First for Women features Weigh Down Participant, Jayne Dubois

Research shows that the more people diet, the less they lose. But they can succeed by adjusting their attitudes toward food and weight loss.

What’s a woman to do when every diet fails…

‘I prayed… and lost 80 lbs’

“Your daughter is morbidly obese.” When I heard the doctor’s words, I felt so ashamed. I was 12 years old, 4’9” and already weighed 120 lbs. My mother tried to keep me on a diet, but by the time I graduated from college, I weighed 217 pounds.

One day at church, I saw a sign for a program called the Weigh Down Workshop. At the meeting, I was told not to eat until I felt physically hungry. What a revelation! I’d been eating for every reason other than hunger. I also saw I’d been trying to fill my heart with food when I really needed a relationship with God. Now, when I feel empty, I say a prayer instead of bingeing. I lost 80 lbs. in two years, and I’m so much happier now.

Jayne Dubois