5.
Do I have to buy special food?
No. In First Place you’ll be taught to eat "normal" food. You’ll learn to cook low-fat recipes from food you buy at the grocery store, and you'll learn how to make healthy choices in restaurants.
6.
Is there a special diet?
Yes. The food plan used is an exchange plan based on a healthy food exchange plan. It is a balanced nutrition plan, low in sugar and fat and high in complex carbohydrates. It includes foods from all six food groups (meat, bread, vegetables, fruit, milk and fat). Members are urged to obtain their doctor’s approval before beginning the First Place program.
7. How much does this program cost?
Depending on the varying expenses of a given church group, the cost to each member will be the First Place Member's Kit ($79.99) and a Bible study ($19.99). When a church begins the program, it usually adds $10-$20 to the start-up cost for purchasing scales, food models and other administrative expenses.
8.
Are there statistics showing how much weight your members have lost?
No weight-loss program has conclusive statistics on their members. True weight loss involves a weight loss that is maintained for five years. While only an estimated 5 percent of the people in weight-loss programs do that, First Place can claim five leaders in Houston who have lost 100+ pounds and kept it off for over five years. Read our success stories.
9.
How did First Place get started?
The First Place program is the result of a godly desire placed in the hearts of a group of people in 1981 to establish a Christian weight-management program. Although it was not created to be a worldwide program, First Place has grown to several hundred-thousand members in more than 12,000 churches of many denominations in all 50 states and in foreign countries. In 1992, First Place entered a partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention and worked closely with them for eight years to develop the program. Since 2000, First Place has partnered with Gospel Light, who designed and published the revised First Place program materials.
10.
How can I start the program in my church?
Starting out is easy with First Place. Visit Steps for Starting a New Group for more information.
11.
How do I become a First Place member?
Visit our
Get Started page for more information.
12.
Who do I contact if I have questions about an order I placed online?
If you need any assistance with an order you have placed online, please call Gospel Light's Customer Service
at 1-800-4-GOSPEL or e-mail customerservice@gospellight.com.
13. I have subscribed to the E-Newsletter but have not received one in my in-box.
Some online e-mail services such as Hotmail and MSN use a "junkmail" or "SPAM" filter that may be blocking the First Place E-Newsletter. You can adjust this setting from within your e-mail account.
14. I am having difficulty viewing the E-Newsletter in PDF format
The Acrobat Reader plugin is heavily memory-intensive and may crash your computer when viewing PDF files online. To avoid this, try downloading the document to your computer before opening it. Right-click Windows) or control-click (Mac) on the link and choose the "Save
Link As" option. When the download is complete, you can open the file from your harddrive.
15.
Are there any First Place materials that can be copied?
All of the First Place materials are copyrighted. There are four pages in the First Place Member's Guide that may be copied: First Place Grocery List, pp. 72-73; Recipe Conversion Chart, p. 148; My New Daily Exchange Allowance, p. 176; and Keeping First Things First, p. 186. At the bottom of each of these pages you will find the following wording: "2001 Gospel Light Permission to photocopy granted, First Place Member's Guide."
Only these four pages with this wording may be copied.
16. How do I order online?
Please visit our How to Order page.
