Self Magazine

The following article entitled, “Food for the Soul – Christian diets gain devout followers” was published in Self Magazine.  Below are excerpts from that article.

Carre Anderson, 37, has struggled with her weight since the age of 12, trying everything from the grapefruit diet to Weight Watchers in order to shed the extra pounds. Nothing worked until a year and a half ago, when the wife of Anderson’s pastor introduced her to the Weigh Down Workshop; she has since lost l00 pounds. Anderson is not the only believer in Weigh Down: The 12-week Bible-study program is offered in 18,000 churches throughout the United States, and there are nearly half a million copies of The Weigh Down Diet (Doubleday) by Workshop founder Gwen Shamblin, RD., in print. Shamblin’s weight-loss prescription is straightforward: Fall to your knees when the refrigerator calls. “I took the focus off food and put it on God,” explains Anderson. “I ask Him to help me refrain from temptation.”…

… Several Christian diets have sprung up in the past decade, each with a similar spiritual message: Fight temptation with heavy doses of prayer. Shamblin promises you can eat anything as long as you start when you’re hungry and stop when you’re satisfied.  “Everyone adores something, whether it’s food or football,” says Shamblin. ‘We transfer the addiction to God.”