Stop Trying to Lose Weight like a Man!

Hey ladies!  I have some questions for those of you who are looking to improve your health.

• Do you wish you could find the discipline to follow a set regimen semi-religiously so you’d hit a specific goal weight once and for all?

• Have you experienced working towards your health goals like a madwoman, only to fall off track and go through varying degrees of torture trying to haul your tush back on?

•  Have you beat yourself up for your lack of focus on healthy diet and exercise, wishing you were one of those people who had it more under control?

All human beings have a combination of both masculine and feminine energy.  All men and women need them both to be happy, whole people.  If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are in desperate need of a big fat injection of feminine energy into your approach to healthy living.

Masculine Energy and Its Relationship to Health

Masculine energy is focused and purposeful.  It will work day and night, destroying obstacles in its path like a beast, in the pursuit of its goal.  This type of energy is disciplined, and feels at home when sticking to a set routine.

Masculine energy appreciates clear, efficient solutions to problems that can be followed to the letter.  It says, “Just tell me exactly what to do to fix this, and I will do it.” (How many times have you gone apeshit on the man in your life when he has said this to you?) Masculine energy finds its value through achievement, and derives its power through the head.

A person looking to lose weight who identifies with Masculine Energy would love to be told exactly what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat it in order to achieve a weight loss goal.  This person could then come up with a structured routine to follow around these guidelines, and over time, get their desired results.  Sounds a whole lot what the diet industry encourages, huh?

Feminine Energy and Its Relationship to Health

Feminine energy is soft, and cares more about the journey than the destination.  It loves connecting to others, and uses intuition to sense what those others need.  This type of energy is cyclical and can change on a dime.  Think of the cycles of changing needs we women go through monthly, geez!

Feminine energy appreciates love, relationships, and pleasure through the five senses.  It is healing and life-giving.  The forces of nature are feminine (we don’t talk about Father Nature, after all; and don’t even tell me that your emotions are not monsoon-like).  This might be why this type of energy prefers when things unfold naturally rather than by force.  Feminine energy defines its value through the experience of pleasure and joy, and derives its power through the emotions and the body.

A person looking to lose weight who is all about the Feminine Energy would enjoy a plan that includes flexibility in daily eating and exercise, some sort of support from others, and lots of encouragement to love the whole ride rather than caring so much about one final goal.

 Why Your Energies are Off Balance

For those of us in the western world, we live in a society where we admire traits that are associated with masculine energy.  We place a huge value on efficiency, and the ability to doggedly pursue goals.  The power of doing is glorified, the power of being is minimized.

We typically pay bigger salaries to professions that require lots of masculine energy, such as stock brokers and lawyers.  Smaller salaries go to professions that rely on feminine energy, such as teachers and social workers.  We’re taught that a promotion is a much worthier aspiration than improving your relationship with your family.

It’s no wonder that you’ve turned your masculine high beams on your weight loss efforts and lost touch the power of your divine feminine.  It is how we’re encouraged to handle most of what life throws at us.

How to Balance Both Energies in Healthy Living

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that masculine energy is bad and feminine energy is good or vice versa.  If you lived only in your feminine energy you’d lollygag the day away joyfully applying lotion to your legs and never get anything done.  In your masculine energy only, you’d bulldoze your way from achievement to achievement and never let go and enjoy a damn thing.

The great news is, healthy living becomes a zillion times easier when you’re using both of these complementary energies to help you.  Your focused goals and elaborate plans are awesome, and I want you to use them.  I just want you to give them a heavy sprinkling of feminine power, by being willing to adapt them to what works for you and tuning in to your joy at the process of getting there.

Here are a few ideas about how you can combine both masculine and feminine energies in your approach to diet and exercise:

• Set and follow a general routine (masculine) that you can modify depending upon your needs that day (feminine)

•  Regularly prepare healthy meals (masculine), and take time to truly notice and enjoy how they taste and smell (feminine)

•  Find yourself an exercise buddy, because she will keep you accountable to your goals (masculine) and because you love having someone to talk to while you work out (feminine)

•  Commit yourself from the bottom of your heart to the improvement of your health (masculine), but define success as feeling great rather than achieving a certain number on the scale (feminine)

Some Great Resources

Here are some of my favorite books that I’ve read about masculine and feminine energies.  I used all three to help me write this post.

Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts, by Regena Thomashauer
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, by John Gray
It’s a Guy Thing, by David Deida

What do you think you are, more of a masculine energy or a feminine energy gal?  What ideas do you have about combining the two to take care of your health?  I’m dying to hear all about it in the comments!