Jump to content
IGNORED

Gwen Shamblin: Skinny for Jesus


nausicaa

Recommended Posts

5 hours ago, quiversR4hunting said:

me too. All the diets that eliminate* complete food groups make me skeptical. A couple people at work are on some shake thing and I overheard them say they are really craving something to chew. Ah, duh! I have another friend that swears by Nutrisystem but I have seen her loose the weight, go back to normal food, gain it back. She didn't learn how to control her eating without the prepackaged meals and snacks.

I know eating in moderation or reducing portion size is hard work but it is the only way for lasting change. It is the one thing I agree with about the show "The biggest loser" they taught the contestants about correct portions, how to cook healthy, how to shop and eat real food.

Then again, I am preaching to the FJ choir!

*that are not medically necessary, like my daughter that is allergic to milk; and I don't mean vegetarians

Having had an eating disorder in college, I totally agree with all of this. I had a list of safe foods and eliminated the unsafe. 10 years later, I eat whatever I damn well please and am so much happier than I was then. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 602
  • Created
  • Last Reply
On 11/27/2017 at 6:08 PM, nausicaa said:

So today I learned of Gwen Shamblin, a woman who runs a church (some say cult) in Tennessee called Remnant Fellowship Church. She became famous for creating the The Weigh Down Workshop, which includes apparently savoring the minutiae of a tortilla chip for ten minutes so you only eat one or two.

But pictures are worth a thousand words:

7DCBE506-D444-47C8-B1DC-B86498578D25.jpeg.7243710cc80cf100f13c9df689bf56db.jpeg

 

  Reveal hidden contents

gwen-shamblin-family-and-friends-Family.jpg

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Gwen-Shamblin-Michael-Shamblin-Elizabeth-Shamblin-Hannah.jpg

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Gwen-Shamblin-with-her-Children.jpg

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Remnant-Fellowship-Brandon-and-Elizabeth-Hannah-03.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Y'all. This reminded me of a certain movie scene:

 

 

In response to reading about Gwen, I got Wendy's for lunch. :D I think before tomorrow's class I'll go with the Mediterranean restaurant across the street from where I have class, because it's gloriously tasty and substantial.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Walking Cat Bed said:

Y'all. This reminded me of a certain movie scene:

 

 

In response to reading about Gwen, I got Wendy's for lunch. :D I think before tomorrow's class I'll go with the Mediterranean restaurant across the street from where I have class, because it's gloriously tasty and substantial.  

TW real fucked up thoughts about eating/weight loss: I'm a little ashamed to say that after I got food poisoning so bad that I burst blood vessels around my eyes from the force of my vomiting and nearly had to go to the hospital (which I really super wanted to avoid because I was in a place where hospitals had a documented bad habit of reusing needles), my first thought after I recovered was "fuck, I should do this more often, my pants are so loose now". I instantly realized what a fucked up thought that was, but I can't say that I wasn't tempted to stop boiling my water so I could drop a pants size. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ended up here because of the J Rod thread. Now I'm sad because I used to restrict my eating in high school because of an unkind relative and I identify way too much with how crappy this is. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crap, the pictures from the first page of this thread still give me the willies....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a long and storied history of disordered eating, and have been both very underweight and very overweight.  I have just this week buckled down and gotten serious about losing some weight and was starving/had my stomach growling before dinner.  I know not to restrict too much in general and no longer cut out whole food groups or do any faddish diets, but those first few days of being more disciplined are always so hard!

