Joy: The Key To Weight Loss

Diets don’t work. They don’t work because being overweight is not the problem. Being overweight is a SYMPTOM of the problem. The real problem is lack of happiness, discontent with our lives, a lack of connection to our true selves; and in a nutshell, living a joyless life.

Here in the West, we treat symptoms. We have a drug or a diet for every symptom, but few cures for the cause of the symptoms. When we are willing to look deeper, to find what is causing these symptoms in ANY health issue, and then to treat the CAUSE, this is when true healing can take place. Without pulling up the root, the weeds, like symptoms, simply reappear over and over and over, weakening the life force of the plant. The extra weight on your body is a weed, not the root. And even when we use natural alternatives, unless they are intended to uproot the cause, there can be no cure.

Our obsession with weight loss in this country is an epidemic. We have weight loss pills, diets up the wazoo, new diet innovations from people; like the blood type diet, Atkins, Paleo, and the list goes on and on and on and on and on.

I’ve noticed lately, too, that talk shows seem to be turning into weight loss shows. Lose weight fast, is the common theme, and everyone with a few extra pounds is all over it. Let me try this one, let me try that one. For those of you who have tried any of these, have they worked for you? I’m willing to gamble 100% that they haven’t. You may have lost some weight while on them, but did it come back? Of course it did.

Health, of which your weight is a part, is about lifestyle, commitment, discipline, and SELF LOVE. This is where the lack of joy comes into play.

I was recently a guest on the Ricki Lake Show on the topic of body image and self-esteem. There was a woman on the show who had lost a lot of weight (about 150 pounds!), but found herself unable to stop feeling like a fat person. She said she was still identifying with being overweight.

We spoke a bit backstage and I asked her if she had dealt with the underlying cause of the weight, the root, which had been sexual abuse, and she said that she hadn’t. So while she managed to get the weight off (through bypass surgery), the root of the body weight, the sexual abuse, was still unhealed. The goal she thought would make her happy, didn’t.

So what are you carrying around as emotional weight that has literally become body weight? And how long have you been carrying it? Weeks, months, years, your whole life? Joy is our birthright. Look at children at play. They know joy. Listen to the sound of their laughter. It’s pure, unadulterated joy and elevates anyone around to hear it. Where in your life did your joy start to diminish? Can you find it now, or is it a distant memory? Is it a memory at all?

When you are willing to examine your life, all its pieces and parts, the people in it, your work life, home life, your sexuality, your relationship to your body, and to take off the rose-colored glasses, then you can begin to heal the joylessness that you inhabit, perhaps without awareness.

Perhaps these words are making you realize that you’ve had no relationship to joy for as long as you can remember, and maybe they will stir a longing in you to find out why. Where in your life did you become unplugged, literally?

So if you are struggling with your weight, be it pounds, or a heavy heart/mind, seek to restore the joy in your life. When you do, those pounds will come off, the heaviness in your heart/mind will lift and you will find the childlike laughter that is STILL within you. It is never lost.

If you’re asking, but HOW do I do this, Gina? Makes sense, but how? The answer is the road less traveled. The road that takes you directly into your healing, but probably more slowly than you want to go. Pills don’t work, whether natural or allopathic pharmaceuticals. They are bandaids on deep, gaping wounds that left uncared for, will fester and become infected. What have you been treating this way in your life? You already know the answer.

So back to the HOW. My dad used to say, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” And it’ true. Most people need help in this process, at least until they can find the courage and commitment to stay the course. This is a big part of the work I do, mostly with women, is to help you heal so you can lose the weight, both physically and symbolically.

Get support, in some form. Books tend to open the mind to ideas, but rarely give you the motivation to actually take the action required for the journey. You can start by making a list of all the things/activities that have made you feel joyful in your life. Go back as far as you can into your memories to make a thorough list.

Once you have the list, make a commitment to begin doing some of those things again. This will bring more joy back into your present, but the past still requires healing. For those of you who could find nothing to put on the list of things/activities that have brought you joy in your life, you are just more shut down from your heart and your joy, but I assure you, it’s there.

I love the work that I do and love helping people reconnect with their true selves, with the joy that is your birthright. If you’d like to work with me, it would be my honor to assist you.

Some people feel they can’t afford help, but how much have you already spent on the useless products or diets trying to mask the symptom of extra weight? I find that people who are really ready to surrender to this journey find me to work with them. I’m tough, but loving in my approach and my goal for women is to help you live a life of natural beauty, born from the inside out. When you accomplish this, your body finds its natural weight, because you are in true alignment with your own life, and because of this, your life becomes joyful.

If working with someone doesn’t feel right to you, then find a way. All you have to do is commit to a life of joy and all the tools you need will literally appear. But you have to TRULY commit. Do it. You are absolutely worth it.

Please free to CONTACT ME with questions, suggestions, comments. The link above (or on the sidebar) will get you to me.

Love who you are. You are truly magnificent. And remember that beauty is not skin deep. It’s soul deep and spirit fed. Live this way and joy will be your constant companion.

Love & blessings,

Gina