By Eleanor Hong

First Place
The "First Place" weight-loss program started at the First Baptist Church of Houston in 1981. Since then, the program claims to have over half a million members at about 12,000 churches nationwide.

Instead of strict food guidelines or supplements, the focus of the group is spiritual awareness to replace food as comfort.

Each member must commit to nine disciplines including attendance, prayer, scripture reading, exercise and healthy eating. The food regimen is common-sense nutrition based on calorie intake measured by the American Dietetic Association and the USDA food pyramid.

The plan doesn't leave out any food group but encourages members not to indulge on too many sweets or excess amounts of fried foods. Members track how much they consume through a food diary and share their progress in a Bible study support network.

Carole Lewis, the current director has written several books and seminars about the program.

First Place even has a resident chef to help develop the program's recipes. Chef Scott Wilson CECAAC, is a registered certified executive chef within the American Culinary Federation, and a former First Place member in Alabama.

The Weigh Down Diet and Thin Within
Weigh Down and Thin Within programs are similar diet programs that recognize that obesity in America stems from overindulgence due to emotional issues. These programs also focus on Bible study and prayer to rejuvenate spirituality in members.

However, Weigh Down and Thin Within advises members to eat only when physically hungry -- curbing any craving of food when emotionally hurt or upset.

Recently on NBC's "Today" show, Gwen Shamblin, founder of Weigh Down Diet Workshop, spoke about the spiritual aspects of the diet to put God first in life and take away food addiction as emotional crutches.

The Weigh Down Diet Workshop claims to have changed about over one million members. And Shamblin also has a background and taught nutrition at the University of Memphis, Tenn.

Even though the program claims no gimmicks or supplements, it also offers no diet or exercise plans -- and lets members eat whatever they want.

The Thin Within workshops were started in 1975 by Judy Wardell-Halliday and Joy Imboden Overstreet, who both experienced struggles with food and weight-related issues. Since then, the program opened 10 metropolitan offices.

Similar to Weigh Down, Thin Within tells members to only eat when they are hungry. The program tracks eating patterns based on a hunger scale where 0 denotes real hunger and 5 denotes fullness. The scale is a way to gage "God-given signals of hunger and fullness." There are no dietary restraints or forbidden foods uses.

According to Gerbstadt, fasting can be unhealthy especially for people who have diabetes and who have a history of binging.

"Food plans that don'’t have you eating three to five hours is probably not going to give you a lot of energy – you’re going to have highs and lows in your blood glucose," states Gerbstadt.

"So, any diet that tells you to wait until you'’re hungry and it happens to be in six to seven hours, you won’'t be at your optimum whether you realize it or not. I'’m not against the idea of waiting until you’'re hungry but you should be within every five hours."

And the American Dietetics Association warns against fad diets that leave out any food group or exercise. Gerbstadt further notes that even within faith-based diets, there are some big differences where many programs are fairly reasonable in terms of including a variety of foods, moderate portions, and limiting calories to only what you burn so that you aren’t gaining weight.

Back to the Beginning: Religious Diets 101