A Course In Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever [Hardcover]

Marianne Williamson (Author), Dean Ornish M.D. (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: November 2, 2010

What is the connection between spirituality and weight loss? Best-selling author Marianne Williamson is about to answer that question for you in her groundbreaking new book, bringing you 21 spiritual lessons to help you surrender your weight forever. These lessons form a holistic paradigm for weight loss, addressing the spiritual, emotional, and psychological elements involved in what Williamson refers to as “conscious weight loss.” If you are a food addict, a compulsive eater, or someone who for any reason sees food as the enemy, this book is for you.

A Course in Weight Loss addresses the true causal root of your weight-loss issues: a place within you where you have forgotten your divine perfection. This forgetfulness has confused not only your mind but also your body, making you reach for that which cannot sustain you . . . and reject that which does. As your mind reclaims its spiritual intelligence, your body will reclaim its natural intelligence as well.

The 21 lessons in this book will take you on a deep, sacred journey. One step at a time, you will learn to shift your relationship with yourself—and your body—from one of fear to one of love. And you will begin to integrate the various parts of yourself—mind, body, and spirit—to become, once again, and in all ways, the beautiful and peaceful person you were created to be.

As Williamson writes:

“If your ‘weighty thinking’ does not change, then even if you lose weight you’ll retain an overwhelming subconscious urge to gain it back. It’s less important how quickly you lose weight, and more important how holistically you lose weight; you want your mind, your emotions, and your body to all ‘lose weight.’

"Weight that disappears from your body but not from your soul is simply recycling outward for a while but is almost certain to return. It’s self-defeating, therefore, to struggle to drop excess weight unless you are also willing to drop the thought-forms that initially produced it and now hold it in place.

“When it comes to your enjoyment of eating, your best days are not behind you but ahead of you!” So get ready to begin a new relationship with food . . . and with yourself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

American lifestyle guru Daily Express --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed lecturer and the best-selling author of A Return to Love, Healing the Soul of America, A Woman’s Worth, Illuminata, Everyday Grace, The Gift of Change, and The Age of Miracles, among other works. Williamson has done extensive charitable organizing throughout the country in service to people with life-challenging illnesses (she founded Project Angel Food in Los Angeles). She also founded the grassroots campaign to establish a U.S. Department of Peace.

To learn more about Williamson’s work, and to join her e-mail list for notices regarding her lectures and events, visit her website.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; First Edition edition (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401921523
• ISBN-13: 978-1401921521
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Self-Help > Spiritual
  • #91 in Books > Self-Help > Self-Esteem

More About the Author

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual author and lecturer. Six of her ten published books have been New York Times Best Sellers. Four of these have been #1 New York Times Best Sellers. A paragraph from A Return to Love, beginning "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure..." - is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers.

Marianne's other books include The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America, A Course in Weight Loss, and The Gift of Change. Her newest book, THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION: On Work, Money and Miracles, was published in November 2012 by Harper Collins. For more information on Marianne, please visit www.marianne.com

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#36 in Books > Self-Help

#77 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

#36 in Books > Self-Help

#77 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

541 of 556 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Insight into Real Problems - Not for Everyone November 15, 2010

By Bill Cashell VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you are already a fan of Marianne Williamson, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are not familiar with her, it may help to know her background before considering this book. She has spent many years studying and teaching the concepts of "A Course in Miracles" which is a spiritual book. She noticed that while embracing these concepts, her emotional need to use food to suppress her negative feelings disappeared. The idea of writing this book came from a conversation with Oprah Winfrey, one of the world's best known dieters.

As you might suspect, this book is not about food, it is about spirituality. It is about finding a power greater than you for help. As Marianne told Oprah, "If you could do it by yourself, you would have done it by now". Good point!

Many people will relate to the thoughts in this book. Childhood wounds create addictive behavior to treat the wounds. When you overeat for comfort, you are not doing it to give yourself love - you are doing it because you dislike something about yourself. When you eat one cookie, it is okay. When you eat the whole bag, it is an act of self-hate.

