Weight Loss as a Joyous Spiritual Journey

By Kanta Bosniak

The Fullness Meter

Imagine that you have a semicircular gauge for hunger/satisfaction that is like the fuel gauge in your car. On the far right side is “Ravenously Hungry; I could chase something down and eat it!” on the far left side is “Roll me over; I can’t stand myself I’m so full!” In the middle at the top is “Comfortably Full.”

How to Use Your Meter

To release weight, you’re going to need to wait to eat until you’re actually hungry. And it’s OK to delay a little bit after that, maybe have a drink of water… and let your body burn stored resources. But when your meter gets down somewhere close to 7/8 empty, it’s a good idea to go ahead and eat something, because if you wait much longer you risk moving over a threshold to where a sense of urgency can be triggered, which can override your best intentions. At this point you are still present to yourself, mindful, relaxed and making a conscious decision to eat, because you know your body needs fuel, not because you’re on a rampage.

The next step is to eat very s-lo-w-l-y, in a state of awareness and appreciation…savoring each bit, chewing your food very thoroughly, taking time between each bit to fully enjoy your food, and breathing deeply. Notice how each bite is affecting your sense of fullness and notice how this is reflected in the meter.

It can be helpful to increase your relaxation, pleasure and satiety to take little sips of water with lemon, or tea throughout the meal, but not so much that it dilutes the digestive juices.

When you notice that you have arrived at the “physical hunger satisfied” point, that’s your signal to push your plate away. Breathe and rest a moment and notice that when you allow it, “physical hunger satisfied slides into “comfortably full.” Your brain is getting the “ahh/good/done!” message from your tummy. If you had waited till you were “comfortably full,” to stop eating, that feeling would have slid into “a little too full.”

You are replacing the habitual “a little too full” to “way too full” messages you used to send yourself with new messages. These new messages, when they are repeated, break the old pattern and replace it with a new, more resourceful one.

A great way to anchor this even more quickly and deeply is to install new a new and pleasurable post meal ritual…something to do with your hands that is self-loving and that affirms the “sweetness” of your life. You can even connect it to a different oral/tummy trigger that expands and enhances your satiety. By this I mean linger over a great cup of coffee, tea or herbal tea, while you journal, knit, crochet, sketch, work on a craft project, write a poem a letter or a “thank you” note or just look out the window and enjoy the view. Alpha state activities, all, which speeds up the 28 days it might normally take to change a habit.

When you get yourself relaxed and open, you create a high learning situation that speeds up change and makes it ever so much easier and more fun, and gets it anchored, so you can retain it as a permanent resource.