|
|
|||
|
|
||
by Lori Sandys Lapierre Hobbs started struggling with her weight at age 11, and married her high school sweetheart, Keith, in 1993. After having Ashley, now 15; Kayla, 13; and Jake, 10, she hovered near 350 pounds. In spite of feeling “ugly, judged, and pathetic,” she chose to ignore the extra weight. “Weight is different than other issues,” she points out. “You’re wearing it. People can see that something is going on inside.” After Jake’s birth, Hobbs realized she was treating her weight as a health problem she had no control over, instead of something to change. Alone in her car one night, she cried out in desperation to God. “[I] said to Him that I was done fighting, and that I needed strength to fight this war. I also realized in those moments that I had to take personal responsibility for my struggle or I would never fix it for good.” That night, she informed Keith she would lose the weight and write a book about it for others. She started making changes the next morning. “I clearly heard God telling me, ‘You’re not being the best that you can be,’ ” Hobbs explains. “I knew it wasn’t about starving myself or exercise — I had failed because of these extremes in the past. I was lacking a disciplined lifestyle.” Accountability, to both her commitment to Keith and her motivation from God, made the difference this time.
Born in 1972 to Jerry and Sherry Parrish, she was the oldest of four, with a younger sister and two brothers. “I was blessed with a Christian home and parents,” Hobbs remarks. “But I wasn’t sold out to the belief I couldn’t do it without Him — I [didn’t have] the intimacy of being in a loving relationship with my Saviour.” That came with the call to change her life. Her motto “Ditch The Diet” became her first book in 2007, Never Say Diet: Make Five Decisions and Break the Fat Habit for Good. After becoming involved in the fitness industry, she realized she didn’t like what she was seeing. “The diet industry needs you to need them — so they give just enough help to keep you coming back,” she explains. “[It works] because the world is so weight-focused.” And unlike some other trainers, Hobbs is fully invested in the outcome of other’s training. “I always wanted to be involved, not just standing back watching.”
She feels the same about herself now, claiming her outlook on life is “progressive,” a journey taken day-by-day. And those days are filled. In addition to a weekly radio program, her website supports and motivates others through tips, recipes, newsletters, online chat, video messages from herself, and her blog. A monthly contest allows her to have one-on-one phone coaching with someone also working to make changes. A PBS program will air in March, and her next book, Love Food, Live Well, is due out in December. But she doesn’t beat herself up if she misses a workout, and is adamant that people need to let go of past failures. She emphasizes that God has big plans for everyone. “But you’re not available if you’re wrapped up in self-pity or low self-esteem,” she adds. “God has taken my greatest pain and transformed it into something to [show] others what He can do. Don’t let something hold you back that He desires to change.”
|
|||
by Sheri Del Core Just as the TV camera zoomed in on the life-size poster of a flabby obese Julie Hadden, she tore her way through the paper and walked onto the stage — a light and lithe 121 pounds. The only thing huge about Hadden now was her grin. The transformation was stunning. After months of rigorous training as a contestant on season four (aired in 2007) of the hit reality show The Biggest Loser and intense coaching by trainer Jillian Michaels, this stay-at-home mom from Jacksonville, Fla. lost 97 pounds. Starting at 218 pounds and 5’2” tall, that amounted to losing 44.5 percent of her body weight, earning her the title of first runner-up and the season’s most successful female contestant. Hadden recently wrote a book, Fat Chance: Losing the Weight, Gaining My Worth (Guideposts), and spoke to Living Light News about it. “The book is about my lifelong struggles and the lessons I’ve learned along the way of God’s grace and love. Plus there’s a lot of ‘Biggest Loser scoop’ thrown in there just for fun,” she says. “I want readers to realize what they may see in their mirror is not the image God sees. They are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Battling out-of-control eating and issues of self-worth all her life, Hadden spent years ashamed of her body and incapable of many normal activities. Her young son, Noah, was her unwitting constant companion in her inactive lifestyle. “I realized my weight wasn’t just affecting me it was affecting my family. I wanted desperately to have another baby. But my weight and health was preventing that. I just had enough. I cried out to God for help! Little did I know how He’d answer that prayer.” Encouraged by a friend to audition for The Biggest Loser, she says being chosen as a contestant was definitely a “God thing.” A chance to share with others who had similar struggles motivated Hadden to go from hiding in her house to publicly sharing her emotional journey. “I finally saw the potential for a future and a hope. I had gotten so off track that I needed a dramatic turnaround. Trusting God with my life made that possible. His plans are so much better than our own.” Hadden’s transformation went far beyond the physical. Although, she grew up in a Christian home and declared her faith in Jesus Christ at age 13, she felt God was angry at her. “What I realized throughout the journey I’ve been on for the past two years is that God wasn’t mad at me for being fat. He was madly in love with me. That realization revolutionized my life,” she explains. “Many people think they have to get their lives cleaned up before they come to Christ. That’s just not true. He says to ‘come just as you are.’ ” What the TV cameras couldn’t capture was the spiritual transformation taking place. Hadden’s trust in Jesus increased as she sweated and struggled daily with hours of grueling workouts. She began looking to God to supply every need, and with that came freedom. “I witnessed Him releasing me – saving me, as it turns out – from the things that held me captive for years: legalism, an overemphasis on trying to please people, fear, and heaviness both in my body and in my heart,” she shares.
Had she won first place, the PR footwork required would have made caring for a newborn impossible. The fact that Jaxon weighed exactly eight pounds the day he was brought home was delightful to note. Hadden’s new lifestyle incorporates consistent exercise, healthy food choices, and smaller portions. “My tastes have changed and I do truly crave healthier alternatives.” She lost nearly 100 pounds on The Biggest Loser, but what she gained will last forever: increased courage, strength, and a deeper trust in Jesus. Hadden is enjoying being home with sons, Noah (nine) and Jaxon (two), volunteering, and encouraging others through her writing and speaking. Perhaps most importantly she is now at peace with herself and God. “Acceptance, abundance, and joy – knowing who you are in God’s eyes, living out of the fullness of your relationship with Him, and enjoying every step of the way. I’m grateful to say that after hundreds of prayers, a year of tears, and buckets of sweat, it’s the place I call home these days.” photos courtesy Randomhouse Publishing and Planned Television Arts
|
|||
Seven years later, Hobbs has lost and kept off nearly 200 pounds, even after having her son Luke, now 6. She became a spinning instructor, ran five marathons, and is a running coach for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 
She wrote The One Day Way to encourage people who were discouraged by the big picture of what they needed to lose and all the times their efforts had failed in the past. 
While Hadden was just eight pounds shy of winning the top prize, her disappointment didn’t last long. God once again revealed His superior plan. She and her husband Mike, married now 11 years, had struggled with infertility but three weeks after her return from the show’s finale they experienced a miraculous turn of events. They found themselves the proud adoptive parents of a newborn boy.