The premise is that the cause of excessive weight is not in your body, it is in your mind. More specifically, it is fear which blocks feelings of love. The purpose of this course is to find the fear and replace it with love.

There are several exercises and assignments to help you put names on the feelings, such as pain, shame, loathing and whatever you are personally feeling. There are prayers and mental exercises, as well as a journaling section. This is not a book to read passively and expect your life to change. If you really do these things to find and change your feelings, it will probably work for you. This is also a book that is meant to be reviewed several times to reinforce your feelings.

If you tend to be more of a passive reader who wants to read a book and go on to the next one, you might want to consider the audio version of this book and listen to it several times. Marianne is an excellent speaker and really connects with the listener. She is very passionate.

If you are turned off by spirituality and references to God, you may be tempted to skip this book. The ideas and principles are really about your subconscious feelings and how they drive your eating. You are feeding your feelings and not your body. They can apply to anyone no matter what your spiritual beliefs are.

This is not a book to be used alone, because it does not address food. Eating is not rocket science. There is not a heavy person in the world that doesn't know that broccoli is good for you and donuts are bad. However, in today's world it is important to understand more about how certain foods affect your body. Dr. Dean Ornish writes the forward to this book and discusses addictive behavior and diet failure. He and others like him are a good source of information on nutrition.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who has struggled with their eating. An obsession with food is like any obsessive relationship. It is about getting and not giving. What is missing from your life? What are you trying to get from food?

Bill Cashell - Author of "The Emotional Diet"

119 of 120 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Emotional Eaters and Spiritual People - Not for Everyone November 20, 2010

By Bill Cashell VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

If you are already a fan of Marianne Williamson, you will probably enjoy this program. If you are not familiar with her, it may help to know her background before considering this audio book. She has spent many years studying and teaching the concepts of "A Course in Miracles" which is a spiritual book. She noticed that while embracing these concepts, her emotional need to use food to suppress her negative feelings disappeared. The idea of writing this book came from a conversation with Oprah Winfrey, one of the world's best known dieters.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book more than the written book. Marianne is an excellent speaker and really connects with the listener. She is very passionate. I would rate it 4 1/2 stars for emotional-driven eating. It will probably not be the answer for someone who just has a sweet tooth.

As you might suspect, this book is not about food, it is about spirituality. It is about finding a power greater than you for help. As Marianne told Oprah, "If you could do it by yourself, you would have done it by now". Good point!

Many people will relate to the thoughts in this book. Childhood wounds create addictive behavior to treat the wounds. When you overeat for comfort, you are not doing it to give yourself love - you are doing it because you dislike something about yourself. When you eat one cookie, it is okay. When you eat the whole bag, it is an act of self-hate.

The premise is that the cause of excessive weight is not in your body, it is in your mind. More specifically, it is fear which blocks feelings of love. The purpose of this course is to find the fear and replace it with love.

There are several exercises and assignments to help you put names on the feelings, such as pain, shame, loathing and whatever you are personally feeling. There are prayers and mental exercises, as well as a journaling section. This is not a program to listen to passively and expect your life to change. If you really do these things to find and change your feelings, it will probably work for you. This is also a program that is meant to be reviewed several times to reinforce your feelings.

If you are turned off by spirituality and references to God, you may be tempted to skip this book. The ideas and principles are really about your subconscious feelings and how they drive your eating. You are feeding your feelings and not your body. They can apply to anyone no matter what your spiritual beliefs are.

This is not a program to be used alone, because it does not address food. Eating is not rocket science. There is not a heavy person in the world that doesn't know that broccoli is good for you and donuts are bad. However, in today's world it is important to understand more about how certain foods affect your body. Dr. Dean Ornish writes the forward to this book and discusses addictive behavior and diet failure. He and others like him are a good source of information on nutrition.

