You have tried many ways to end your food hell, from various food programs to exercise to fasting to who-knows-what. Now I propose that you try something you may or may not have tried before. I suggest that you plant a mustard seed and let God’s strength grow within you. I suggest you accept this fact: that you cannot beat this problem otherwise. You cannot stop. You have no control over it. It is bigger than you are. If you could have done this by yourself, you would have done so by now. In my book,  A Course in Weight Loss, I provide 21 spiritual lessons to help you surrender your weight forever. Below are some of those lessons.

Surrender To Your Food Struggle

Your freedom lies in accepting that which frightens you most: that you are powerless to stop this problem, to fight it or to fix it . . . your compulsion to eat excessively is stronger than you are . . . you are so tired of this war you have fought against yourself that part of you would rather die than go on. It’s time to surrender the struggle.

And how does that feel to you? Does it feel like a relief, or does it make you nervous? “What? Surrender? As in, just give up?” you might say. “Are you crazy? How can I give up?! If I give up, I will become truly obese! I might even die! I’ll be out of control entirely!”

Yet aren’t you out of control now? Exactly what part of you would guide you to keep up the fight? This voice that seems to be speaking to you with such concern and wisdom—is that a power that has proven effective at solving the problem? And if in fact it hasn’t, then isn’t it time to fire it as your guide?

Your salvation in this area lies not in resisting the truth of your powerlessness before food, but in accepting it and even embracing it. For this leads you straight into the arms of God, however you think of Him or whatever you understand Him to be. You realize, once you accept that your problem is bigger than you are, that perhaps something else is bigger than it. And then the miracle unfolds.

God is More Powerful Than Your Food Addiction

You are now at one of the most important crossroads of your life, as a problem you have dealt with for a long time has reached a climax. Perhaps you feel cornered now, as though you’ve tried everything and all your efforts are spent. Having depended on your own strength to heal yourself, you have ended up smack-dab back in the center of the wound. You feel checkmated by yourself and beaten by your own ego. All your efforts have been for nothing when confronted by the demonic power of your compulsion to eat excessively.

Yet the very situation that has wounded you can now become that which heals you, if you allow it to take you deep into the mystery of the soul’s dependence on the Divine. Do not forget that while your wound is more powerful than your conscious mind, God is more powerful than your wound.

I cannot, but God can! I cannot, but God can! becomes your mantra. And in realizing that the power of your mortal self is small when compared to the power of God, you will no longer need to “puff yourself up” in an effort to make yourself “big enough” to handle your problems. In fact, you will discover the power of true humility, deferring to a power that is greater than your own. The Divine is big enough to handle your problems—so you need not be.

It is when you allow God to be bigger that you will allow yourself to become physically smaller. You will begin to give up your burdens when you remember there is someone to give them to.