Devoutly religious, Theresa Giffin says that her relationship with God has been her salvation from a lifetime of weight problems.
“I had tried everything available to lose weight,” she notes. “I took pills. I fasted. I got a tummy tuck. I did it all. And each time, I’d regain what I lost—and more.”
But for Theresa, prayer succeeded where pills, fasts, and surgery had failed. It happened one day when a coworker left a 2-pound box of chocolates on her desk.
Theresa took one piece, but she knew that wouldn’t be enough. “It was my very favorite candy, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to stop,” recalls the 51-year-old nurse from Fall Creek, Oregon. “So I whispered a little prayer: ‘God, you know that I want to eat this whole box of candy. You have to help me!’”
In an instant, Theresa’s desire for chocolate vanished. “It had no smell, no taste,” she says. “It was like a piece of cardboard to me.”
Theresa joined Weigh Down Workshops, an international program that advocates weight loss through prayer. She credits this approach with her weight-loss success.
Now, every time temptation hits, Theresa says a little prayer. In little more than a year, she lost 87 pounds. j pi
WINNING ACTION
Create your own intervention. When you feel that overwhelming surge of emotions sending you off on a binge, stop it in its tracks. Like Theresa, you can pray. Or you can do what I do: Before I start stuffing myself with food, I say to myself (or sometimes out loud), “Stop, slow down, and think!” Usually, that’s enough to help me switch gears, so I can do something—anything—else.
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