ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how controlling our weight and negative body image has worked in our life. We have learned about the programming we all carry that led us down this path in the first place, and we have learned some tools to hold that programming more lightly, especially mindfulness and bomb defusion. To practice acceptance, we just deliberately experience whatever has been previously avoided. If previously we "pulled away," now we will "lean in." While trying these self-acceptance exercises, we are invited to mindfully observe whatever emerges. Self-acceptance involves willingly experiencing painful, difficult, or avoided situations. When we approach each situation (especially the more difficult situations), we will feel as if we are scaling a very difficult mountain, which requires all of our fortitude and resolve. One problem that may come up during our acceptance practice is avoidance in the midst of acceptance.
