Weigh Down in Woman’s Day
The following article by Paula Spencer entitled, “Divine Intervention” was published in Woman’s Day Magazine on November 22, 1994. Below are excerpts from that article.
After having tried—and failed at dozens of different weight-loss programs and gimmicks, Terri skeptically embarked on a new Christian-centered weight-reduction program through her church. In 17 months, she shed 113 pounds without following a diet or exercising. Now 30, she wears a size 10/12 and feels confident she’ll never backslide into obesity again.
Sound like a miracle? Only the miracle of faith, says Gwen Shamblin, MS., R.D., founder and director of the Weigh Down Workshop Church Ministries program that Mangialardi and thousands of others have followed since 1986. “We teach you to replace your relationship with food with a relationship with God,” says Shamblin, a Cookeville, Tennessee, dietitian. …
…In two 12-week sessions, Terri shed 75 pounds. She doesn’t own a scale and weighs herself only periodically. “Every single area of my life has changed,” she says. “My marriage is one hundred percent better, but not just physically. I’ve learned to take responsibility for my actions and reactions, and I’ve learned to distinguish what is self-motivated—the things we do to make ourselves feel better—from what is truly God-motivated.”…
…Gwen Shamblin developed the Weigh Down concept while working on her master’s degree in foods and nutrition. She’d become convinced that genetics, metabolism and behavior modification alone couldn’t explain why some people were thin and others battled the bulge. While leading a weight-control seminar in a Memphis clothing store, she would tell the class, “If you’re not hungry, don’t eat.” She would pull out her Bible. “Chew on this for a while instead.”…
…“A lot of people walk in feeling angry at God because they’re overweight,” adds Shamblin. “But this is not a God who puts bacon and chocolate on earth to torture us. This is a sharp, loving God—the genius who created lasagna! The trick is to not be enslaved by food. If we behold or adore food, we will become like a refrigerator. If we instead behold and adore Christ, we will become like Christ.”
