As we rung in the New Year and awoke on New Year’s Day a bit foggy headed (too much red wine), I wager to bet that the first thought in most of our minds (after “pass me the tylenol”) was [some version of], “Crap… my diet starts today.”

And then we quickly remember last year (and the year(s) before that) and how we had the same resolution then.

And then we look down at our tummy’s and our thighs and notice how well that worked out.

This is a story I’ve heard (and experienced) year after year after year.

So when my friends at Hay House sent me a free copy of Marianne Williamson’s “A Course In Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever,” I was thrilled. I had been eager to check it out ever since my beloved Ms. Winfrey gave it away on her final “Ultimate Favorite Things” episode earlier in the month. Thrilled to see what – if any – new insights the book offered on a topic that has been talked and talked and talked to death.

So what is new and different about this book?

It is a book about weight loss that has nothing to do with counting calories or pitching a new and improved exercise program.

The approach Marianne Williamson takes on weight loss – which I very much agree with – is that our bodies are a reflection of what is going on inside; our spirituality.

Food as spirituality.

I like it.

Marianne’s book is a spiritual curriculum, comprised of 21 lessons. She operates under the premise that shedding emotional weight will in turn help you shed your physical weight; the more emotional baggage we mount onto our hearts, our physical bodies feel the need to literally grow just to be able to support that baggage.

Makes. Perfect. Sense.

As someone who is not [currently] struggling with weight issues, I was not sure how well I’d relate to this book. Let me tell you – if you are anyone who is carrying ANYTHING extra around – anger, resentment, bitterness, sadness – or has turned to any coping mechanism or unhealthy behavior as a means of dealing with that emotion – excessive drinking, smoking, sex, road rage (helllooooo sarah klein)- this book will become your Bible.

Literally.

Marianne teaches what my faith (and Bible) has taught me all along (but never applied to weight loss): Turn to the divine when you cannot solve a problem on your own. Give it up. Let it go and give it to God.

Again, Marianne’s focus is not on what to eat and how many miles to run. Rather, it is about how to cultivate an emotional and spiritual life that does not rely on food to fill the emptiness, loneliness, or subdue the pain.

This book may not be for the spiritually faint of heart, but to those of us with faith in a greater power and faith in our own potential, Ms. Williamson is speaking your language.

Thank you, my Hay House friends, for another great read!

You can find this book, here:
Hay House
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Chapters Indigo (Canada)