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INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS ARE OFFERING HEALTHY SOLUTIONS
TO A NATIONAL CRISIS OF HUGE PROPORTIONSby D. Patrick Miller
America is under siege. According to the Surgeon General, 300,000 citizens are dying yearly from an unprecedented biological threat that cost the nation’s coffers $117 billion in 2000, representing a 36 percent increase in health-care spending and a 77 percent increase in the need for medications. Untold numbers of adults will suffer from heart disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer caused by this advancing bio-terror, and even kids are not exempt. Over 20 percent of our children have already fallen victim to the scourge, and will suffer dramatically increased rates of childhood asthma and diabetes, not to mention a wide array of other chronic illnesses likely to last throughout these youngsters’ lives.
This massive health danger far outstrips any terrorist plot yet uncovered against America, but this time the enemy is us. Simply put, as a society we are well on the way to eating ourselves to death. When the Surgeon General issued his December 2001 “Call to Action,” he identified obesity as a public health threat second only to smoking. The Department of Human Health and Services puts the number of overweight adult Americans at 97 million, or 61% of the general population. (35% are considered clinically obese.) We got this way not only because we eat too much of the wrong stuff; we also spend a lot of time sitting on our duffs: Less than a third of us exercise at least 30 minutes daily, and 40% have no physical activity outside work at all.
In a nation that reacted dramatically to increase personal and public security after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, there is yet no hint of a national mobilization to fight obesity. President Bush is providing an admirable model for physical fitness and the Internal Revenue Service recently expanded tax deductions for weight-loss programs; that’s about as far as federal inducements have gone. But unlike airport security, this is not a crisis that lends itself to government intervention. The challenge of fighting poor health habits is that they are rooted in the very “freedom of choice” that Americans consider to be an inviolable right. The epidemic of obesity demonstrates that exercising our freedom of choice without wisdom and discipline amounts to nothing more than self-indulgence — and our self-indulgence is killing us.
Personal choices about eating and exercise can be changed, of course. As a culture we need both inspiration and good information to start turning back the dangerous tide of fat and sloth. Independent publishers are responding to the crisis with a new wave of books that can help people look at physical fitness from a novel perspective — not as a temporary and uncomfortable measure focused on shedding a certain number of pounds, but as a new, permanent, and decidedly happier way of life. Here’s a roundup of some recent indie-press titles that will help readers journey from fatness to fitness.
Straight Talk from Mr. Universe
In his second book about fitness, Dave Draper isn’t pulling any punches. “The masses of the modern world are getting fatter and less fit every day, an inexcusable combination that profiles man’s deteriorating backbone, character and instincts,” he writes in Your Body Revival: Weight Loss Straight Talk. “Where once we were hardy, square-shouldered and erect, we are now stooped and burdened. Where once we ran and played, we now stumble and grope. The precious fresh fruits, vegetables and hearty proteins that nourish our bodies have lost their appeal and been replaced by sugar, fat and chemicals in a bag, to go. Like sheep gone astray, we are accompanying one another to the slaughter: dumb, fat, lazy and meek.”If you’re wondering just who this Dave Draper thinks he is to be upbraiding the masses of the modern world this way, his personal fitness résumé offers some notable qualifications. A bodybuilding phenom during the 60s who was featured in muscle mags as “the Blonde Bomber,” Draper captured the titles of Mr. America, Mr. World, and Mr. Universe — and spent a few years sweating through sets with Arnold Schwarzenegger — before quitting competition in his prime to pursue a more inward journey. That led him into divorce, drug and alcohol addiction, and a near-fatal heart attack before he regained his bearings and remarried to become, with his wife Laree, a gym owner, independent publisher, and a champion of physical fitness for one and all.
In his first book, Brother Iron, Sister Steel, Draper told his own story while offering an introduction to weight training for the masses. In his new book he takes dead aim at America’s fat crisis and offers exercise and diet solutions, including some fundamental workout routines and “Draper’s Standard Balanced Menu” featuring six small, protein-focused meals daily. The tone of voice is often as funny as it is strident:
“A mouthwatering strawberry shake at Burger King contains 48 different chemicals like benzyl isobutyrate and ethyl methlphenylglycidate. I’ll have water and a napkin; please, hold the food.”
By the end of the book, Draper seems well aware that he may be an unwelcome messenger: “I’ve no doubt angered, bored, annoyed, harassed, bewildered, hoodwinked or embarrassed you. I’m sorry. Well, not exactly; sometimes you’ve got to be mean to be noticed.” As a provocative combination of polemic and fitness guide, Your Body Revival may hold people’s attention longer than conventional weight-loss books simply because the author cares too much to be polite. As Dave Draper urges his target audience, there’s no time like right now to “take hold of your life with thanksgiving.”
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Your Body Revival: Weight Loss Straight Talk by Dave Draper. On Target Publications, August 2002, Aptos, CA. ISBN 1-931046-35-2, $18.95 paperback. Online information: www.ontargetpublications.com.
Sprinting Toward the Fountain of Youth
Veteran athlete and healthcare executive Phil Campbell couldn’t figure it out. Despite a consistent jogging and weight-training routine, he was sliding into middle age with a seemingly unstoppable weight gain and high cholesterol that required treatment with drugs. While training for an annual “Turkey Bowl” football game that he plays with chums from high school, Campbell stumbled — or sprinted, actually — across a veritable fountain of youth: a natural means of stimulating growth hormone (GH).GH keeps human beings growing until age 18 but declines precipitously around 35, bringing on the typical symptoms of middle-age “somatopause”: loss of energy, fat gain (especially around the waist), loss of bone density, loss of muscle tone, and skin wrinkling. By definition, most folks over 35 are GH-deficient, and a landmark study showed that injections could actually reverse aging in men over 60. This news led to a veritable land-rush in GH injection treatments, now taken by an estimated 250,000 people. But there can be serious side effects to artificial repletion, not the least of which is the complete suppression of the body’s own production of GH, leading to a Faustian dependency on injections.
