Church offers spiritual weight-loss program

Acorn Staff Writer


LISA ADAMS/The AcornA BRAND NEW ME-Oak Park resident Mary McLoud lost 54 pounds on a Bible based study program that encourages weight loss. The 12-week class is offered at Conejo Valley Congregational Church. For more information, please call the church at (805)  381-0484.

LISA ADAMS/The AcornA BRAND NEW ME-Oak Park resident Mary McLoud lost 54 pounds on a Bible based study program that encourages weight loss. The 12-week class is offered at Conejo Valley Congregational Church. For more information, please call the church at (805) 381-0484.

Attendance is up at the Conejo Valley Congregational Church (CVCC) in Thousand Oaks, but the size of their congregation has shrunk according to Oak Park resident Mary McLoud, a member of CVCC who’s attended two 12-week Weigh Down sessions and has lost 54 pounds so far.


Nearly 30 have successfully completed the Weigh Down Workshop offered by the church as part of its ministry and they’re about to begin the next session.


Gwen Shamblin, M.S., and registered dietician, is founder and director of the Weigh Down Workshop and author of ‘‘The Weigh Down Diet.’’


She developed a Christ-centered weight loss program and has been featured on 20/20 and Larry King Live television shows.


Shamblin claims that diets don’t work. The philosophy here is that dieting doesn’t get to the root of the problem, and, in fact, only aggravates it.


She believes that diets are an effort to make food behave instead of making ourselves behave.


Shamblin also said that participants in the program are losing 10, 20, 50, 100 even 200 pounds with no special foods, no pills, no exercise routines, no fat-gram counting and no gimmicks.


Weigh Down offers a biblical approach to losing weight.


"The weight loss is the byproduct of the Weigh Down program. The main intent is to practice obedience to God," said McLoud.


McLoud said she only eats when she’s hungry and she eats until she’s satisfied. McLoud loves to cook and often prepares meals at church functions, but she said she hasn’t really changed the way she cooks.


"I probably consume a quarter of the amount of food I was eating, but I’m never hungry and I never crave anything that I can’t have, because I can have anything," McLoud said.


CVCC makes no profit from this new program that’s offered as a service to the community. You need not be a member of the church to participate.


Participants meet once a week for 12 weeks. They begin with an opening prayer, then watch a 45-to-50 minute video hosted by Shamblin. Each participant receives audiocassettes and a student guide/workbook for at-home support and encouragement.


"She (Shamblin) talks about real-life situations and quotes scripture that relates to obedience and dietary laws found in the bible," McLoud said.


For instance, excerpts from Matthew 6:25,26, 32 says, "Do not worry about having something to eat or drink … Look at the birds in the sky! They don’t plant or harvest or store grains … Your Father in heaven knows all you need."


According to McLoud, most people obsess about what they eat or shouldn’t eat.


"If we just listen to God and follow what we sense He is saying, we will eat the right things and lose weight in the process," she said.


You can even eat chocolate.


"If you are hungry and you desire chocolate or a piece of pie or a bowl of ice cream instead of broccoli, you eat it," she said.


"Every food was put on this Earth by God for our pleasure. The trick is to eat only until you’re satisfied, and then stop. And that might just mean half a candy bar. You aren’t required to eat the whole thing. You are just required to eat until you’re satisfied."


Shamblin recommends avoiding a sugar-free diet, low-calorie or fat-free foods. Instead, eat real foods.


McLoud agrees.


"It’s better for you. It’s more satisfying and it stays with you longer," she said.


After viewing the video, there was usually group discussion about the content or the group talked about concerns they had the previous week.


They don’t weigh-in and can share their personal achievements or not. However, in the first group of 16 participants, McLoud said they were thrilled to report that they had lost a total of 204 pounds. "Sometimes we find that it’s inches rather than pounds that someone has lost," she said.


Cost for the program is $103, which includes a workbook and a set of audiocassettes for each member.


A Weigh Down orientation will begin at 7 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 6, at CVCC, 750 Erbes Road, Thousand Oaks.


For more information, call the church office at (805) 381-0484.




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