FEATURE STORY: Weight-loss programs stress Bible study, self-discipline

Weight loss program stresses faith in God.

c. 1997 Religion News Service

MOBILE, Ala. _ Debbie Golden avoided letting herself be included in family photographs for years because she was embarrassed at being overweight.

Now, thanks to her participation in a Christian weight-loss program, her son’s friends are calling her”skinny”and she’s ready to take her place in the family photos.


Christian weight-loss programs, which combine nutrition and Scripture, are growing as many of the more than 50 percent of Americans who are overweight try to bring their weight under control.

It’s an approach that considers the whole person _ not just his or her weight _ in an effort to bring the body and soul into shape.”It’s like being born-again, again,”said Carolyn Bradley of Grand Bay, Ala. She has lost 21 pounds since joining a program about five months ago.

First Place and Weigh Down are among the most popular Scripture-based weight-loss programs. These programs work, participants say, because they address the underlying cause of obesity _ not metabolism, not calories, but sin.

But the two programs are vastly different in their approach to weight loss. First Place gives participants a specific food plan and exercise goals; Weigh Down avoids any kind of diet or exercise rules.

Both programs involve weekly meetings based on self-assessment, Bible study, encouragement and self-discipline. Neither program chides participants for failing to meet weight goals. Instead, they emphasize healthy eating and a closer relationship with God.

Pam Wehner, leader of a First Place group at a Baptist church in Mobile, Ala., said the new emphasis keeps overweight people from feeling left out of the good things in life.”A lot of people get into the program for weight loss, but then you learn to discipline all areas of your life, and you don’t feel like you’re deprived,”she said.

First Place, which was started by a group at a Baptist church in Houston, has grown to 10,000 groups nationwide and meetings are held in 15 foreign countries.


First Place works because of the”spiritual difference,”said Kay Smith, the group’s national associate director.”Maybe I don’t have enough desire to be thin; maybe I have more desire for food. But if I look in the Bible, I see that I can’t do God’s plan for my life if I don’t take care of this body,”said Smith.

First Place participants make nine commitments: to attend a one-hour meeting each week; to read the Bible and study it; to memorize Scripture; to pray; to telephone another participant to provide encouragement; and to live the program, which means following the food plan, keeping a”fact sheet,”and recording exercise.

First Place’s eating plan emphasizes a low-fat, low-sugar exchange program, similar to diets recommended by the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association, said Smith.”It’s based on the government’s healthy eating plan. We emphasize that you don’t feel like you’re dieting because you’re just eating fresh foods, fresh meats, fresh vegetables _ food in its basic state. On any plan you can lose weight a lot faster than with First Place. But for us the goal is not how fast you can lose, but whether you’re healthy.” Weekly meetings usually involve about 45 minutes of Bible study and prayer requests and a 15-minute discussion on diet and nutrition. They also include a Bible-based devotion by one of the members. Devotion topics vary, and sometimes include talks about personal relationships.”A lot of people’s weight problems stem from relational insecurity,”said Linda Headrick, who lead a devotion recently.

Participants _ usually 12 to 20 in a group _ pay a $15 registration fee, $45 for a cookbook and notebook, and $15 for Bible study material and a journal. Group leaders are not trained nutritionists, but people who have devoted themselves to studying nutrition and exercise, Smith said.

First Place participants commit themselves to exercise at least three times a week, but they can chose any method they wish. If people wish to lose weight faster, Smith said, they can opt for more workouts during the week.

Although First Place began at a Baptist church and its materials are published by the Baptist Sunday School Board, an arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, Smith says the meetings are held in churches of many denominations.


Lynn Matheny is a member of Weigh Down, another Christian weight-loss program. She blamed her weight problem on everything _ her mother, her kids, her lack of exercise.”I kept seeing it in the Bible for years, but I just didn’t accept that overindulgence is a sin. When I finally was able to accept that, that’s when I realized that if I eat and eat and eat more than I should, I’m sinning,”she said.

Weigh Down is not a diet, said Gwen Shamblin, the programs founder and a registered dietitian.”We believe dieting exacerbates the problem,”she said.

Participants in Weigh Down pay about $100 for the first three-month program. They get a series of audio tapes for home listening, a Bible study manual and a journal. At meetings they watch a video of Shamblin and discuss the work they’ve done in the manual during the week. There are no weigh-ins, no exhortation to exercise.”You don’t have to be a slave to diets or exercise or fat grams. People realize exercise is not their savior _ God is saving them,”Shamblin said.

The Nashville-based program claims about 8,000 participants nationwide. It teaches participants to recognize the difference between real, physiological hunger and spiritual hunger.”True hunger is a burning sensation. Or it might be a sensation of weakness or you might get a headache,”Shamblin said.

But there is another kind of hunger that’s deceptive, she said.”`Desire’ hunger may come on 20 or 30 times a day, but every time you feel that urge, it’s really an urge for God.”

 

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!