I grew up a chubby little boy even though I was very active. I went through emotional trauma, being teased by the children in my neighborhood. By the time I entered high school, I weighed 245 pounds and was very uncomfortable in most social settings. As fat people like to say, “It was all muscle.” NOT! There was fat and plenty of it. I could not even bend over and touch my toes. I was extremely uncomfortable in my body and my mind. My emotions were totally blocked, and I was not in touch with how I felt most of the time. I did not fit in and life was very difficult.

Back then, I was not conscious of what was going on inside that caused me to be so fat. Now I have a clearer picture. Love for my overweight father caused me to model myself on him on all levels. This contributed to my being chubby as a child even though I was continually active. Also, some difficult sexual experiences when I was young made me extremely uncomfortable with the intense sexual drive I felt as a teenager. The experience of sexual energy was in direct conflict with what I believed was right for me to experience. The reason why I went to such extremes in my weight during high school was so I would not be attractive to the opposite sex and have to deal with situations that might arise, which in my mind were not okay. All the stress and the instability of my life—an overweight dad with heart disease, being uncomfortable with sexual energy, and later becoming involved with drugs—kept me overweight until my mid-thirties.

My overall health and weight began to change when I started to meditate regularly. The process of meditation began to address the underlying stresses and strains that put me out of balance. Slowly at first, and then more rapidly, I became conscious of my overall condition. I realized how uncomfortable I was in my body, mind, and heart. I also realized how my imbalances were preventing me from more enjoyable social interactions. With this realization, the door for change opened and I stepped through.

Not knowing how to work with my mind and body consciously, nevertheless, my weight began to normalize just from meditating regularly. At first it was a slow process. A clearer understanding began to emerge about sixteen years ago, and this made a big difference. As I worked more consciously to restore balance physically, mentally, and emotionally, my progress accelerated and I created a healthy body with an ideal weight. At the same time my social dynamic changed and I began to enjoy life more.

Today my understanding has matured, and there is much greater clarity of the process I went through and how to share it with others. For sixteen years, I have maintained a healthy body with little effort. My weight now fluctuates between 155 and 160 pounds—quite a difference from the 245 I once weighed. One of my passions is gourmet cooking, and I eat chocolate almost every day. Still, my weight stays within a healthy range, fluctuating only about 4 pounds. Most of the time, I am emotionally balanced and have a reserve of energy from which to draw. I flow with the stresses of life in a more harmonious way, so they have virtually no side-effects on my health. In the last sixteen years, I have had three colds, the flu once, and no major illness.

The system of Intentional Weight Management© was developed from the wisdom gained by going through my own transformation and by assisting others. In the following pages, you will learn how to work consciously to restore harmony and balance while creating a healthy body. This process will produce faster, long-lasting results that will normalize your weight. There will be many other benefits, such as increased energy, increased mental clarity, and greater emotional freedom that you will experience for yourself with this system. Let’s move forward so you may benefit from the wisdom in the following pages.