Anyone heard of "Light Weigh," a weight loss program for Catholics?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Abundant
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Abundant

Guest
I’m not sure if this is the best forum to post this in, so feel free to move it if it is in the wrong place. I am looking to loose a little weight, get more disciplined in my eating and learn to treat my body (God’s creation) with more respect.

I found this program online, called Light Weigh, but it is a little pricey (about $145). Before I even think seriously about ordering it,I wanted to know if anyone has ever heard of it, used it or know of anyone who has.

Here is the website: lightweigh.com/

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
 
Thanks for the link. I hope some posters here know more about the program. I’m interested now as well.

Mary.
 
Yes, I have. i went through the program. It was through our parish. You need a strong leader. We had a workbook and watched a short video of Suzanne.
 
cradlecatholic5 said:
Yes, I have. i went through the program. It was through our parish. You need a strong leader. We had a workbook and watched a short video of Suzanne.
Click to expand...
Do you feel it was worth the money paid for lack of a better way to say it?
Mary.
 
Why buy into any program when simply lowering your sugar and carb intake can dramatically lower your weight while maintaining hunger levels and never feeling as if you were starving? This is something anyone can learn on the internet for free. Of course in its most effective form you give up grains and potatoes. I cannot tell you how many people have told me in person, “I CANNOT give up bread and potatoes.”
 
Deus_tecum said:
Why buy into any program when simply lowering your sugar and carb intake can dramatically lower your weight while maintaining hunger levels and never feeling as if you were starving? This is something anyone can learn on the internet for free. Of course in its most effective form you give up grains and potatoes. I cannot tell you how many people have told me in person, “I CANNOT give up bread and potatoes.”
Click to expand...
I think some people would enjoy the fellowship with other Catholics and moral support of a group program that is worthwhile.
Mary.
 
We have the Holy Spirit in us. Christ lives in us and we in Him. We have a guardian angel by our side. We have access to the intercession of Mary and all the angels and all the patron saints. What other support do we need?
 
Deus_tecum said:
We have the Holy Spirit in us. Christ lives in us and we in Him. We have a guardian angel by our side. We have access to the intercession of Mary and all the angels and all the patron saints. What other support do we need?
Click to expand...
Because we can actually see, hear and touch our human encouragers that still belong to the Church Militant. True, we have Divine Persons, angelic persons, and sainted human persons in heaven rooting for us at all times, but a living, breathing, flesh and blood human friend who loves us and wants to help us succeed is a powerful ally for anyone in any difficult endeavor.
 
mommamaree said:
Because we can actually see, hear and touch our human encouragers that still belong to the Church Militant. True, we have Divine Persons, angelic persons, and sainted human persons in heaven rooting for us at all times, but a living, breathing, flesh and blood human friend who loves us and wants to help us succeed is a powerful ally for anyone in any difficult endeavor.
Click to expand...
You and Monicad are correct, and I thank you for reminding me of these things, but I still must emphasize that our faith must be in God. Too often the person overcoming addictive tendencies transfers that tendency to the support group. What then if the support group closes? So in conclusion, use a support group if it helps but don’t rely on it. The one presented here is questionable to me because it is fee based. They’ll shut down in an instant of they don’t generate enough money.
 
The best program for losing weight is to exercise and eat less carbs (especially sugar). Any good diet will be based around those two things. Cutting sugar out on its own can make a huge difference.
 
jimmy said:
The best program for losing weight is to exercise and eat less carbs (especially sugar). Any good diet will be based around those two things. Cutting sugar out on its own can make a huge difference.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I lost a significant amount of weight in 1 month just by cutting out obvious sources of sugar. I switched from sweet coffee to black coffee, stopped eating desserts, and stopped using cookies for snacks. It wasn’t until last year that I realized grain products such as bread and pasta, and white potatoes cause the same blood sugar spikes as sugar does. There have been several positive changes from cutting drastically back on those things.
 
