The Christian Dieter’s Dilemma: Abundance and Restriction in Two Christian Weight Loss Programs

Christian weight loss programs call on people to develop seemingly ascetic practices in the name of pleasing God by getting thin. But they also want to affirm a God who provides all good things to his people and who would never deprive them, especially of food. In order to be effective both as weight loss and as religious groups, these programs have to find a way to navigate this fundamental tension. The author examines two distinctive discursive approaches to resolving it: abundant eating within strict food guidelines, and extreme restraint while eating most pleasurable of foods.