Can you really pray your way to weight loss?
Local pastor and doctors say you can
By Christi Myers
(2/12/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - We’ve all heard that to lose weight, you have to diet and exercise. Well, what if there was another big, big factor? We’re talking about something that doesn’t involve your physical well-being, rather your spiritual well-being. Don’t laugh. Many think praying could be the missing link to losing weight.
Local pastor and doctors say you can
By Christi Myers
(2/12/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - We’ve all heard that to lose weight, you have to diet and exercise. Well, what if there was another big, big factor? We’re talking about something that doesn’t involve your physical well-being, rather your spiritual well-being. Don’t laugh. Many think praying could be the missing link to losing weight.
Chemistry teacher Carole Crawford was tired of yo-yo diets, so she’s trying something new. Can she pray the pounds away?
“I’ve been on it about two weeks and I’ve lost seven pounds so far,” she said.
Junk food lover David Dixon is trying prayer, too.
“In about five weeks, I’ve dropped about 14 pounds,” he said
It’s kind of like a prayer and diet combo.
“I haven’t done that before and now that I’m doing it, I see that it’s vital,” said Carole.
“For me, the spiritual component was the most important ingredient,” added David.
They’re using the Total Heart Health Book for Women and the Total Heart Health Book for Men and the workbook. They’re doing a daily Bible reading, prayer, and following the exercise and meal plans…and overcoming previous weight loss landmines.
“The hardest part for me is fitting in the exercise,” said Carole.
“I was a five or six Dr. Peppers a day drinker,” said David.
“We’ve seen it work now for two years in the lives of literally hundreds of people,” said Dr. Ed Young, pastor at Second Baptist Church.
Dr. Young, cardiologist Robert Leachman, and heart surgeon Michael Duncan added the spiritual to diet and exercise in their total heart health plan.
“We just think in order to experience a lifestyle change, you’ve got to approach it from the spiritual standpoint if you’re going to be successful,” said Dr. Duncan.
And the three of them follow it, too. They work out and they pray. But why would a busy pastor want to write another heart and diet book?
“It’s the wholeness of it,” said Dr. Young. “It’s not only physical. It’s also spiritual.”
The theory is it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. The authors say give them 90 and you’ll be dropping the pounds. Why? Because the authors say this isn’t a diet. It’s a change in your whole life.
“The reason people fail is because their lifestyle doesn’t change,” said Dr. Duncan.
And they say the spiritual can jumpstart your self-discipline.
“It was pure and simply a lack of discipline in my life,” said David.
“The hope would be that as one matures spiritually, that you can bring to bear the power of God to some of these physical elements of your health,” said Dr. Leachman.
In just weeks, Carole says she has more energy and something other diets don’t give her — peace of mind.
“I know that I can stay on it forever,” she said. “It needs to be a forever sort of thing.
“This is not a diet. This is not a fad. This is something that will change any life physically and spiritually,” said Dr. Young. “That just makes sense.”
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)
From Ash Wednesday March 1, through Palm Sunday, April 9, I will be doing 40 days of praise prayers I wrote about dieting. I believe strongly in asking in prayer, but even more so in praising in prayer. I hope you will join me in this journey here.
February 20th, 2006 at 5:47 am
I know I need accountability, I know I need exercise, I know I need to choose foods more wisely….why would I doubt that I also need to choose Prayer to assist me in making those changes in my live that I need to make in order to lose weight and become the healthy, energetic person that God wants me to be? I love your Lenton Prayers. I will be eagerly looking for them with anticipation…and apply all of them that God gives me ….
February 20th, 2006 at 5:52 am
It seems to me that while I am busy praying for other’s needs, I think that I can be slack on my personal needs. I love this upcoming season and I plan on praising my way through it while I shed pounds.
February 20th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Angelic, you genius! I totally forgot all out the Lean Lenten Litergy which is really what you were talking about. This praise journey was something else. I will do the LLL on our board with a challenge to give up one food/drink item for Lent. You rock!
February 20th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Great idea! I’m looking forward to your articles.
As for the one above (just the article, not your comment) i’m going to print it out for the “heavyweights” meeting tomorrow. I don’t preach at the ladies, but I hand them helpful hints now & then, for them to do what they want with. Some have told me they appreciate them.
Thanks.
February 20th, 2006 at 11:46 am
I know we are on the right and only path now, Tiana. Glad you came, gladder you are excelling in your journey now, and gladdest that Christ is Lord!
