What will you find this summer?

Hello Precious One!

How’s it going? Summer is a new season and it is important to make this summer count! I connect summer with progress and vacation, not just vacation. I love it when school is out and there are no more school lunches to make! Summer is a season for progress in Light Weigh – not stagnation or back sliding.

Many coordinators have found leaving flyers in their parish and surrounding parishes has resulted in new members. This even saved a woman’s life – literally. Here is her fascinating story below.

Reem's Story

"You eat to live, not live to eat." While most people live by that philosophy, I fell into the opposite category! From such a young age, my entire life revolved around food. From the moment I woke up until the time I went to bed, food was always at the forefront of my mind. I "lived" for that next meal, the next taste of food that would make my palate dance with joy!

Food, in essence, became my "drug." Whether I was celebrating something joyous or sulking in my misery, I would reward and/or console myself with food. As the years went by, my weight began to creep higher and higher. Many nights I would go to bed feeling so utterly stuffed and disgusted with myself that I would wake up the next morning with my face swollen from all the salt retention. I knew that this had to end somehow.

I was addicted to food and my physical appearance manifested that fact. I gained over 40 pounds from freshman year of high school till freshman year of college. At the beginning of my second year in college, my unhealthy obsession with food took a turn for the worst. Not only was I binging on food to numb my pain and stuff down my emotions, but I began to vomit after each meal! Thus my insidious battle with Bulimia ensued. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror anymore. I was so heavy and filled with hatred for myself. In order to lose my excess weight quickly, but continue to eat as much as I wanted, I continued this lifestyle of binging and purging for over 12 years!

This secret life I was leading caused me so much pain and shame; I didn't trust that anyone would understand or compassionate me so I isolated myself from others. However, I never gave up praying and pleading with God and Our Blessed Mother for help day after day! I had no hope left! I knew that I would end up dead one day from all the damage I was causing my body!

I decided to consecrate myself to Jesus through Mary using the St. Louis DeMontfort format. My consecration day was on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 2015. I begged Our Lady to please help me and guide me because I was so desperate and alone in my secret battle. A month and a half later, on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, 2015, I was visiting my dad in the hospital when all of a sudden my entire body started convulsing and my jaw froze along with fingers and toes. I felt paralyzed and couldn't move or even talk. My heart felt as if it was going to explode out of my chest. The Rapid Response medical team was called over the intercom to come to my aide. I was rushed to the Emergency Department on the lower level and was admitted right away. They found that the levels of my potassium were so critically low that it almost made my heart completely stop. Because of my frequent vomiting on a daily basis, I was losing so many vital nutrients and minerals in my body. After i was stabilized with the necessary treatments and testing, I was discharged 24 hours later. That was a blaring wake up call for me to stop living this way! My cry for help reached the throne of God through The Most Blessed Mother's powerful intercession.

My prayers were answered less than 3 months later! I attended Mass at St. John Vianney Catholic Church one Sunday morning, and on my way out, I came across a flyer in the vestibule left by a Light Weigh coordinator named Janet that was titled "LIGHT WEIGH." I picked up the flyer and read through it and instantly felt the Holy Spirit telling me..."THIS IS THE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYERS!"

LIGHT WEIGH indeed has been the answer to my prayers! This program has truly been a life saver for me! Suzanne's words of wisdom, understanding, and her techniques for approaching eating in a healthier, more "Christ-like" manner has shed a profound light in my life! The prayers, sacrifices, Scripture reading, little way beads, and many other components have helped me plant my feet more firmly on the ground with relationship to food. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is working through this program. Through the grace and power of God, He is helping me detach from food and attach more closely to His Most Pure and Sacred Heart! Instead of running towards food as my consoler, Suzanne has taught me to run to the One and Only One who will ever be able to fill my "heart hole" which is Jesus Christ!

There are no words that can truly express how grateful and humbled I am to have been led by God to this anointed Catholic Spiritual weight loss program. The weight loss is a bonus because the biggest blessing of this program is the joy and freedom it has brought to my life!!! My soul sings the praises of my Lord for having freed me of my bondage to food using Suzanne's LIGHT WEIGH program!

May all the glory and honor and praise be to Our God who always answers our prayers according to His Will and on His timing!

In Christ,

Reem