This program is written more for women, but many men are emotional eaters as well. I highly recommend this program to everyone who has struggled with their eating. An obsession with food is like any obsessive relationship. It is about getting and not giving. What is missing from your life? What are you trying to get from food?

280 of 295 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps, Just Perhaps Marianne Williamson May have Gotten It Right - 5 Stars !!!! November 13, 2010

By A Customer TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I found this book inspiring. Every page had something significant to say, and the author came at the topic of weight loss from an entirely different perspective from anything on the market. We all know that thousands of books on weight loss have been published. We also know that none of them really seem to work over time. If any one of them did work, then the scientific community would have no choice but to pursue that particular concept with all out zeal and we would all beat a path to the door of the person who created the system.

Now having said that, it seems to me that Marianne Williamson has latched onto something, and its breathtaking in its scope and the promise it holds for the tens of millions of Americans who are just carrying around too much weight. The Foreword by Dean Ornish is worth its weight in gold. Make sure you read it. Dr. Ornish has been a world renowned heart specialist for more than 20 years and a very prominent author in his own right.

Ornish mentions in this section that for years he could not understand how people could be addicted to overeating, smoking, drinking, substance abuse, and other maladaptive behaviors. One day a patient said to him, why are you saying maladaptive, the behavior is totally adaptive to me, not maladpative to me. These behaviors get me though my day. I have 20 friends in that pack of cigarettes. You know you simply have to look at it from the user's perspective. Another patient told him if he feels lonely, he eats. He coats his nerves with the food he consumes, it numbs his pain.

The Introduction is also a must read. It will set up the rest of the book for you. The third part of the book is "Embarking on the Journey", and in this section Ms. Williamson goes through the thrust of her presentation, and that in the end, it is your belief and faith in God that will help you shed the weight that you have carried for so many years.

I want to give you a flavoring of what she has to say from different sections of the book and you will see for yourself how different this book is from all the rest on weight loss.

* Unless your subconscious mind is enrolled in your weight loss efforts, your soul will find a way to reconstitute the excess weight regardless of what you do.

* Root out your fear, and replace it with inestimable love.

* Addiction is when you can't STOP.

* Freud felt that Intelligence will be used in the service of neurosis (an absolutely extraordianry statement)

* No matter how smart you are, or how much work you have done on yourself, you alone cannot outsmart the psychic force of compulsion and addiction

* God can outwit your insanity.

* The Great Lie is that food that is actually bad for you has the power to Comfort, Nurture, and Sustain you.

* Unhealthy eating is an act of Self-Hate. Overeating is a form of violence. You are taking up the Sword against yourself.

* You don't have the human capacity to fix this problem. If you did, you would have done so already.

How the book is Organized?

After the Preface, Introduction, and Embarking on the Journey, comes 21 different short chapters. It seems that they are to be read one a day, and over and over again, until you internalize them. The author has gone through considerable efforts to name these chapters with highly appropriate powerful phrases. It works.

My personal favorites were:

Chapter 1) Tear Down the Wall

Chapter 2) Thin You, meet Not-Thin you

Chapter 5) Start a Lover Affair with Food

Chapter 7) Love your Body

Chapter 10) Consecrate Your Body

Chapter 17) Forgive Yourself and Others

Chapter 18) Honor the Powers

Chapter 21) The Body Brilliant

Summary:

We all know that to whatever extent we believe, that faith has the ability to move mountains, to effectuate profound change and make it permanent. Everything starts with belief. Nothing is manifested in reality until it is first a belief in the mind. Marianne Williamson has now taken these concepts and applied them to the world of weight loss, insisting that only a belief in a divine power, and then giving yourself over to a divine force is the only way to effectuate a true re-design of your body and your spirit.

Now having read the entire book and having tried to internalize it, I think she may just have something. Everything else has seemed to fail through the years for so many. Why not try a little old fashion faith in the divine power of God to help so many transcend and finally conquer a problem that has caused so much pain and agony. I gladly give this book five stars, and thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck