Christian diets point to getting 'slim for Him,' the weigh down workshop Inc - new books on fitness and health with a Christian theme, introduce the Christian dieting movement - Spirituality

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 12, 1997 by John L. Jr. Allen

Taking "Baywatch" as an indicator -- and, for better or worse, millions do -- Americans like their bodies lean, trim and fit.

Taking McDonald's as another indicator -- and, again, millions do -- Americans have a hard time matching their eating habits with their notions of beauty.

Such dissonance is a prescription for stress, which America's multibillion dollar diet and fitness industry both depends upon and promises to remedy. In this cultural milieu, it is probably not surprising that a whole genre of Christian spirituality has cropped up around weight loss. Marked by book titles such as Slim for Him and More of Jesus, Less of Me, Christian dieting is a fascinating mix of spiritual outreach and big business.

Since the 1970s, faith-based workouts and dieting experts have been giving a distinctively Christian spin to the general fitness craze. Books such as Neva Coyle's Free to Be Thin dot the bestseller lists. Dieting programs such as Gwen Shamblin's "Weigh Down Workshop" appear in tens of thousands of churches across the country. In 1996, a Christian exercise video, Sheri Chamber's "Praise Aerobics" sold over 50,000 copies.

Though there are few Catholic entries in the field, many Catholics appear to be using generically Christian programs to combine worship and workouts. Shamblin, for example, boasts at least 13 Catholic parishes where her program is in place.

The touchstone for the Christian dieting movement is undoubtedly Charles Shedd's 1957 classic, Pray Your Weight Away. Shedd took an unabashedly guilt-based approach, confronting overweight readers with statements such as 'When God first dreamed you into creation, there weren't one hundred pounds of excess avoirdupois hanging around your belt" and "We fatties are the only people on earth who can weigh our sins."

He suggested an exercise regimen that featured doing karate kicks while reciting Proverbs 3.

More recent Christian fitness gurus -- like their secular counterparts -- tend to shift the focus from sin to addiction. treating overeaters less like reprobates than as victims. From this point of view, "anyone with unhealthy food cravings is actually suffering from spiritual hunger," as one commentator put it in a recent review of Shamblin's The Weigh Down Diet. The idea is not so much that fat people offend God, but that they need help in battling an obsession with food. Helping people dieting, in other words, is a ministry.

The ministerial approach is explicit in programs such as The Free to Be Thin lifestyle plan, keyed off Coyle's book. The 13-week plan is billed as a "ministry to overweight people and/or overeaters." Promotional materials claim that "victory is determined by healthy change and freedom from obsession with both eating and weight."

Dieters following this approach are encouraged to make connections between their personal struggle for fitness and the broader Christian narrative. At the Riverside Baptist Church in Denver participants in the fitness workshop are promised, "You will learn how to be delivered from the slavery of food, which is symbolic of Egypt, cross the desert of testing of obedience and finally cross the Jordan where you have guilt-free milk and honey or any food -- but no more than the body calls for."

Dieters are told, "You can transfer this urge for a pan of brownies to that of hungering and thirsting after righteousness."

Dieting and fitness is also an effective tool for proselytizing, according to the makers of Body and Soul Aerobics, a program that conducts aerobic classes in 33 states and eight foreign countries, with more than 250 instructors. Its Web site claims "you can't beat Body and Soul as an outreach ministry." It quotes a student who says, "Sweating and working out don't seem as bad when you're praising the Lord at the same time."

Gwen Shamblin is by most accounts the leading light of the Christian dieting field. Her Weigh Down Diet, published by Doubleday, has not only outsold other Christian offerings, but it's approaching the success of weight loss programs such as Jenny Craig. Shamblin's "Weigh Down Workshop" is in 10,000 churches nationally.

Part of Shamblin's formula has been a no-apologies willingness to slam her secular competitors. Since they are not faith-based, she argues, God is "too smart to let somebody like Weight Watchers or Jane Fonda be your savior and get all the credit" and so "will not let other diets work." While on hold on Weigh Down's 800 line, a recording by Shamblin tells callers other programs "cannot work" for the same reason.

Although Shamblin's approach is grounded in a fairly conservative form of Protestant Christianity, she has had some success in attracting Catholic interest. A recent guest spot on EWTN went well, and her workshop is currently in place in a handful of Catholic parishes, according to spokesperson Diana Johnson.

Key to Shamblin's success is the simplicity of her plan. Unlike many mass-market dieting programs, which are highly complex, Shamblin -- a dietitian with a master's in food and nutrition -- requires no charts or calorie counting techniques. Instead, she advocates the seemingly simple practice of not eating when you're no longer hungry. To reach that end, she teaches people to stop midway through a candy bar, or to eat M&Ms one by one, rather than by the handful.