The Globe Magazine

January 19, 2015

RHONNA & OTIS GET SLIM THANKS TO PRAYER POWER

Rhonna and Otis Rickman have a divine weight loss secret.  The Brentwood, Tenn., couple lost more than 180 pounds together with Weigh Down Ministries.  After giving birth to her fourth child, 5-foot-6 Rhonna was an unhealthy 270 pounds and was “cranky and crabby.”

“I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw,” the 43-year-old mom says.  Then in 2006, she learned about Weigh Down from an episode of the Today show and “what they were saying just clicked.”  “I learned through the founder, Gwen Shamblin, that God didn’t put chocolate or pizza on earth to torture us, but rather for our enjoyment.”  “She teaches us to focus more on serving others than obsessing about food.”  Rhonna lost 130 pounds in just 18 months.  Hubby Otis, a 43-year-old doctor, also dropped 55 pounds.  “Before I was spending up to three hours a day thinking about what I was going to eat.  Once I started to serve my kids and my husband, thinking about their needs before my own, these obsessive thoughts disappeared.”