February 20th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
YES, you can pray! I recommend Dr. Mathew Anderson’s The Prayer Diet, he is a collegue of mine at ediets.com
I lived for many years in a morbidly obese body, topping the scale at 290 pounds. I sought every weight loss gimmick offered, trying to shed the unwanted pounds, yet remained obese and growing increasingly unhappy and unhealthy. Finally, I found the strength within to go on to lose 130 pounds and have kept it off for over 10 years—even winning the title of Mrs. Missouri! Now, my mission is to help other people to do the same.
My first book “Awaken the Diet Within, From Overweight to Looking Great!” (Warner Books), has earned rave reviews and best-seller status on Amazon.com, reaching #2 on the Health rankings…just behind the renown Dr. Atkins’. I serve as the “Master Motivator” to 14 million readers at eDiets, and proves that healthy eating and motivation can change a person’s life—not through deprivation but through the realization of belief in one’s own abilities to succeed. You can learn more about me at www.JuliaHavey.com and www.juliahavey.typepad.com.
USA Today chose my book as one of it’s top diet books of the year, “a pound for pound must read book with heft”. I have appeared on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show, The Wayne Brady Show for “Weight Loss and Diet Guru Week” and on the QVC shopping channel. Discovery Health filmed an entire episode of “I Lost It!” around my weight loss. I have been in the pages Woman’s Own, The National Enquirer, Successful Slimming, Woman’s World, First For Women, Glamour and The Globe. LifeChanger’s infomercial is the only weight loss product to carry the Time Life name.
In 2006 St. Martin’s Press will release my new book which has already gotten the endorsement of Dr. David L. Katz, M.D.—Oprah’s nutrition guru, author of “The Way to Eat” and Yale University School of Medicine professor: “If you could design the ideal weight loss advice, your priorities would likely include reliability, practicality, simplicity. You would want advice that makes intuitive sense, fits into your life, accommodates your family. And if you could select your advisor, you would doubtless emphasize compassion, insight, intelligence, and experience. In other words, if you could design the ideal packaging of weight loss guidance, you would wind up with something remarkably like ‘The Vice Busting Diet.’ And if you could screen and select among candidates for the ideal weight loss advisor, you would almost certainly choose someone just like Julia Havey! You are fortunate; no need to design advice, or screen advisors. There is no one more like Julia Havey than Julia herself- so the choice of advisor is clear! ”
February 21st, 2006 at 5:14 am
Julia, I thank you for coming and posting here. I get your motivator and I have posted from you before with credit.
I was a moderator at eDiets Christians Praying Thin for 2 years. I met and kept wonderful friends there. I am familiar with Dr. Anderson and his teachings. I never posted on his forum or read his book because his is a generic god. We, as Christians, must promote the Trinity.
March 11th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
I wasn’t aware of that about Dr. Anderson. I know he is a man of great faith, I always took it as he lead a person to pray and does talk about God, but was Christian, but does so without alienating other faiths?
Does that make sense?
Sort of not making you see it his way, but being open to all ways, but leading towards ‘the’ way?!
I will look into it more!
I don’t see how anyone could believe in God and not believe in Christ and exactly who is was.
Religion is a complicated matter isn’t it!?
I just know that Christ died for me and that gives me great peace of mind….
March 11th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
That was so nice of you to come back, Julia. And I am thrilled that you are a Christian. You go!
March 12th, 2006 at 4:31 am
Julia, Dr. Anderson holds a DMin, but just because one goes to McDonald’s it doesn’t make one a hamburger.
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Here is a review:
Reviewer: Jawill “jawill” (Waycross, GA United States)
Anderson is no Billy Graham type. In his introduction you will find out he is definintely a different kind of Christian Minister. His writing and beliefs sounded New Agey to me but to my surprise, by page 162 Anderson was criticizing the New Age movement for its lack of depth and discipline of mind and heart. He says the New Age movements cannot provide guidance into the dark areas of life such as grief, self hate and self sacrifice. I agree with him on this point.
Anderson’s ideas about weight loss are based on two assumptions: first, that man is instinctively spiritual and secondly, that Americans are spiritually deprived.
Anderson’s solution to overweight is not so unique. He takes the perspective of Overeaters Anon that people can be addicted to food and that they are powerless to end the addiction on their own. They need divine intervention and must be in constant prayer. Interestingly Anderson says we are not to ask God to reach a specific target weight. Our ideal weight should be left to the will of God.
The highlight of the book is the Dieter’s Prayer to be said before each meal. There are other prayers as well to deal with the difficult emotions that contribute to over weight.
It was a very interesting and motivational book. Easy to read and easy to follow. Throw away those diet books and take on Anderson’s prayer challenge.
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I guess we can say he isn’t mainstream. Neither was Gwen Shamblin who now denies the Trinity and has totally been rejected by the churches that once hosted the Weigh Down programs.