On January 28, 2015, I posted in this blog: “I checked Facebook one more time, and there was an invitation to join a newly created Facebook group, NEWSTART® Insights! The admin, apparently who is the face of the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program Page, took me seriously when I posted on their page earlier this month and suggested they should have a discussion group for alumni. Well, let’s see what this brings….”

Although I had attended a three-day “Reversing Diabetes” NEWSTART® seminar in 2004, I really wanted some community!

There wasn’t much discussion among the 30-some members of the group until the admin starting emailing current NEWSTART® program alumni about the group and membership suddenly shot up to over 100! However, there were rarely any responses to questions I asked, either from the members (who were supposedly other NEWSTART® alumni) or from the group admins.

Then, on February 21, 2015, I asked about coconut oil and got this response from someone in the group named Judie Lee Fizer:

“Jacqueline, on oils. There are two types of NEWSTART®: there is therapeutic, for those needing cures for lifestyle-related sickness. And there is just lifestyle NEWSTART®. For therapeutic, they withhold free oils and use avocado, nuts, etc. for oils. For lifestyle you should add in coconut, olive, avocado, walnut, etc. oils. We need these oils, but for obesity wait until you’ve lost most of the excess.”

And yet another response from one of the Weimar doctors:

“Free oils or excess fats are not part of the NS plan.”

I asked what they considered “excess fats” and got this response from Judie Lee:

“Excess depends upon the individual. Coconut oil has many benefits as you know and avocado as well, but I think your body will tell you. I’d not combine fat and carbs, though, fat and veggies, yes, non-starchy non-carb veggies, like greens. The fats help the body utilize the nutrients in the greens, etc.”

Finally! Someone at NEWSTART® is beginning to make sense! She also said in another post, “Some people need more fat and without it lose their energy. Others don’t do well with grains, so it’s an individual thing, as you probably know.”

Quite unlike the doctor, whom I’m guessing is quite old-school, who wrote, “Eliminating all fat in your diet would be good and for sure the pounds will melt away, triglycerides will drop overnight, and cholesterol will also come down.” And this was after I had already told him that my cholesterol had been normal since 2001!

Because of what she wrote, Judie Lee was kicked out of the group.

For the next few years, I continued trying to get discussions going by asking questions relevant to diabetes and got no response. By 2019 the only posts made were from the administration of the NEWSTART® Lifestyle programs that were being offered on site at Weimar Institute.

Then in May 2019, someone named Dada Andaya began posting videos of evangelistic meetings in the Philippines and most of it was in Tagalog. So I, tongue in cheek, wrote: “I didn’t know we could share other groups here! So, following Dada Andaya’s lead, I would like to share this group…” and I put in a link to Adventist Vegetarian Diabetics. I was sure one of the NEWSTART® Insights admins would catch that and chastise us both–but no one ever did.

Finally, after almost a year and a half of this, in September 2020, I posted:

“This is a message to the Admins:
I am wondering what all the ‘radio programs’ that are being posted have to do with the 8 laws of health, especially the ‘Sandra Kennedy Ministries.’
And the Dada Andaya posts are sometimes on the general topic of health but they are in Tagalog with no translation.
Can you please address this issue?”

This did get the attention of one of the admins who contacted me privately in Messenger and said:

“Thanks so much for pointing out that one lady posting things in the NEWSTART Insights. We’re working on it. That group was supposed to be only NEWSTART alumni. However, there’s lots and lots of people that have been admitted that aren’t. So we may have to change it or do something different. God bless you and all you’re doing. Have you seen that we’re doing the NEWSTART online? Has great lectures on it and it’s going to get even better. Blessings, Beth Gray Cullinan”

So I messaged back to her:

“Thanks for your response, Beth. You might want to require requesting persons to answer questions before they can be accepted (or not) into the group. Such as: WHEN did you attend a NEWSTART program?
“Yes, I have seen that NEWSTART is now offering online options! That’s great!”

But in the group, just yesterday (September 28), another admin, Clive Coutet, (who had just joined the group that day) posted this:

“With time, life changes and so do groups like this. As we have a new direction for our groups, on Friday, October 2, this group will close. If you’re interested in trying out the NEWSTART Lifestyle Program, our new online version might be for you. Go to newstart.com/online for a free trial.
**If you are a NEWSTART alumni or have attended HEALTH Summit at the Weimar, CA campus, please direct message us. We have a new community for you and look forward to seeing you there!**”

So that is the short history of NEWSTART® Insights as a Facebook group. Just thought you’d like to know.

You’re welcome.