Hey, everybody. This is a bonus episode of Weight Loss with the Holy Spirit podcast. And I just wanted to get this out to you because a couple weeks ago, I did a workshop, Weight Loss the Catholic Way, and I’d put together this video of such inspiring stories, and I played it before the workshop began.

And I will tell you, I have played it several times over and over, and every time I play it, I get so inspired, and I get so reignited, and I feel so much hope, not only for this work, but for all of the women who have an opportunity to do this work and who aren’t even here   And so I wanted to share it with you.

Now, I know that you don’t see the women’s faces, but you get to hear their voices, and you get to hear the music behind their voices. And I thought this would be so fun to have on the podcast that you can listen to when you wanna be uplifted, that you can share with people who want to hear what Weight Loss the Catholic Way can truly do in their lives.

This is a small snippet, a small percentage of the women’s lives who have been changed by the Lord. Been changed because they said yes to Him. And I wanted a place to be able to share this. So I hope you enjoy it. Come back to it when you wanna feel His hope, His peace, His encouragement. And just know that when you hear these stories, they’re not unique stories.

This is what can happen to you, and if it hasn’t happened to you yet, just trust that the miracle will happen if you keep staying in the work. As you know, right around the corner, we’re starting our fall reset, and if you aren’t part of the fall reset, become part of fall reset. That is how these women have what they have.

You’ll hear them talk about 63 Surrendered, and 63 Surrendered is the program that we’ll be using in the fall reset. It’s 63 days of surrender, and we call it that because it’s based on the Surrender Novena. We do the Surrender Novena every single day. We do it seven times. So nine days of a novena times seven is 63 days. It’s that simple.

So please, enjoy these stories. You’re gonna hear a little snippet of my story first, and then it’s gonna go right into other women. Some women, you’ll hear their names. I’ve gotten permission from all of them to share their stories, and some of them, you won’t hear their names, and that’s fine, too. Just know that these are women whose lives have been changed by the Lord.

And your life can be changed by the Lord too. And I’m guessing if you’re listening to this, He has already started changing your life. But it can even go deeper. So I invite you to come deeper with us, to join the Fall Reset and start September 9th. I’ll make sure that you have the link in the description and enjoy these beautiful, beautiful  stories.

Denise’s Story

12 years ago, my life looked way different. My boys were four and seven, and now they’re in college and high school. And we struggled with five years of infertility, so both my boys are adopted. And I say that only so that you see I really tried hard to have kids. There was no accident. There was no surprise pregnancies.

But when they were little, all I wanted to do was to spend my evenings dumping chocolate chips in a jar of peanut butter hiding in my pantry, eating it with a spoon. And I would look to see if my husband was watching while he was watching TV in the living room. And I was so confused because I had the kids that I’d prayed so hard for, and I had the husband that I’d prayed so hard for.

Now, I’ll tell you, I grew up without a faith, but by this point, 12 years ago, I had converted and I was on fire for the Lord. And so every morning I’d wake up after overeating and I would feel horrible. And I would pray, “Lord, please help me not do this again.” I promised I wouldn’t do it again, but I did, and I was just stuck in that cycle.

Until the Lord finally showed me how to surrender to Him and what that truly meant. He brought people into my life to teach me how to do that, and how to let my food be simple and ordered instead of restrictive and complicated.

And I had this beautiful private journey with Him for six years. Six years, really only my closest friends and family knew I felt so much freedom. And in 2020, when the whole world changed, God said to me, “Denise, now, go find my hurting daughters and bring them to me.” And I thought, “I don’t even know what that means.” But I wasn’t willing to say no to Him.

Slowly He revealed to me that He wanted to bring the method that He brought me through, the process that He brought me through to have this peace and this freedom to be at my healthy weight without worrying about the scale, to eat food peacefully without fear of overeating it, how to handle my emotions, how to care and support myself so I can truly do that and not use food.

That entire process, He said, “It’s time now to go find my hurting daughters and bring them to Me, Jesus.” Not bring them to Denise, but bring them to Me, Jesus, because He is the one that is the answer. You’re listening to this because you want it, and He’s inviting you.

