can be tough to take, and facing it can take courage, effort and discipline—but the exquisiteness of the fruit keeps you coming back for more. So in the end, weight loss is not about self-denial but about a deep form of self-affirmation and self-expansion based on a loving relationship with God.

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