Episode 506: Gwen Shamblin Lara: Diet Guru and Christian Cult Leader

13 O'Clock · Apr 30, 2026

Gwen Shamblin Lara was a prominent American diet guru and religious leader who founded the Weigh Down Workshop in the 1980s, a wildly popular faith-based weight-loss program that taught participants to rely on God rather than calorie counting to overcome overeating, reaching hundreds of thousands worldwide through books, videos, and church classes. In 1999 she established the Remnant Fellowship Church in Tennessee, shifting toward a high-demand, non-Trinitarian Christian movement that emphasized radical obedience, biblical literalism, and visible spiritual fruit—including thinness as a sign…