We have a God of simplicity, we have a God of peace, and we have a God of order, and that’s how Weight Loss the Catholic Way is. It’s simple, it’s peaceful, it’s ordered. You eat the foods that you enjoy in a peaceful and enjoyable way without fear of overeating them. I’ll show you how to do all of that you can have this freedom too.  

Sierra’s Testimonial

Denise: And when you started 63 Surrendered, did you just stop?

Sierra: I think it’s the novenas and the, all the things that I used to write that you gave us and stuff. I did them. I could do them with my heart, and I tried my very best doing them and stuff. And I also did the Surrender novena, and things just seemed to miraculously just change for me.

Denise: So the compulsion and the urge to binge just was removed?

Sierra: Oh, yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Without a doubt. 

Eillen’s Testimonial

Eillen:  The obsession, addiction to sugar that I had was horrible. It was horrible. And I’m free of that. It happened right away, and I don’t care about it anymore. I can look at a bag of candy and it’s like a bag of rocks. It means nothing to me. So that’s a miracle, right?

Denise: That is a miracle, and for the people who are listening who hear you say it was so bad, it was an addiction. Can you give us some specific examples so that women can say, “Oh yeah, that’s me.”

Eillen: Oh, plenty. Checking out at the grocery store or Hobby Lobby, buying the candy bars. I didn’t buy just one, I bought multiple. Some for the ride home and some for later, and hiding it and sneaking it, and the wrappers that were wrapped up in paper towel or Kleenex so that I could put them in the trash. It was horrible. It was an addiction. So the shame and the hiding and the sneaking, all of that I’m free of.

Sierra’s testimonial

Denise:  So Sierra, in 63 days you lost 27 pounds.

Sierra: Yes. Yeah.

Denise: How is that even possible?

Sierra: It’s not me. It’s the Holy… Like, it’s you and the Holy Spirit. It’s Jesus. And you, like, you made Jesus happen in me, if that makes sense.

Denise: Yeah. What you’re saying is that you were given a tool that helped unblock you so that the Lord could come in and work and heal in you.

Sierra: Yes.

Kathy’s Testimonial

Kathy: So it’s been about a little less than two and a half months, and I have lost 14 pounds.

Denise: Wow.

Kathy: Yeah. So, yeah. So I am.

Denise: Wow.

Kathy: I’m trying to not make that the goal or the. But it’s like the blessing of it, you know?

Denise: Amazing.

Kathy: Like, I mean, I started this because it was weight loss with the Holy Spirit, and I did wanna lose weight. That was the plan, was to lose weight. I am thrilled that I’ve lost weight because I feel better, not because of the number. My goal is to just live each day surrendering to God, asking God what He wants from me, and for me to just be healthy.

Amy’s Testimonial

Amy:  The biggest surprise would be that I like my body. That I’m so absolutely, can I say freaking?

Denise: Yes.

Amy: Grateful that I have this body. When I started this, I would avoid the mirror. I’m 62, and I was comparing myself to when I was 42. I am not controlled by a number anymore. I did give up the scale for Lent, and I’ve decided I don’t need it.

Brido’s Testimonial

Brido: My biggest surprise was about two weeks in after you coached me, I stopped binging. And this is the 51st day of not binging. And that just blew me away ’cause that.

Denise: I just wanna tell the people who are listening that you, we have now wrapped up 63 Surrendered. So you stopped binging a few weeks into it, and now you’re on day 51, which is incredible.

Brido: Yes. And so my second big surprise was when it occurred to me later, probably two or three weeks later, that it was the work of the Holy Spirit. Because there was really no human way that one call with the coaching should have caused my urges to just disappear.

So the reason I’m not binging is I’m not having urges to binge. Or if I do, there was one day I just felt this overpowering urge to stop and get some kind of junk food on the way home from a errand, and I just started praying the surrender prayer,  and it went away. But that’s really the only time. It’s such a freedom to be free from that.

Kathy’s Testimonial

Denise: I remember you sharing on a coaching call one time that you noticed that you only overeat, what, four or five times during the 63 days. And prior to that, how many times a week that you’d be overeating?

Kathy: It was probably, realistically, it was probably about five times a week.