Anyway, I found myself thinking of Gwen and the "wait for the growl" and the insane testimonial of that one lady who left, took 3 bites of the casserole before it went into the oven and it totally worked.  No longer starving and for a second I had a rush of calculating how much weight I could lose in the coming months if I just followed this "plan".   I could eat just another 3 bites at dinner!  I could do this forever!  Then I mentally slapped myself and made sure to eat a normal sized dinner.  This woman is dangerous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just discovered this thread from the Grifting Plexus Princess thread and it's not often I feel like I actually get to "participate" in threads. I just drove by the Remnant Fellowship building on Friday night and always chuckle at the monstrosity.  My mom did WDW years and years ago after my parents divorced and she's always been susceptible to things that make you feel less valuable and not good enough. Thankfully she found my stepdad for that or she might still be worshipping at the altar of WDW. I had never heard of Gwen Shamblin until one of my best friends mentioned her to me as "the WDW lady" and I had flashbacks of my mom on her knees praying whenever she was hungry. Friend has family at Remnant and it is a legit cult. I'm pretty sure I remember her telling me that Gwen picks who you are going to marry. 

Is it just me (and maybe the super artificial Memphis southern accent), but does she remind anyone else of a Leigh Anne Tuohy on steroids?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

wow what an interesting cult.  I’m going to make the little curly ginger boy in his creepy victorian getup my avatar once I get the energy to crop him out.  

In the christmas video I think the kids are pointing up to G-d at the end other performances. Some salute of sorts.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive done it,  this might be my favorite avatar since screaming Izzy in a blue wig.

creepyboy.jpg.b3363a056298fe6a745711004321d2a3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Gwens divorce was final June 21, 2018 and she got engaged to former Tarzan Joe Lara on June 23, 2018. Their wedding from what I hear is on August 18. 

This place is beyond evil. I've lost my teenage daughter to them and there are so many more of us out there. Someday I'll write a book, I have emails, texts, audio from the fight we've been fighting the last year and a half against them. They twist the truth for their own benefit. Joe Lara's house was purchased by a non-profit LLC with the same address as the church and weighdown offices. Wonder if this violates anything in their nonprofit status? Wonder if a church member questioning my daughter about what medications I am on violates any HIPPAA policies? Wonder if them sharing the costs of the weddings(what my daughter told me) violates anything in their nonprofit status? I wonder who eats the cost of Gwen's wedding? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@SJWaterford, welcome to Free Jinger. :) Thank you for letting us know more about these destructive people. I'm very sorry that your teenaged daughter is entangled in their webs. I hope she will be an escapee someday soon. :my_heart:

If you feel comfortable sharing, how did you first get mixed up with Gwen and her people? Did you already live in her area, or did you move there to be close? 

Other posters may have questions, too. It's always up to you which questions you feel okay answering, and which things you want/need to keep private. (Sometimes when we get a person posting with "inside knowledge" the questions can get a bit overwhelming.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have lived in this area for 11 years. We have always heard rumors about the church but it was kind of a joke. My daughter in her Senior year of high school began a relationship with a boy from that church. Usually they are homeschooled but we've been told it might have been missionary dating, where there wasn't enough girls in the church so he had to go lure one in. They had a physical relationship but he refused to acknowledge her as his girlfriend until she joined the church. We confronted his parents about the relationship and they assured us they understood and would discipline the boy. They continue to see each other at school and we kept intervening as best we could(she even got baptized at our church) but apparently their hold was too strong. I have a treasure trove of emails and texts from raiding her email and phone. A member at the church(who is now a teacher at the high school) purchased her a burner phone when we took hers away for being deceitful. I found it hidden in her room. I have audio of our conversations with the boys parents confronting them about their beliefs and what they've done. They are not remorseful at all. The only thing I got an apology for was him questioning her about my medications. This dad also told her that a family backpacking trip might be our attempt at an "intervention". So basically we are associated with this church against our will. I have never stepped foot in it and I don't have to. I have all the information I need. IMG_3732.thumb.JPG.73cb1e58e7c5736642db08801d9a84fa.JPG

I'd be happy to answer any questions that I am able to based on my personal experience. Its amazing how the victims come out of the woodwork when they see they aren't the only ones. I've met so many now. And it's so much worse than we thought. It's not(to me) about the theology anymore. It's like a mob you can't get out of because they are so intertwined together now in business dealings and such. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This boy started a physical relationship with my daughter in the fall but wouldn't commit to her until she joined the church. 

