Light Weigh One King (Catholic Weight Loss Program)

[2cherubs]

Has anybody tried this? lightweigh.com/

It sounds like such an intriguing alternative to Weight Watchers, and I was curious to hear from people who’ve experienced this. I could see how tapping in to my faith would be helpful. Does your parish have a branch? What are your thoughts?

 

[Pat_Payne]

Umm… point of order here though… as much as I love my faith, does EVERYTHING have to have a specifically Catholic component? I can understand, support and applaud stuff like a more Catholic-specific version of Alcoholics Anonymous or Catholic psychiatric/psychological counseling (both places where the spirituality makes a difference), but I thought the key to weight loss was more or less pretty religiously-neutral – eat fewer calories than you expend and exercise more. Or is there something I’m missing?

 

[2cherubs]

I’m really not here to debate the merits of this approach or defend my reasons for seeking some faith-based support. I’m mostly just interested in hearing from people who have tried this program or can share more details about it. Thank you.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

My mom organized Weigh Down and Light Weigh groups and I’ve done Weigh Down, whose founder is not Catholic. Weigh Down has a lot of critics; faith-wise the founder of Weigh Down, her family and followers, went off the deep end theologically, rejecting the Trinity. Some people found the approach to weight loss to be questionable but the founder, Gwen, has a masters in dietetics and as long as Weigh Down is not done in an extreme or legalistic way I found the approach to be very useful and effective. I even appreciated Gwen’s spirituality in the early years of the program and grew in my faith.

About Light Weigh: very similar but enough differences so they can’t be sued for copying. There is an emphasis on Catholic spirituality and traditional devotions. Participants in my mom’s group really liked that aspect and the emphasis on prayer seems to trump the goal of weight loss; not a criticism, just my experience. I didn’t get as much out of it because I already had a good foundation in traditional Catholic devotions and found Weigh Down had a more direct method to control weight which was basically to eat only when you experience true stomach hunger (and how to learn that), stopping when full (and how to figure that out), eating slowly, taking sips of water between bites (aids digestion), using what you are craving as a guideline (crunchy or creamy, sweet or salty or savory - you can see how that could be criticized), and finally, eating the the most appealing food on your plate first. The latter really resonated with me; even though my parents didn’t do the clean plate club thing I was in the habit of eating the least appealing food, saving the “best” for last. That is a recipe for overeating. In Light Weigh, they talk about this as “chasing the taste” so they suggest eating the real thing instead of “healthy” or “diet” substitutions that other diets suggest.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

Umm… point of order here though… as much as I love my faith, does EVERYTHING have to have a specifically Catholic component? I can understand, support and applaud stuff like a more Catholic-specific version of Alcoholics Anonymous or Catholic psychiatric/psychological counseling (both places where the spirituality makes a difference), but I thought the key to weight loss was more or less pretty religiously-neutral – eat fewer calories than you expend and exercise more. Or is there something I’m missing?

Weigh Down, which I reference above, really put an emphasis on prayer and obedience. Trusting and obeying God can be very motivating, especially if you look to God to meet needs that a person might be unintentionally looking for or finding in overeating. Also, I find asking for the intercession of my guardian angel and certain saints helpful for avoiding sin or growing in virtue and WD and LW address both.

 

[Bonnie]

I did Light Weigh some years ago. It was a nice Bible study, but no one involved was interested enough to do more than 1 course. It might have worked better for me had I been involved in OA as I am now, and had I known about low carb instead of still eating “healthywholegrains.”

So that’s my take on it; by itself - meh. In conjunction with a workable diet & OA - probably fine. The worst part of Light Weigh is that it costs - both OA & low carb advice (online or books in library) are free.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

I did Light Weigh some years ago. It was a nice Bible study, but no one involved was interested enough to do more than 1 course. It might have worked better for me had I been involved in OA as I am now, and had I known about low carb instead of still eating “healthywholegrains.”

So that’s my take on it; by itself - meh. In conjunction with a workable diet & OA - probably fine. The worst part of Light Weigh is that it costs - both OA & low carb advice (online or books in library) are free.

Yes. The cost for either program’s workbook and audio are pricey and some aren’t going to be able to invest in those and others who are able to afford it might not find the materials that worth the cost. It is a one-time cost though and if one isn’t into the group thing one can use those materials indefinitely.

 

[Gertabelle]

I did Light Weigh some years back. It was a nice spiritual program, but I didn’t lose any weight at all.

 

[MaryT777]

Has anybody tried this? lightweigh.com/

It sounds like such an intriguing alternative to Weight Watchers, and I was curious to hear from people who’ve experienced this. I could see how tapping in to my faith would be helpful. Does your parish have a branch? What are your thoughts?

No my parish does not have a branch but given I have some weight to lose I’d be very interested in a group that provided as well Catholic fellowship and Bible Study.

I tried to find materials on Ebay and Amazon without success as I’d like to purse this at home.

I’ll look through the materials and see what’s available.

Good luck in this. Maybe God is calling you to start a branch in your parish?

Mary.

 

[2cherubs]

No my parish does not have a branch but given I have some weight to lose I’d be very interested in a group that provided as well Catholic fellowship and Bible Study.

I tried to find materials on Ebay and Amazon without success as I’d like to purse this at home.

I’ll look through the materials and see what’s available.

Good luck in this. Maybe God is calling you to start a branch in your parish?

Mary.

Yes, I’m delicately toying with the idea. One of our priests is pretty open about having struggled with food and undergone bariatric surgery, so I’m pretty sure I could garner support for it. I’d definitely want to learn more about the program first.

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone!

 

[Gertabelle]

Yes, I’m delicately toying with the idea. One of our priests is pretty open about having struggled with food and undergone bariatric surgery, so I’m pretty sure I could garner support for it. I’d definitely want to learn more about the program first.

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone!

It is very orthodox. Each week there’s a DVD presentation and a section of the workbook that goes with it.

Susan Fowler talks about the lives of one of the Saints, as well as virtues and the sacraments. She ties weight loss into our spiritual growth in holiness. Spiritually, I found it an excellent program.

But none of us lost weight on the program.