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Introduction |
Body Mass Index
Calculator |
Points to Ponder about Overeating |
Weight Reduction Assisted by Fasting |
Weight Reduction through Faith and Prayer |
Visualization and Prayer Technique |
Coping with Cravings |
Free Book
Introduction
Certainly, no one can argue that
eating is a sin. Eating is necessary for our survival. Yet consider the
following:
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Overeating defiles
your own body, the Temple of the Holy Spirit,
with medical problems such as back pain, high blood pressure, diabetes, and
heart disease. |
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When you eat anything
to make yourself “feel good,”
you reject and defile divine grace, the only source of goodness, and you
subordinate the desire for holiness to the desire
for self-satisfaction. |
• |
Overeating scandalizes
children with the impious example of self-indulgence and gluttony. |
• |
Overeating causes
you to carry around excess weight, thus wasting energy that could be used
for productive labor. |
• |
Overeating drains
the environment of needed resources. Food consumed in excess could be better
used to feed the starving poor. Oversized clothing that covers an obese body
could be better used to clothe the naked. Fuel wasted in transporting an
obese body could be better used to warm poor souls shivering in the
cold. |
And so, knowing all of this,
and yet stubbornly continuing to care more about the welfare of your stomach
than you care about the welfare of your soul, is a sin.
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For many, as
I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves
as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is
their stomach; their glory is their “shame.” Their minds are occupied
with earthly things. |
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—Philippians
3:18-19 |
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Body Mass Index
Calculator
Enter your weight and height
and click on the button to calculate your Body Mass Index: |
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• |
This index assumes
that excess mass is the result of body fat. If you have a muscular, athletic
body type with little fat, then you may not be at risk for the health dangers
of obesity. |
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Men at the low end
of Normal may actually be underweight. |
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Points to Ponder
about Overeating
The general facts about weight
gain or loss are governed by a simple law of physics: if you consume more
calories as food than you expend in exercise, you will gain weight and
if you expend more calories in exercise than you consume as food, you
will lose weight. There are three points to consider in this
regard:
| • |
Some persons have a metabolism
that tends to store food intake as body fat, and for such persons it can
be a trial—but not impossible—to maintain a normal body
weight. |
| • |
Some persons have medical problems
that make it difficult to exercise. In that case, only one option remains:
you must cut back on the amount of food you eat so as to compensate for your
lack of energy expenditure. |
| • |
Some obese persons will claim,
in all seriousness, that they do not eat very large meals. But, if their
eating habits are examined closely, it is often discovered that they
“nibble” or “snack” almost constantly throughout the
day. All of this points to the way that you can
unconsciously deceive even
yourself
about your true behavior. |
Psychological factors, therefore,
can play a role in excess weight, either as a primary cause, or as a secondary
cause underlying a medical condition.
| • |
Unconscious
anger, especially in those who tend toward
feeling victimized, can cause them either to resist
physical exercise and disciplined eating habits (saying that it’s all
“too much trouble” or “unfair”) or to use food as a form
of compensation for their emotional wounds. These
persons therefore derive a certain satisfaction from “throwing their
weight around” as compensation for their feelings of social and emotional
helplessness—and this attitude, at its psychological core, is the sin
of pride. |
| • |
Some persons, usually because
of the emotional emptiness of growing up in
dysfunctional families, have, as a psychological
defense, so deadened their emotional awareness
that they perceive all emotions as hunger. Anger, frustration, fear, sadness,
loneliness—it all feels like hunger. But, at its psychological depth,
it’s really a hunger for emotional acceptance, not for food. |
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Some persons, usually women who
have been sexually abused as children, use body fat unconsciously as a sort
of body armor to deflect the sexual desires of others. |
Weight Reduction
Assisted by Fasting
In the Christian tradition, fasting
does not necessarily mean to do without food entirely. Fasting can also mean
to do without things you do not really need. Now, when you cut out
of your life food that you do not really need, you will lose weight. And
then, once you have attained an ideal weight, you can fast moderately, yet
perpetually, in order to maintain an ideal weight.
Here are some suggestions to
consider in regard to a spiritually healthy way to lose excess weight and
maintain an ideal weight:
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Eat vegetarian foods as much
as possible, rather than meat. It’s entirely possible to consume all
the nutrients required for health with a gentle vegetarian diet (i.e., including
eggs and milk products). Some religious orders make a vegetarian diet—that
is, perpetual fasting—part of their rule. |
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Avoid fried foods, because they
add unnecessary (and unhealthy) grease to your diet. Greasy foods also tend
to make your mind sluggish, thus interfering with prayer. |
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Avoid “store bought”
baked goods. Bake as much as you can at home, using whole grain flours. And
use light olive oil for shortening, not the commonly used “partially
hydrogenated vegetable oil” stuff. |
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Coffee and tea are fine for breakfast
and dinner, but throughout the day avoid them, along with the culturally
standard soda pop and colas, and drink only pure water. Drinking about 8
oz (250 ml) of water per hour is not only healthy (it keeps you properly
hydrated) but it also helps to keep your stomach full, thus preventing you
from feeling hungry between meals. |
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Whenever you are about to eat
anything, whether it be a full meal or just a sip of water, take time
to give a proper blessing. Developing this habit will help you avoid
“automatic eating,” and it will encourage you to reflect on whether
you really need the food or not.
 BLESS us,
O Lord, and these thy gifts
which we are about to receive
from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord.
And, in support of a more austere
diet,
add the following to the above:
Thank you for such humble
and simple food;
may it fulfill all of our physical needs,
for without even your most lowly of gifts
we would perish.
