Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

Emotional Obesity

find a way to replenish yourself, you can run out of energy. You need some time and space just for you, and if you don’t get it, your body will try to give you that space by creating a buffer between you and your life. It does this the only way it can: by creating a buffer of fat that protects you from the out- side world. Becoming Unlovable and “The Betrayal” If you feel that losing weight will alienate you from your loved ones in any way, you’ll want to stay fat. You might be in a mar- riage where you’re losing weight, but your spouse isn’t. This may bring up all sorts of tensions. Your spouse could get jealous that you’ve become more attractive, or he or she might feel threatened because “Being fat is good enough for me. Why isn’t it good enough for you?” It’s possible that your spouse prefers your being fat. If you feel that your spouse is attracted to you because you’re heavy, you have a powerful disincentive to losing weight. It could also be, for example, that everybody in your family is fat and that, if you became thin, you wouldn’t be “family” anymore. You would then be “betraying” your family. You need to be aware that, as you lose weight, your relation- ships with people may change. If you’re afraid of those changes, you may stay heavy simply not to “rock the boat.” But if not “rocking the boat” is an important point for you, either con- sciously or subconsciously, you’ll be fighting this fear unless you eliminate it. Yes, you can eliminate these sorts of fears, and I’ll cover how to do that shortly. Grief If someone we love leaves us, either through separation or death, we often feel a lack of control over the situation. In an effort to hold on to that person, we may want to gain weight. Cheryl had a daughter, Michelle, who died of a brain tumor when she was eight. This was a very emotionally demanding and devastating experience for Cheryl. After Michelle’s death, Cheryl gained 63 pounds—Michelle’s exact weight at the time of

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