Program combines religious study with weight loss

Marie Bitter has tried many ways to lose weight -- all the way from diet pills to puffed wheat. "You did it for a while, and then you kind of either broke out in hives" or couldn't stand it any longer, she recalled.

But she eventually found a weight-loss solution in a surprising place: the Catholic Church.

Ms. Bitter is a member of a weight-loss group at Sacred Heart Church in Palenville that is using the Light Weigh program to expand their religious knowledge while reducing their weight.

In less than a year, each of the six women who went through the program lost 20 or more pounds, and some plan to lose even more.

Soul light

Mary Howard, a cantor at the parish, was familiar with faith-based weight-loss programs and wanted to implement a Catholic-based program at Sacred Heart.

"I was having difficulties [losing weight] by myself," she said. "I knew I needed something that was a group approach, so that we could support each other. I realized from the other workshops that turning things over to God was a way to help yourself, too. You can't do it by yourself. You need the Lord's help."

The program she discovered -- Light Weigh, a 12-week video series -- is "really a Bible study and prayer group where we lose weight, too," said Ms. Howard.

How it works

The plan includes a video series, no counting calories, no complicated math and no foods to abstain from. Instead, the group eats foods they enjoy -- but only when they are hungry and never more than they need to feel full.

That's where faith kicks in, the women say: When members get cravings for food they don't need to eat, they pray.

"As we're going through our day, we're offering up that temptation for an extra hamburger for a friend who found out about her cancer," Ms. Howard explained. "It's really focusing on people other than myself. Being able to sacrifice for someone else took the focus off of me and my weight, and put it on how I can help other people."

Down and up

While the pounds dropped, the women said, their knowledge of Scripture increased.

Along with the tenets of weight loss, the group members read the Sunday readings one week ahead of time, keep a spiritual journal and focus on short Bible passages to help with their weight-loss journey.

That was particularly useful for Ms. Bitter, who wanted to increase her faith by pursuing adult faith formation.

"I've always had a strong faith," said the parish's organist who also teaches music at St. Patrick's School in Catskill. "Playing the organ, you're in church a lot. But I'd been going to Mass and studying music; I hadn't been doing any faith formation."

'Bread of life'

Both women found that the program emphasizes reliance on God instead of reliance on food.

"Crack open a Bible," said Ms. Howard: "'I am the bread of life.' 'You will never thirst.' The Lord is always providing food for His people. There's a connection between God and food, and it's always been there."

Moderation -- a key to the Light Weigh program and one of the major secrets of the group's weight-loss success -- is also "throughout the Bible," Ms. Howard said.

Test of faith

At a recent church potluck supper, Ms. Bitter and the other Light Weigh participants faced a spread of dozens of dishes -- and came out on top.

"We just took a little bit of this and a little bit of that," she said. "It wasn't like the old days."

(The Palenville Light Weigh group begins a new session this week. For more information, call Mary Howard at 678-2175.)

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