Denise: That’s so incredible

Kathy: I was having a problem about five times a week, so that’s tremendous.

Wendy’s Testimonial

Wendy: I stepped off the scale. I got back on the scale and looked again and figured the scale had to be broken, and then just stood there in shock ’cause it said that I had lost 34 pounds in those nine weeks. 

Jeannie’s Testimonial

Jeannie: I was the queen of all queens of panic prayers. I was always throwing up a panic. And when you say Jesus, I surrender myself to you take care of everything. You just start believing it and before you know you’re just filled with that peace beyond all understanding that he promises us ’cause he is the king of peace.

My clothes are all fitting differently. My underwear is fitting differently, my bras are fitting differently. I know something’s happening, and I just feel good. I just feel good. I’m happy. I’m peaceful. And it’s just because of how you’ve calmed my brain down, how you’ve taught us. You teach us how to calm your brain down and that I needed that lesson. I had a crazy brain.

Loesja’s Testimonial

Loesja: It really works. I say this authentically it really worked for me and it’s changed my whole life. I feel so much freedom. Like I never think about food anymore. I haven’t binged since I started 63 Surrender. I have no desire to do it at all. The whole thing, for me, the whole problem with food is just completely gone.

Jeannie’s Testimonial

 The hugest change that I’ve really experienced through this whole thing is I cut out the snack drawer and I just would’ve thought that would be impossible to me. ’cause I love a snack drawer.
Diane’s Testimonial

Denise: What was the biggest surprise for you.

Diane: I started to lose weight and it was just seemed to be coming off naturally. It wasn’t something that I had to try just by following these quote unquote eating behavior rules. The weight just came off and I was wearing a size 12 at the time, but sometimes I really could have used a 14.

I was wearing size larges and I could feel myself getting smaller and smaller. And now I’m into size eights. And I’m down into mediums and smalls. I had some challenges. With gut and digestion and since that has improved a huge amount as well. Because I’m not eating all through the day. Grabbing, being at work, putting a snack to eat in my drawer.

Not chewing 20 times, just kind of shoveling it in. I meet with different people, I have appointments and I just didn’t even have the forethought to predict and plan, and now I do. So that’s a big thing. I would eat when I was driving now it would be healthy I could overeat vegetables.

Denise: Yeah.

Diane: Salad, lettuce, just healthy things I could overeat.

Denise: Yeah.

Diane: Really, I was a volume eater. Not the way God would want me to be eating.

Denise: So on a practical standpoint, the specific food that you ate didn’t necessarily change. It was just the way that you were eating that changed.

Diane: Right. Even the healthy food.

Denise: So when you started you did not weigh yourself.

Diane: No, but I suspect I was 165.

Denise: When was the next time you weighed yourself?

Diane: Well, it was in the summer. I’m pretty sure I was one 30.9.

Denise: So in five months, you had gone down around 35 pounds.

Diane: Yes. Just by following these behaviors.

Denise: Just by allowing peace to enter into your relationship with food.

Diane: Amen. That’s it.

Denise: And so here you are sitting in a comfortable body.

Diane: Yes. Very.

Denise: When’s the last time you were able to say, I feel comfortable in my body?

Diane: When I was young in my twenties, I do remember there was just a little stint of maybe a week. Where I’m not kidding. I sat with food that I liked and I ate it quietly and slowly . So that was a very long time ago. Like 40 years ago.

Beth’s Testimonial

Beth:  I was one of the people that this kicked in immediately. The very first day that I said the surrender novena, there was this, the peace beyond understanding that the scripture promises it came over me in food. And I have not binged once in a year.

Denise: Oh my gosh, you guys. I could listen to that over and over and over. It is so inspiring, but that’s what the Lord does. So if you would like to have your story sound like that, I want you to join us in the fall reset. We start next Wednesday, September 9th, right after Labor Day, after the official end of summer.

You know you’re going to do something this September anyway to get back on track after the summer. Why not do it in a way that brings you closer to the Lord and leads you to your healthy weight? There’s no reason not to. So remember, at Weight Loss with the Holy Spirit, we keep God our God. Not the scale, not our pant size, not the magic diet. We keep God our God.

All right, everybody. Have a blessed day.