Rise Above

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JAN 3, 2000

Shamblin follows The Weigh Down Diet with more encouragement for the 50% of Americans she declares are overweight. Shamblin's cure for overeating has two dimensions: physiological (eat only when you are hungry and stop eating when you're full) and spiritual (replace your passion for food with a passion for God). In this book, the spiritual dimension takes center stage. Shamblin's tone is unfailingly motivational as she utilizes the Bible to exhort readers to serve "The God" instead of "the food god." (She also addresses, not entirely satisfactorily, a wide range of other potential addictions, from overspending while shopping to indulging in pornography.) Shamblin is sometimes strangely dismissive of scientific research on the benefits of a balanced diet, but she plainly states what most diet books do not: that our relationship to food is a profoundly spiritual matter, not just an issue of calories, fat grams and carbohydrates. This conviction makes ancient biblical stories like the Exodus come to life in new ways, albeit with the help of a breezy style that sails by perennial problems in Christian theology with unflagging cheer. For example, Shamblin notes that America, a nation of "professional dieters," is enslaved by its obsession with weight loss. God can free us from the "Egypt" of this enslavement if we replace our love of food with love for God. Readers will have to go elsewhere to plumb the depths of such spiritual issues as idolatry, self-denial and the relationship of human works to God's grace--but here they will find excellent entry-level help for what is arguably America's least recognized spiritual problem. $500,000 ad/promo; 30-city author tour.