The document discusses how vanity, or the desire to look attractive, can be used as a motivator for weight loss and maintenance in a healthy way. It provides examples of several individuals - Denise, Ruth, and Tom - who were able to lose weight by tapping into their vanity to stay disciplined with their diets and exercise. While vanity alone is not a sustainable motivator, it can be a useful tool to help achieve health goals if kept in the proper perspective of also valuing inner acceptance and well-being over just physical appearance.

1. The Vanity Factor
• Lightening up and weight maintenance are about health, not about how you
look.
• There is more to you than your appearance.
• Denise was criticized by her mother for being overweight.
• She felt ashamed of her body.
• To break free of her shame, she took a dramatic step.

2. The Vanity Factor
• She went to a nude beach where she found friends.
• They ignored her weight.
• It was wonderful to find people who accepted her for who she was, not how
she looked.
• Their acceptance helped her to figure something out.
• Weight control is about health, not vanity.

3. The Vanity Factor
• Denise decided to lose weight for her health.
• She had achieved self-acceptance, even though she was heavy.
• She felt emotionally strong.
• She was free of self-criticism.
• She was comfortable without clothes - but she still wanted to look attractive in
them.

4. The Vanity Factor
• You may not want to go to a nude beach in search of acceptance.
• Maybe there aren't any nude beaches where you live.
• But imagine freeing yourself from self-criticism about your weight.
• Imagine at the same time, acknowledging your vanity.

5. The Vanity Factor
• Vanity is a human trait.
• Ruth was vain.
• She was overweight but liked pretty clothes.
• She was not ashamed of her appearance.
• But she wanted to be more attractive and fit into her nicest clothes again.

6. The Vanity Factor
• She decided to lose weight.
• She took specific steps.
• She put her target weight on the refrigerator.
• Before she opened the refrigerator, she gave herself this suggestion:
• "I will eat the way a person eats, who weighs forty pounds less than I do."

7. The Vanity Factor
• She was very disciplined.
• She was very determined.
• She stuck to her menu plan and lost weight.
• Vanity kept her going.
• She looked in the mirror a lot.
• She happily began to wear smaller sizes.

8. The Vanity Factor
• Tom was also vain.
• He was invited to a friend's wedding.
• He wanted to impress friends he hadn't seen for a while.
• He told people he was dieting for health reasons.
• Deep down, he knew he was dieting because of his vanity.

9. The Vanity Factor
• He hung a suit in the closet that he wanted to wear.
• He looked at that suit before dinner every night.
• He looked at the suit after dinner to help him resist his after-dinner munchies.
• He lost weight because he was vain about how he would look for his special
event.

10. The Vanity Factor
• Vanity motivates behavior.
• You are probably activating a part of the brain's reward system when you are
pleased with how you look.
• Feeling in control is also rewarding, although it's different from the reward of
eating to satisfy urges.

11. The Vanity Factor
• Many people use their vanity to control the urge to overeat.
• They suggest to themselves images of favorite clothes that they want to wear.
• They sneak looks in the mirror.
• They feast on compliments about their appearance as they lose weight.

12. The Vanity Factor
• You are normally vain, if you are pleased when clothes hang loose.
• If vanity helps you lose weight for your health, go for it!
• If you still have to eat all day long, eat tiny amounts like a bird.
• Help yourself by noticing how you feel as you lose weight.

13. The Vanity Factor
• How you feel physically is as important as how you look.
• Are you feeling more spry?
• Can you move more easily?
• Have you noticed if you can cross your legs more easily?

14. The Vanity Factor
• Losing weight because you are vain can help protect your body.
• Every pound you lose, relieves three pounds of pressure on your knees.
• Losing weight relieves pressure on your back.
• Of course you do not want to be so vain that you starve yourself and become
anorexic.

15. The Vanity Factor
• Anorexics are obsessed with being thin.
• They may starve themselves to a point of no return and they can die.
• Being too vain is risky.
• Under-eating makes the body release stress hormones that can harm the
heart.

16. The Vanity Factor
• Your vanity gets support
• Magazines feature diet and exercise programs - promise beautiful bodies.
• They stir up your inner vanity.
• You buy the magazines.
• Maybe you try the programs for a while.

17. The Vanity Factor
• However, there's a reason why you may not follow through with dieting advice
from articles you read
• Maybe vanity can't compete with food urges
• Maybe being accepted for who you are, not how you look is more important
than you vanity.

18. The Vanity Factor
• Your self-worth can't be based on the idea that "thin is in."
• Recognize the limits of vanity in motivating weight control.
• Use your vanity with awareness that its deeper purpose is to help you lose
weight for your health.
• Remember, good health outlasts beauty, which fades with time.

19. The Vanity Factor
• So please use your vanity wisely to support weight management.
• You can call up your vanity like other parts of the Self.
• Inner vanity, like an inner helper, can be an ally in the battle against impulse
eating.
• Vanity can be an ally, though it's seldom all-powerful.

20. The Vanity Factor
• Listen to the audio portion for help with using vanity for positive purposes.
• Use the audio part of this unit to develop self-suggestions about using vanity in
the service of your health.

21. The Vanity Factor