Why should someone pay for something they can get for free? If you go to the nearest Catholic Church you should be able to find structured prayer groups. There are men’s groups, women’s groups, young adults groups. Make daily mass a part of your regimen. You can find spiritual support at any of these. You don’t need to pay someone for it.

This Light Weigh diet sounds like an example of simony. They are charging you to join a prayer group?
 
I was a member of Light Weight several years ago. It’s not a “prayer group”- it’s a program that includes bible study, spiritual talks from the founder, brief stories about saints, and support for learning to detach yourself from food.

It helps teach you and support you to fill your hunger with God if you are one to fill emptiness with food (as many of us that are overweight tend to do). It teaches discipline and helps remove the guilt some of us have regarding food. It has been helpful for those with mild eating disorders, too. Again, because you work to take the focus off of food to “fill a need” and it helps to give you an appropriate outlook on food. It’s not a support group in the since of Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc because they aren’t advocating eating only specific foods, nor do you weigh in. I would encourage anyone with questions or concerns about it to request the info DVD or talk to a local facilitator instead of making speculations on a public forum about it being something bad . That being said, I did learn about my own stress eating habits and how to work to control them when I did the program. It is a little costly, but you get a hefty workbook/bible study/prayer manual, audio CDs to listen to that correspond with the program and some items to aid you in your prayer time. I wouldn’t call that “simony” no more than I’d call selling DVDs and books for a parish or personal retreat or bible study simony!
 
jimmy said:
Why should someone pay for something they can get for free? If you go to the nearest Catholic Church you should be able to find structured prayer groups. There are men’s groups, women’s groups, young adults groups. Make daily mass a part of your regimen. You can find spiritual support at any of these. You don’t need to pay someone for it.

This Light Weigh diet sounds like an example of simony. They are charging you to join a prayer group?
Click to expand...
Jimmy,

Did you even look at the website link in the original post to see what the program actually is and what it covers? lightweigh.com/

I was a member of Light Weight several years ago. It’s not a “prayer group”- it’s a program that includes bible study, spiritual talks from the founder, brief stories about saints, and support for learning to detach yourself from food.

It helps teach you and support you to fill your hunger with God if you are one to fill emptiness with food (as many of us that are overweight tend to do). It teaches discipline and helps remove the guilt some of us have regarding food. It has been helpful for those with mild eating disorders, too. Again, because you work to take the focus off of food to “fill a need” and it helps to give you an appropriate outlook on food. It’s not a support group in the since of Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc because they aren’t advocating eating only specific foods, nor do you weigh in. I would encourage anyone with questions or concerns about it to request the info DVD or talk to a local facilitator instead of making speculations on a public forum about it being something bad . That being said, I did learn about my own stress eating habits and how to work to control them when I did the program. Not every one out there can do or wants to do things on their own.

It is a little costly, but you get a hefty workbook/bible study/prayer manual, audio CDs that correspond to what week/session of the program you are in, and some devotional items to assist in prayer time. I would no more consider that simony than a Catholic speaker or retreat leader selling their DVDs or books for parish or personal use.
 
I looked at the link and didn’t see any description of the diet or what they offer.

Monicad, simony is more than just selling sacrimentals. Do you think televangelists aren’t committing simony with their scams? Send your thousand dollar seed in and God will bless you a thousand times. Giving talks on religious and faith issues can be simony if you are using it to get rich. Anyone who uses religion to get rich is committing simony. No one is condemning making a profit or making a living, but there is a fine line between that and simony, and it is easy to cross the line. They are selling a product which they claim is a Catholic way to lose weight and get control of your eating. I am skeptical about anyone who sells a system, that associates it with religion.

I agree that it is about finding the strength and motivation to change your eating habits. That is the way it is for everyone who decides they need to change a bad habit. Your emotions are part of the problem.
 
