| Number | 17889 |
| Subject | Religion |
| Source | New Yorker |
| State | NY |
| Year | 2001 |
| Publication Date | January 15 |
| Summary | New Yorker interviews Gwen Shamblin, whose weigh-loss program is based upon believing in God. "Shamblin's core contention is that the fatness of America is the symptom of a spiritual crisis: overweight people have mistaken a spiritual emptiness for a hunger for food." Shamblin does not encourage her clients to eat healthier foods, but rather partake of smaller portions. She keeps no statistics of her participants or their weight loss, but she has had clients who have dropped over a hundred pounds. "Shamblin claims that Weigh Down offers empirical evidence of the existence of God: her followers wish to lose weight; they turn to God, and lose weight- ergo, God exists." Rebecca Mead reports on this unique weight-loss strategy. |
| Category | General |
| Pages | 6 |
| Keywords | weight loss;dieting;God;religion;obesity;food |
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