Amen. |
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Weight Reduction
Through Faith and Prayer
You can live within normal and
healthy weight limits if only you love God more than you love your stomach.
Right now you use food to numb your emotional distress, and you fear that
without using food as a psychological defense your life will be nothing but
empty pain.
Therefore, to overcome the habit
of constantly reaching for something to fill your stomach, endeavor to teach
yourself to act in new ways. Recognize the urge to use food as a way to numb
emotional pain, and then return food to its proper place in your life: not
as a psychological defense but as a holy gift of nutrition. This takes
considerable conscious effort—still, it is all possible through graceful
trust in God’s help and protection.
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While you are making
all these changes, it can help greatly to use some sort of relaxation technique.
For more information about relaxation techniques, see my web pages called
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and
Autogenics Training on A Guide to Psychology and its
Practice. A free relaxation recording (true to the Catholic faith) from
the present website can help you experience relaxation as well.
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Moreover, the Catholic Church
offers a centuries-old form of relaxation and emotional support:
prayer.
Accordingly, I offer below two
ways to use relaxation and prayer to help you lose weight. The first way
should be practiced at least two times a day (morning and night). The second
way is a small card that you can print and carry with you; whenever you feel
the urge to use food as a psychological defense, pick up the card, not food,
and say the prayer.
Visualization
and Prayer Technique
In general, changing unwanted
behavior involves three basic steps:
1. |
You must know how ugly the behavior
is and how much damage it causes to yourself and to others. |
2. |
You must regret the damage caused
by the behavior. |
3. |
You must know the benefits of
new and different behavior. |
It will not be sufficient, however,
that you “know” these things intellectually; you must know them
by feeling them in the depths of your heart.
So here’s how to do
it.
First,
enter a state of relaxation. Here, you can simply sit (or kneel)
quietly and say some of your favorite prayers. This is important because
the next two steps (if done properly) will arouse considerable anxiety, and
you need to be able to reduce that anxiety again.
Second,
create a negative mood state in which you visualize the harmful and disgusting
effects of the unwanted behavior. For example, see your body swelled
with fat; feel your muscles and bones straining under heavy weight; notice
your shortness of breath; visualize the cholesterol coating your arteries
and heart. Then relax and say a Hail Mary.
Third,
contemplate how miserable and wretched your life will be if you do not change
your behavior. For example, see yourself wheezing for breath,
barely able to endure any physical exertion. Imagine your children suffering
from their own obesity because of your negative influence. Imagine yourself
in Purgatory where every unnecessary mouthful of food you have ever taken
will be purged from you as flaming vomit. Then relax and say a Hail
Mary.
Fourth,
create a positive mood state in which you visualize the beneficial effects
of new, healthy behavior, all the while your anxiety from the previous step
begins to dissolve. For example, see yourself as calm and confident
in your faith, relaxed and able to concentrate, free of frustration and tension,
a positive influence on others. Then relax and say a Hail
Mary.
Fifth,
reinforce your positive mood with prayers of supplication. Repeat
them several times. Create your own, or select from the following
examples.
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Give me the grace,
Lord, to not use food to fill my craving for love. In You, Lord, I am filled
with all the fullness of divinity; there is no greater love than this. |
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Give me the grace,
Lord, to not use body fat to ward off unwanted sexual attention. Let the
protection of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, and all the angels, Apostles,
saints, martyrs, and virgins through the ages help me guard and preserve
my chastity. |
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When I trust in You,
Lord, I do not need to soothe myself with food. Through Your grace, I am
no longer a slave to impulses and addiction. |
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Lord, when grounded
in prayer, I work calmly and confidently. Give me the grace to not let my
self-confidence be bothered by small mistakes. In You I can overcome all
obstacles with total confidence. |
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Give me the grace,
Lord, to respect my own body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and to present
myself to others with respect and dignity. |
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Give me the grace,
Lord, to remain calm, relaxed, and composed in any situation. |
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Lord, let Your calmness
and patience reflect through me to shine upon others as compassion and sensitive
understanding. |
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You, Lord, give me
an experience of peace and calm that cannot be threatened by anything outside
myself. I thank you, Lord; I refuse to be jealous or envious, and I wish
peace and good to all. |
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In You, Lord, there
are no
“good” days or
“bad” days; there is only
love. |
Sixth,
conclude with a simple closure to the
session. Say the following
prayers:
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The Hail, Holy Queen (Salve
Regina).
HAIL,
holy Queen,
Mother of Mercy;
hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry,
poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious Advocate,
thine eyes of mercy towards us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises
of Christ.
Amen. |
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The prayer to St. Michael the
Archangel.
SAINT
Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the wicked spirits,
who roam through the world, seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen. |
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The following invocation, thrice
repeated:
V. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
R. Have mercy upon us. |
Coping with
Cravings
Copy the following prayer card,
and whenever you feel a craving for unnecessary food, use the card to say
this prayer:
PRAYER FOR WEIGHT
LOSS
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O MARY, conceived without sin, pray for us
who have recourse to thee. Through the grace of your purity, may this unclean
habit cease. |
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FROM
habit and slavery, pray for my release.
Hail Mary . . . |
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FROM
anger, fear, and anxiety, pray for my release.
Hail Mary . . . |
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FOR
health and calm and peace, pray for me.
Hail Mary . . . |
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FOR
emotional sensitivity, pray for me.
Hail Mary . . . |
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TO
be filled with all the fullness of divinity,
pray for me.
Hail Mary . . . |
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Pray for us, O holy
Mother of God, that, by Christ redeemed, we choose to live in purity.
Amen. |
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