Another pic is what this so called "nutrionist" suggests people eat in her workbook. 

Always telling her to delete her emails or change her passwords. IMG_3767.thumb.jpg.e8363200e06402dacf9d39119c0d1093.jpg

 

 

 

Spoiler

IMG_3756.jpg

 

 

Spoiler

IMG_4527.JPG

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holy hell... 20 years ago my mom was a supporter of this lady! I think her books? are still around our house. Just crazy. My mom was really religious when I was little and I knew she wanted to lose weight. She must've followed Gwen for around 3 years? She even went to Tenessee for one of her seminars. Thankfully she stopped after that. I must say, Gwen's picture on her books/casettes is one of those weird childhood images tattooed in my brain. She looks horrible now. i just stumbled across this thread so I haven't read it and I don't know how public her material is, but if anyone's interested I can definitely share the material my mom had (if she hasnt tossed it. blech.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SJWaterford said:

This boy started a physical relationship with my daughter in the fall but wouldn't commit to her until she joined the church. 

Another pic is what this so called "nutrionist" suggests people eat in her workbook. 

Always telling her to delete her emails or change her passwords. IMG_3767.thumb.jpg.e8363200e06402dacf9d39119c0d1093.jpg

 

 

IMG_3756.jpg

IMG_4527.JPG

Two Hershey's Kisses as the afternoon snack?  TWO????????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, JMarie said:

 Two Hershey's Kisses as the afternoon snack?  TWO????????

And supper is only "several bites" of the foods listed. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@SJWaterford, I am so sorry that this is happening to your daughter and your family. Churches and other religious organizations who operate honestly and openly would never tell a minor child (or anyone, quite frankly) to keep things from their loved ones. So many of the messages smack of love bombing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is your daughter still a minor?  I don't know if you would have any legal recourse if she was a minor at the time but now isn't.  This is horrible.  We had a family member who was very closely associated with a cult when i was in my late teens.  We didn't do an actual intervention, but I did have a very serious talk with her and at the time, she told me I was mean and to shut up because I didn't know what I was talking about.  But shortly after that, she reduced her contact with the group.  But she was a lonely adult who fell victim to someone who took advantage of that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

And supper is only "several bites" of the foods listed. :(

And NO breakfast. :my_cry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, smittykins said:

And NO breakfast. :my_cry:

And NO vegetables or fruit! Seriously, onion rings don't count! 

@SJWaterford I am so sorry that you have to go through this. You are certainly getting some support here at FJ (although the internet is forever, and no forum is 100% safe), and I truly hope that you are getting good support with friends and maybe a therapist, too. I know that I certainly support you!

I am disturbed by the fact that they had a "physical" relationship, but he would not acknowledge her until she joined the church. It stinks of sexual predation. Like, in the old days if a boy rapes a girl, the girl still has to marry the boy to remove the "sin". It almost sounds like she was under pressure to do whatever it took (join the church) to remove the sin of the physical relationship.

Finally--that Tarzan! So many of my bored-as-stone weekend afternoons were taken up by sketchy 90s TV: New Tarzan, New Crow, Hercules, Xenia, New Beastmaster...this is awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stunned by just how unhealthy that food plan is. No fruit, barely any vegetables (and aren't onion rings deep fried? Or are they something different to what I am thinking of?) and then Hershey kisses (I had to look them up). I wouldn't last 24 hours on that plan, I would go insane. Also I can see why she might need a wig, I can't imagine her hair is in good shape.

14 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

Gwens divorce was final June 21, 2018 and she got engaged to former Tarzan Joe Lara on June 23, 2018. Their wedding from what I hear is on August 18. 

Wait, what?? She's divorced?! How did I miss this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her marriage to the hidden (not skinny) husband finally collapsed?!

This has got to be one of the most perverse fundie cults. And yes, Gwen is a cult leader.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • laPapessaGiovanna locked this topic

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.