CRANBERRY TWP — For Michaele Parees, combining faith with weight loss has been a recipe for success.

“In 2009 I was at my highest weight and my cholesterol was 260. I realized I could not do it alone. I needed God,” she said.

Parees is coordinator of First Place 4 Health, which she describes as a “biblically based, medically trustworthy wellness program that addresses the whole person: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.”

Although First Place 4 Health began in 1981 as a ministry of Houston's First Baptist Church, it now exists in 12,000 churches nationwide including Crossroads Church on Thomson Park Drive, where Parees recently launched a second 12-week session.

Meetings typically last about an hour and 15 minutes and consist of four main components. The group opens with a private weigh-in and Scripture recitation and a review of a “tracker,” which records or tracks participants' food consumption, exercise and spiritual study for the week.

A 30-minute discussion follows on topics like nutrition, stress, emotional eating and exercise followed by a 25-minute Bible study and sharing time. The meetings conclude with prayer and prayer requests.

“Our bodies are God's temple. We need to treat it as the holy place it is. It is where the Holy Spirit dwells,” said Parees. “It is not just about a number on a scale. It is about you being the person God wants you to be inside and out.”

Parees, 49, of South Fayette originally saw an ad for the program at her church, Crossroads Church — Sewickley, and leaped at the chance to make a change.

“In one year I lost 10 pounds and my cholesterol decreased to 180,” she said. A year later, she started a group at the church's Bridgeville campus and in January 2011 she started the program at its Cranberry Campus.

“We started this group at Crossroads four years ago with one group and now we have seven groups in four locations,” said Parees. Participants range in age and are both male and female.

“There is an all-male group at our Bridgeville Campus,” she said.

The program provides leader kit materials to encourage volunteers to start their own groups which often evolve into a community outreach.

The Cranberry group consists of 50 percent Crossroads members and 50 percent from outside the church.

Jo Burkholder is among participants who learned of the program through church.

“In January 2003, I was physically unfit, emotionally apathetic and spiritually starved. Beyond my family, my relationships were non-existent,” she explained.

Burkholder said when she saw the ad for the program at church something in her clicked and she made a conscious choice.

“I was not where I wanted to be at all and I knew God was the only way for me to change these areas of my life,” she said.

The program was successful.

“My self-centeredness was replaced with an empathy and compassion for others that I hadn't had for a long time,” she said.

For Tanya Fierro, 43, of Cranberry Township, it was accountability that drew her to the group. Also a member of Crossroads Church, Fierro jointed the program in May.

“I have always wanted someone to hold me accountable when it comes to losing weight and being healthier,” she said.

Fierro had never tried any diet program. Instead, she focused on watching her eating — but it never lasted long.

“I think the faith component is important because it involves the whole person. It helps me keep focused on God instead of food. Also, it's nice to know people are praying for you during the week,” she said.

The next session of First Place 4 Health begins July 27 with a free orientation at 5:30 p.m. at Crossroads Church, 708 Thomson Park Drive.

The initial cost is $110 and includes the new member kit with DVDs and books. Returning members pay $25 for the 12-week Bible study.

For more information, call 412-494-9999.