Contact:

josh@joshhhunt.com

575.650.4564

Reaching people through a Biggest Loser-style contest

Steve Reynolds never had it in his long-range strategic plan to write a book that would be called Bod 4 God. He didn’t do a study of the demographics in his area and uncover the idea that lots of people were overweight and they might be open to a program that was similar to the TV show, The Biggest Loser. He didn’t dream up the program, Losing to Live, in a strategic planning initiative. God was at work, and Steve simply joined God where God was working.

By his own admission Steve had been fat his whole life. He was close to 100 pounds when he started grade school. Nearly every night of his life, until he was 48 years old he had a bedtime snack of a big bowl of ice cream. He weighed in at 350 pounds. He was diabetic, had high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. He was a heart attack waiting to happen.

God got a hold of Steve’s heart and convicted him that he needed to lose weight, and lose weight he did—130 pounds and counting. He decided to do a sermon series based on his testimony that would show others how they could Lose to Live. His church sent out a flyer and a reporter from the Washington Post received it. The reporter called the church and asked if he could attend and do a story for the Post.

The Post put the story on the front page. Someone from Fox News read it. Next thing you know a limousine was pulling up in front of the church to take Steve to the Fox News studios. Neil Cavuto interviewed him and dubbed him the “anti-fat pastor.” The moniker stuck.

Steve developed a program to help others lose weight as well. It is a contest based program similar to the TV show The Biggest Loser. Participants are assigned to a team and the teams compete to see who can lose the most weight as a team. Individual weight is kept private. There is a teaching component, and exercise component, and a whole lot of celebration.

Next came a couple of book deals. The first one, Bod 4 God, tells the story, the story of his church, and outlines a four step plan for losing weight. It also explains how a church can start a Losing to Live program. The follow-up book, Get Off the Couch is aimed at men and deals with motivations to get moving.

Hundreds of churches are now reaching their communities because of the influence that Steve Reynolds has had on their lives. But, none of this came because of a strategic plan. It came because Steve followed God. God opened the door, and Steve walked through it.