I’m not the least bit religious. So don’t worry, I’m not about to get all preachy on you. But as I’ve written before, religions can have elements that are based on universal truths. And here’s a fun one that may not have occurred to you, which can help you to lose weight: Saying grace before meals.

I’m not talking about any particular prayer, but more the energy behind the act of saying grace, or what I believe was its original purpose before it turned into an obligation or just some words church going folk rattle off before digging in.

You see, it’s not really about the words at all. Words don’t really mean anything. It’s the energy behind the words that matters. And so, just regurgitating some old prayer without any meaning or feeling behind it, does nothing. But connect with the right frequencies, and oh, how things can change.

The prayer that people say before meals generally contains words of gratitude. When you get into the feeling of being grateful, you’re actually raising your vibration. And if you can achieve the feeling for thankfulness on a certain subject, you can change your whole relationship to it.

What does this have to do with your weight?

Let’s say you’re sitting at the dinner table with a plate full of food in front of you. How you feel about that food makes a huge difference in how it affects your body once you eat it. Are you aligned with the energy of the food? Do you feel good about it? Do you believe it’s going to nourish you? Are you excited and joyful about how it’s going to taste?

Or, do you have resistance to it? Do you feel guilty about eating the quantity or the type of food? Do you love the taste but hate the amount of calories? Do you believe it’s going to make you fat or fatter?

In short, do you feel good or bad about the meal you’re about to eat?

Here’s the dirty little secret:

You’re supposed to enjoy your food. You’re not supposed to suffer, or eat bland, tasteless food in exchange for a slim body. The Universe didn’t set it up so that all the food that tastes good is fattening and all the food that isn’t fattening tastes like rice cakes. Eating food that isn’t enjoyable to you isn’t serving you, at all. It’s not just the taste, though, it comes down to the entire range of feelings you have about your meal.

So, if you love the taste of ice cream (which feels good), but believe it’s going to make you fat (which is something you don’t want, so it makes you feel bad), eating ice cream isn’t going to serve you. The guilt and self loathing you feel while and after eating it is your indicator that how you feel about this action isn’t going to get you closer to those skinny jeans (i.e. what you want). It’s not the ice cream that’s the problem, it’s how you feel about it.

You can’t eat food that you don’t feel good about and get the body you want. Ever. Sure, you can starve yourself with food that tastes like cardboard and lose weight for a bit, but it won’t last. The vibrational discord you experience while eating stuff you hate is going to cause a lot of negative emotion. And if your coping mechanism is to eat when you feel bad, well… you see where I’m going with this. Furthermore, if your relationship with food hasn’t changed, you’re never going to be able to eat “normally”, the way you see others do without blowing up two sizes.

So, the solution is to change the way you feel about food. And one tool you can use to help you do that is to get into a place of gratitude about your food before you eat it. Enter saying grace.

The main idea behind saying grace is to feel grateful for the food that God has provided. Now, whether you believe in God or Source or the Universe or your own divine power, it doesn’t matter. Call it whatever you want. The important thing is to connect with the frequency of gratitude, i.e. the feeling of being grateful.

Before you begin to eat, take a moment and focus on your food.

• Be thankful for what you’re about to eat.
• Be grateful for the taste, the texture, for how it’s going to nourish you. Imagine each cell in your body benefiting from the nutrients you’re about to eat.
• See each of your organs working away efficiently, soaking up the energy of the food you’re about to ingest.
• See and feel the energy of the food (make no mistake, food has energy), and align with it.
• Thank all the animals and plants as well as all the people who have contributed to your meal. The farmer, the guy who drove it to the supermarket, the store clerk, the person that cooked it, etc.
• Thank the earth for providing you with this delicious and nutritious meal.
• Thank yourself for choosing to each such a delicious and nutritious meal.

This can take a few seconds or a few minutes, but the point is to get into the space of gratitude in regards to your food, and fully align with the energy of it before you eat it. I believe that this was the original intent behind saying grace. It was more about energy alignment than pleasing some deity.

A few more tips:

• It helps if you’re eating something you can feel good about. Delicious and nutritious meals will be easier to align with than meals you have a lot of resistance to. Don’t force yourself to eat things you hate, and don’t pig out on things you KNOW (according to your beliefs) will make you fat (and therefore will make you feel bad.)
• Eat slowly and continue to appreciate the meal you’re eating as you go. Really take the time to enjoy it – again, the better you feel about the food, the easier it will be.
• Don’t eat in front of the TV or the computer (my personal downfall). Distractions will make it hard for you to focus. I know you’ve heard this tip in every diet book ever. It isn’t just about knowing when you’re full (although that does help).
• Do this with every meal, if at all possible, not just dinner or special occasions. Yes, you do have the time.
• When choosing foods to eat, pay attention to how you feel about them. Practice feeling the energy of the food. Does your body really want this? Or is it just habit? Listen to your body.

Getting into the habit of aligning with the energy of your food will take a bit of practice. But it really works. It will help you to raise your vibration around food, and when that happens, you begin to feel better about food in general. And then, something amazing happens. Without forcing yourself, without deprivation of any kind, without a diet plan, you’ll begin to make “better” choices. You’ll naturally gravitate towards food that are more aligned with what you want, that is, foods that fit into your belief structure. If you believe donuts will make you fat, for example (and who doesn’t?), you’ll naturally begin to stay away from donuts. But not because you’re so disciplined. They’ll just lose their appeal.

Ready to give it a try? Shock your family and say “grace” tonight! 🙂