How taking you faith to the next level can help you lose!

August 2004

“The lights in my life flipped on!”

Regina Smith, 41, 5’8”

I Lost 85 pounds

The night started like many others – I dropped onto the couch and flipped off the lights before surfing through the TV channels.  In the dark it was easy to ignore that the waistband on my sweats had little stretch left.  At 219 pounds, I weighed more than ever and felt hopeless about finding a permanent answer to my weight battle.  Then the face of Gwen Shamblin, the founder of The Weigh Down Workshop, flashed across the screen.  I listened as she spoke about faith-based weight loss.  She said people could slim down by transferring all their energy from binge eating to God.  It felt like someone had flipped on the lights in my life.  I’ve turned to my faith when I’ve struggled with every other thing in my life, so why not with weight loss?  I thought.  It was back in high school when I first tried to find comfort in food.  Over the years, though, my eating habits brought anything but.  They led to knee and ankle pain and even gallstones.  I always ate too much, whether it was candy or carrots.  I struggled for two decades before finding a new way to look at an old problem. 

“The surprising way I found patience around food.”

Through the workshops, I learned to direct my restlessness to faith, not food.  I started listening to the physiological signs God had programmed into my body to let me know when I was hungry (a growling stomach) and when I was full (a tight belly).  When I had a craving, I’d just think of one of my favorite Bible passages:  “Do not handle!  Do not taste!  Do not touch!”  And rather than snack out of boredom, I’d calm myself by reading a reassuring psalm that says, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.”

The change was dramatic!  I had patience around food.  Instead of being a slave to a strict meal plan, I was free to enjoy what I wanted as long as I listened to my God-given signals.  And instead of worshipping a diet fad, I was worshipping God.

“The approach has helped my whole family!”

The results are a miracle:  I lost 85 pounds and have kept off the weight for more than 18 months.  Now I enjoy hiking with my kids and relaxing with my husband, Kent, in a restaurant without feeling controlled by food.  Plus, my aches and pains are gone. 

My success also has inspired mothers.  My husband lost 60 pounds and is back to what he weighed while running high-school track!  My 14-year-old daughter shed 20 pounds, and I thank God that she never will be teased like I was.  My sister and brother-in-law lost weight, too.  And we all did it by turning over our cravings to God.