by Dada Vedaprajinananda

Many people try for years to lose weight or to make other positive changes in their lives, but never succeed. There is plenty of information on the subject of weight loss in particular and self-improvement in general, but it is the implementation of the good advice that is the stumbling block to most people.I am convinced that the place to start when you want to lose weight is in your mind.

Weight loss is not rocket science, it is not calculus, in fact it is based on simple arithmetic.  If you can reduce your calories by either lowering the calorie consumption of your food, or increasing your exercise to burn up calories then you will lose weight. A bit of subtraction on the food side and a bit of addition on the exercise side will do the trick. Very simple to say, but it is not so simple to do and that is why I say we have to begin in the mind.

It is a question of determination and will power. If you are determined to lose weight and if you have the strength of mind to consistently substitute a donut with an apple, for example, you will start to lose weight, it is practically guaranteed.

In case you are ready to give up, saying “I just don’t have the willpower,” then you should consider that no one is born with iron willpower. You can develop the strength of your mind just as you can develop the strength of your muscles, through methodical exercise.  That is why I wrote a book on weight loss and it is based on yoga and meditation.

Yoga exercises do not burn up many calories but they influence your glands in such a way that your mind will become more balanced.  Meditation is an exercise that can help you to build up your power of concentration as well as achieve inner balance and peace.  Yoga exercises combined with meditation are a great way to build up your mind’s “muscle” and equip yourself to go out and put your best intentions into practice.

I recommend mantra meditation, and that is what I teach in my ebook and also in personal instruction. But there are other meditative methods that are also useful.  In teaching meditation to young children I have seen how effective visualization exercises are, and recently I spoke with some psychologists who have applied the power of visualization to help people control their weight.

Here is a visualization practice that could be helpful to you.

Envision an image of yourself at the exact weight you want to be, for instance “The 140 pound image of myself.” See yourself weighing 140 pounds. Try to get into how it would be to weigh 140 pounds (or whatever your target weight is); how it will affect you in various ways physically, emotionally, socially, mentally, etc. Keep that 140 pounds image of yourself in your mind whenever you plan to eat. Let this visualization practice gradually and gently influence what you eat, how much, when, etc. It may also happen that you practically include exercise into your routine. Just keep holding that image in front of yourself and see what it can do for you. In time you will weigh 140 pounds and things will stay that way in a natural way.

Try out the visualization or go for a more formal kind of meditation and yoga practice. In either case, the effort you make in the mental arena will eventually help you to make positive changes externally.