Eastern Orthodox Weight Loss "program"

jillinsr · Jun 3, 2007

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica] Christ is in our midst!

I am trying to locate an Eastern Orthodox Weight Loss program that has been put together, or some type of outline/program for a small group focusing on tackling gluttony...

I was interested in a Catholic-based weight loss program/bible study called The Light Weigh, and am now on a journey to create something similar based upon Eastern Orthodox teachings; however, I don't want to re-create a wheel that's already been created, so I thought I'd see if anyone has put something together like this?!!

Please let me know if any of you know of anything!

God's richest blessings..

Jill[/FONT]

Akathist · Jun 3, 2007

Jill, I would love to know more about this.

When I was a protestant, I briefly used "the Weigh Down" program. Basically it is this principle:

eat only when you are truely physically hungry. Eat only until you are barely satisfied. (Eat slowly so you can tell.)

They have very very good results with this method. I lost 20 pounds with it too. (But then let stress get the better of me and stopped using the program.)

The rest of the focus is on prayer and focus on God and not on our many appetites and distract from God.

I honestly believe that approach is very Orthodox.

However, I can't fully endorce it as some of the interpretation of bible verses are about name it and claim it ideas... these are found in the video series and in the books. It is not a big part of the program, but it is present here and there.

I would love to see this approach used in an Orthodox point of view. I loved it as it was not a "diet". You could eat what ever your family ate, or foods normal to you. You just drastically reduced the quantity of what you ate as you only ate until just satisfied, not to over stuffed like so many of us do (like I do anyway.)

jillinsr · Jun 3, 2007

Akathist said:
Jill, I would love to know more about this.

When I was a protestant, I briefly used "the Weigh Down" program. Basically it is this principle:

eat only when you are truely physically hungry. Eat only until you are barely satisfied. (Eat slowly so you can tell.)

They have very very good results with this method. I lost 20 pounds with it too. (But then let stress get the better of me and stopped using the program.)

The rest of the focus is on prayer and focus on God and not on our many appetites and distract from God.

I honestly believe that approach is very Orthodox.

However, I can't fully endorce it as some of the interpretation of bible verses are about name it and claim it ideas... these are found in the video series and in the books. It is not a big part of the program, but it is present here and there.

I would love to see this approach used in an Orthodox point of view. I loved it as it was not a "diet". You could eat what ever your family ate, or foods normal to you. You just drastically reduced the quantity of what you ate as you only ate until just satisfied, not to over stuffed like so many of us do (like I do anyway.)

Hello...

Thanks for your reply. I've read some about Weigh Down and was really excited to find it, but then I learned that the woman who created it doesn't believe in and even teaches against the Trinity. Once I realized this, I chose not to read any more about her program, as I really want something inspired by the Holy Spirit.

However, The Light Weigh and the Weigh Down Workshop are both on similar paths-only eating when you feel the pangs of hunger, eating only until satisfied, and turning to God when temptations to eat when you're not hungry arise.

I would like to put together a similar program, but one that includes things such as regular confession, studying/reading about the lives of saints, and reliance upon a spiritual father for guidance.

The Light Weigh uses a workbook that is a Catholic catechism/ bible study tool that each participant utilizes each day. The program is heavily based upon the teachings of Ignatius of Loyola, a Catholic saint not recognized by the Orthodox Church. I would like to have some type of workbook or reading material to provide the participants as well, but am kinda stumped as to where to begin. My priest suggested collecting sayings of the Fathers on the subjects of fasting, the passions and gluttony, etc...we both thought it wise to do some research to see if someone has already put something like this together already!

I'm a full time mommy to two wee ones so time is very precious to me!

Thanks for responding and I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Blessings,

Jill

Akathist · Jun 4, 2007

I can assure you that that woman believes in the Holy Spirit. (However, like many other christians she puts the Holy Spirit as less or not equal to God the Father and the Son. This teaching is something I don't agree with, never did agree with even when I was a protestant, and it was never in any of the Weigh Down materials that I read.)

But, it is not an Orthodox program that I will give you.

I was suggesting that we should have a similar kind of program... something that deals with fighting against overeating... against the passion of eating more then is needed... rather then trying to find a "diet" that works.

When I have dieted before I felt that I was always focused on food...what I can eat, what I can't eat, measuring, weighing, reading minute details on packaging, recording my food, etc etc.

What was great about this program is that it is about doing what this early church father said:

If you have promised Christ to go by the strait and narrow way, restrain your stomach, because by pleasing it and enlarging it, you break your contract. Attend and you will hear Him who says: "Spacious and broad is the way of the belly that leads to the perdition of fornication, and many there are who go in by it; because narrow is the gate and strait is the way of fasting that leads to the life of purity, and few there be that find it. St. John Climacus, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent," (Boston; Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1978), STEP 14: On That Clamorous Mistress, the Stomach

and:

...when you eat or drink, reflect that it is God, Who gives all food a taste which pleases us. So, delighting in Him alone, say: 'Rejoice, O my soul, for, although you can find no satisfaction, delight or comfort in anything outside God, you can know Him and cleave to Him, and can find every delight in Him alone, as David invites, saying: "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8)...' Lorenzo Scupoli (Unseen Warfare: Chapter 21)

These especially fits the Weigh down principles:

According to St. Gregory the Sinaite there are three degrees in eating: temperance, sufficiency, and satiety. Temperance is when someone wants to eat some more food but abstains, rising from the table still somewhat hungry. Sufficiency is when someone eats what is needful and sufficient for normal nourishment., Satiety is when someone eats more than enough and is more than satisfied. Now if you cannot keep the first two degrees and you proceed to the third, then, at least do not become a glutton, remembering the words of the Lord: "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger" (Lk. 6:25). St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel

Constantly reflecting thus and reproaching yourself, decide for yourself how much you should eat and drink every day to satisfy the needs of nature. Avoid as much as possible not merely overeating, but even eating just enough to be full. Keep in mind what was said above, that one should eat and drink only to the point where one is still a little hungry and thirsty. The Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. II, from the Counsels of Elder Nazarius of Valaam

I shall speak first about control of the stomach, the opposite to gluttony, and about how to fast and what and how much to eat. I shall say nothing on my own account, but only what I have received from the Holy Fathers. They have not given us only a single rule for fasting or a single standard and measure for eating, because not everyone has the same strength; age, illness or delicacy of body create differences. But they have given us all a single goal: to avoid over-eating and the filling of our bellies... A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied. St. John Cassian, On the Eight Vices in The Philokalia, Vol. 1

Now of course, Weigh down does not mention any of these quotes. But, I have been reading these quotes and thinking... yes, ... I want to go back to trying this approach to eating it teaches as this seems to be supported by these quotes as sound and appropriate.

Eastern Orthodox Weight Loss "program"

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