Monicad said:
However I believe it is unfair to accuse them of simony and also to suggest that people who struggle with weight should just “cut down on carbs” since every overweight person I know already knows that! It’s having the spiritual strength to DO SO that is such an uphill and spiritual battle. God bless and thank you for letting me share my thoughts.
Click to expand...
Seriously…I’m glad SOMEONE finally talked about the program in this thread. This isn’t a thread about eating right and exercise. It’s a thread asking if anyone has any experience with a certain weight loss support system. There are many many other threads on this forum dedicated to people telling other people to eat less [carbs] and move their bodies more.

Sorry…it’s just that automatic derailment and the complete disregard for the question was just driving me nuts. Especially since I’ve also been a little curious to hear what the fuss is about.
 
Monicad: Actually most overweight people do not know they should cut down on carbs, and if they diet they tend to flock to diets that allow them to eat plenty of carbs and rely on simple calorie reduction. Then the blood sugar swings keep them ravenous, and they fail at the diet.

I looked at the Light Weigh site and find no info on nutrition, so I assume it is again about gross calorie reduction. They do seem to deal with the emotional side of why people overeat, and that is good, but it is counterproductive to attempt to reduce overeating by consuming foods that will have one hungry again after only 2-3 hours. A low carb diet trains the body to burn fat when there is an energy deficit. Nevertheless, overweight people tend to reject low carb diets using various myth based excuses.
  1. “I need carbs for energy.” (Not if you have 10+ lbs of fat. Each pound is around 3000 calories.)
  2. “It’s all meat and therefore too expensive.” (No, it is the same amount of meat you had before.)
  3. “There’s no fiber, and that is not healthy.” (No, it includes two vegetable servings per meal.)

    The simple way to go low carb is to eat like you did before, but cut out sugar and starch. So if your meal used to be 1 meat serving, 1 potato, 1 vegie, and 2 slices of bread, you just delete the bread and potato and add one vegetable. That’s if you are eating somewhat right in the first place. What I have found is that chronically overweight people tend to have several servings of starch per meal. It is not unusual to see a plate with 1 serving of meat, 1 mac&cheese, 1 potato, 2 slices of bread. If you tell this type of person to simply eliminate starch, there is nothing left of the meal except meat.
 
I did a rather exhaustive research on “The Light Weigh” as I was intrigued. (I also read Gwen Schamblin’s book on “Weigh Down”. The prices on the Light Weigh have gone up since the last postings according to their website… now it’s $141 per person - that includes a set of DVDs for the group (as long as they are meeting - but the DVDs which are consider “on loan” to the group, must be returned to “The Light Weigh” when the group disbands or whatever). This includes 12 sessions - to repeat the program, each member must pay an additional $30. The members of the group get a workbook and audio tapes to listen to. (This info was obtained from the “Light Weigh” website).

Wanting to do additional research on it (updating my article of 2010), I am finding it very difficult to locate anyone who has lost weight and stayed on the program and kept the weight off (other than the usual testimonials to be found on the website).

I ended up joining Weight Watchers which when you get to goal, offers their meetings, and website au gratis as long as you stay at less than 2 lbs over goal. Their program is based on the Healthy Guidelines - state of the science, support at meetings and from the web community, exercise and journaling one’s food so one knows the calories (pointsplus) one is ingesting.

I lost 101 lbs and have kept it off for 4.5 years - reached goal in Oct 2009 and continue to lose more to 101 lbs off. I really recommend Weight Watchers - I feel it is the state of the science.

As for prayer, one can join a prayer group or study classes at church - usually free or for a minimal charge. Listening to EWTN is inspiring also and/or Immaculate Heart radio, now available in most cities.
 
If you take in less calories than you expend you will lose weight.

It is literally that simple for 95% of humans.

I recently lost 25 lbs. by simply reading what menu items costed at 2 restaurants and then ate. . . .

Tim Hoorton’s Turkey sausage, egg white, and cheese english muffin, and an apple or pear for breakfast.
Tim Horton’s Turkey Sausage, egg white, and cheese english muffin and yogurt for lunch.
And
Subway roasted Chicken (sometimes double meat) cheddar, and veggie sadwich (12 inch) for Dinner.

I also work out.

It was a boring diet but I lost weight- no problem- I was rarely hungry.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top