Gwen Shamblin Lara: The Weight-Loss Cult Leader Who Left Lasting Scars

pregnant woman in yellow flower dress holding her belly

You may have recently come across the late cult leader and weight-loss author Gwen Shamblin Lara through the HBO Max documentary, “The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin.” Currently, three episodes of this docuseries are available, with additional episodes slated for release in 2022. The series dives into the lives of former members of Gwen’s Brentwood, Tennessee church, The Remnant Fellowship, detailing her ascent to fame, wealth, and authority, while also exposing the trauma inflicted on her followers, including her role in the tragic child abuse death of a young boy in her congregation. It’s a chilling narrative.

However, this isn’t merely about the documentary; it’s a personal account of how Gwen Shamblin’s teachings impacted me deeply as a twelve-year-old.

Before Gwen Shamblin Lara transformed into the eccentric figure known for her extreme weight-loss cult, she was a dietitian. Instead of using her expertise positively, she developed a harmful, faith-based weight-loss program that left many devastated.

I first learned of Gwen Shamblin in middle school during the late ’90s, long before she became the infamous figure she is known as today. Her Weigh Down Workshops gained significant traction in the church circles I grew up in, and her book, The Weigh Down Diet, was a bestseller. My father lost around forty pounds following her methods, prompting my mother, who was always striving for thinness, to attend one of her workshops. She brought me along, her chubby seventh grader.

It was during these meetings that I was introduced to the disturbing idea that being overweight was linked to sin. We sat in a circle, introduced ourselves, prayed, and watched videos of an assertive Gwen Shamblin proclaiming that obesity stemmed from the sin of greed. She asserted that overweight individuals confused their spiritual hunger with a desire for food, suggesting that fatness is a form of idolatry. This notion implied that my body separated me from the God who was supposed to love me.

Hearing this for the first time was a crushing experience. Looking around the room filled with adults, including my mother, I noticed no one else seemed as alarmed as I was. To me, this meant it was an undeniable truth, and I was left devastated.

Prior to this, I had felt good about myself—being a rule-follower and a successful student defined me. Yes, I was chubby, but I held onto the belief that I could still be good. Gwen Shamblin’s workshop shattered that self-image. The guilt I experienced didn’t end with that meeting; the same messages echoed in subsequent sessions. My ability to please God was tied to my weight. What had once been a mere societal standard of beauty morphed into a profound sense of shame.

This damaging ideology was reinforced throughout my teens and twenties, with Gwen Shamblin planting the initial seed of insecurity. For the next two decades, I chased obedience and righteousness, yet never felt I achieved it. My weight symbolized greed and gluttony, leaving me feeling like a disappointment to God.

The way Gwen framed the relationship between food and morality distorted my understanding of both. I was taught to take what I believed I wanted to eat and then put half of it back. I learned not to eat at the first sign of hunger since that could be a spiritual need. While she claimed no food was off-limits, I struggled to understand the delicate balance between satisfaction and fullness.

Ultimately, this led me down a path of disordered eating. I felt more valuable when I was thinner, not just in society’s eyes but in God’s as well. Gwen Shamblin’s teachings intertwined food with morality, leaving me to grapple with guilt for years.

It wasn’t until I distanced myself from organized religion in my early thirties that I began to experience food freedom. For the past five or six years, I’ve sought my own beliefs about spirituality, moving away from harmful dogmas introduced by Gwen Shamblin and her Weigh Down Workshops.

When I learned that Gwen Shamblin Lara’s plane had crashed into Percy Priest Lake, just minutes from my home, I felt relief. While I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s demise, her life’s work was to instill shame and guilt in individuals like me to the point of starvation. She once infamously stated on a talk show, “How in the Holocaust did you have all these people getting down real skinny? They ate less food.”

I’m relieved her reign of terror has ended. Despite her daughter’s commitment to continuing her legacy, I can only hope the Remnant Fellowship and Weigh Down empire either evolves into something less harmful or collapses under her leadership. Gwen Shamblin Lara spent her life promoting pain and enabling abuse in the name of faith.

In the end, the wealth and power she amassed by instilling shame in innocent people couldn’t save her. I wonder if she ever regretted her actions on her way down.

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Summary:

This article reflects on the profound impact of Gwen Shamblin Lara’s teachings, particularly on young individuals grappling with issues of weight and self-worth. It highlights the damaging notions propagated by her weight-loss cult and how they can lead to lifelong struggles with guilt and disordered eating. The author shares their personal journey toward healing and finding freedom from these harmful ideologies.

Keyphrase: Gwen Shamblin Lara’s teachings

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