Program helps church members lose weight

    Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars on weight-loss programs and products. Many are on a search for a quick fix, unwilling to consider permanent changes in their life-style as the answer.   However, the members of the United Baptist Church in Island Falls and their surrounding communities, have discovered that the Bible holds the answer to the obesity epidemic. By following the First Place 4 Health program, a faith-based weight loss plan supported and endorsed by registered dietitians and physicians, members of the United Baptist Church groups have already lost a total of 200 pounds.
    Meeting in weekly support groups, the members of the United Baptist Church groups follow a 12-week curriculum that is centered around achieving balance in four essential areas of their lives:  emotional, spiritual, mental and physical. First Place 4 Health encourages members to adopt practical disciplines in all four areas. These include regular attendance and fellowship (emotional); prayer, Scripture reading and Bible study (spiritual); Scripture memory and keeping a food record (mental); and eating well and exercising (physical). First Place 4 Health helps members learn how to be victorious over past eating patterns and how to commit their minds and, ultimately, their bodies to God.
    The First Place 4 Health program has delivered faith-based health and weight management instruction and support to small groups meeting in churches since 1981. First Place 4 Health has been active in more than 12, 000 churches with over a half million successful members.  The program points members to God’s strength and creates a compassionate support group that helps members stay accountable in a positive environment.
    First Place 4 Health groups will resume at United Baptist Church in Island Falls on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. For information or to join a First Place 4 Health group, contact Libby Moulton at 463-3260.