Campbell says he discovered a healthier approach that involves short bursts of anaerobic (out-of-breath) exercise, the cultivation of “slow wave” sleep (that which occurs in the first two hours of repose), limiting the intake of refined sugar (no surprise there, eh?), and dietary supplements of the amino acids glutamine and arginine. These are the fundamental elements of the fitness program he presents in Ready, Set, GO!, along with photographed illustrations of ordinary folks (including his family) stretching, sprinting, and weight training. With the exception of warning against the intake of refined sugar (especially within two hours after anaerobic training), Campbell doesn’t address dietary issues except to say that his “synergy fitness” approach will succeed with a reasonably healthy diet — which for him includes the occasional milkshake and burger.
The Campbell high-energy approach is probably not a good starting point for the seriously obese, but for anyone who has helplessly watched the spread of their middle resist ordinary exercise and dieting, “synergy fitness” just might do the trick. A significant fringe benefit of simply reading through the book is that you come away with much better knowledge of the body’s biochemistry, especially in regard to the beneficial effects of exercise.
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Ready, Set, GO! Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults by Phil Campbell, M.S., M.A., FACHE. Pristine Publishers Inc., Jackson, TN, 2002. ISBN 0-9716633-9-4, 365 pages, paperback. Online information: www.readysetgofitness.com
Helping Kids When It Counts the Most
The first step in helping an overweight child is not the introduction of a new diet, says Dr. Caroline J. Cederquist, a family physician and national spokesperson on weight management. Instead, “tell your child that she is okay, no matter what she weighs. Say it loud and often. . . . Let [your child] know that children come in many shapes and sizes, and none of them is inherently wrong. Your child is more important than what she weighs!”Solid emotional support is a crucial foundation, says the author of Helping Your Overweight Child, because the psychological and emotional stresses of obesity can be just as tough on kids as the physiological consequences. That’s why she recommends that kids old enough to write should be urged to start keeping a journal, so that they can become aware of how they may use food inappropriately to deal with stress while they are still young. After all, our excuses and rationalizations get more sophisticated as we grow older!
While providing a concise and basic overview of all the health fundamentals, including a survey of “Nutrition 101” and the obvious arguments for displacing TV-watching with exercise, Dr. Cederquist revisits psychological concerns often — including the dynamics of family communication and suggestions for coping with an overweight child’s tendency to binge or relapse along the path to better health. Along the way she dispenses helpful tips on environmental factors, such as restricting dining areas to a well-kept dining room or kitchen out of earshot of televisions and video games, and serving food from the stovetop in single portions so that second helpings are always farther than an arm’s reach.
And while the author provides about twenty pages of healthy recipes for kid’s favorites prepared in the home, she also faces the modern reality of childhood eats in America by providing complete nutritional breakdowns of all the foods served at junk food palaces like McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Denny’s, as well as standard grocery-store offerings. In each case, she lines up her “better choices” (1 serving of Annie’s Shells and Cheddar: 280 calories, 4 grams of fat) “as compared to” the usual, unhealthier suspects (1 serving of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese: 300 calories, 10 grams of fat).
At a concise 158 pages, this is a guide that will not overwhelm concerned parents with too much information while providing them with a serious but not overly stern guide to changing childhood eating habits. Since those habits are very likely to be rooted in psychological and environmental factors that influence the whole family, what proves to be healthy for the overweight child will likely benefit his or her siblings and parents as well.
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Helping Your Overweight Child: A Family Guide by Caroline J. Cederquist, M.D. Advance Medical Press, Naples, Florida, 2002. ISBN 0-9714164-0-0, 158 pages, paperback, $14.95. Online information: www.drcederquist.com
“Eat Your Canteloupe, Antelope”
Jeff and Martha Gottlieb, a personal trainer and nutritionist respectively, have decided that the best way to motivate kids toward a healthier lifestyle is with a combination of “spirit” and “giggles” — hence their “Spriggles” series of books that use funny pictures and silly rhymes to get the attention of the 3-8 years-old crowd. Three books focused on Activity & Exercise, Health & Nutrition, and Inspiration follow the same format, setting up a series of situations or problems for various goofy animals, and then proposing quick and mellifluous solutions:David Dolphin knows that in order to play better he needs to practice.
So what do we tell David?
“Let’s go golfin’, Dolphin”Teri Termite takes big bites of food and then has trouble swallowing all of it.
So what do we tell Teri?
“Take small bites, Termites”Izzy Iguana just can’t seem to make up her mind. She could be a dancer, a teacher, a doctor, and a cheerleader too.
So what do we tell Izzy?
“Be what you wanna, Iguana”Despite the spooky S-shaped eyes that appear like a trademark on each and every creature, the illustrations by the Gottliebs’ father Alexander are fun and apt. The Spriggles approach to motivating kids to stay healthy, active, and inspired might well be called “eye candy” of the most appealing and healthful sort.
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Spriggles Motivational Books for Children by Jeff and Martha Gottlieb, with illustrations by Alexander Gottlieb. Mountain Watch Press, Petoskey, MI, 2002. Paperback volumes are each 32 pages, $8.95 Health & Nutrition: ISBN 1-930439-01-6; Activity & Exercise: ISBN 1-930439-02-4; Inspiration: ISBN 1-930439-05-9. Online information: www.spriggles.com
Also Noted:Weight Training Workouts that Work by James Orvis. This stick-in-your-waistband handbook provides a concise, no-nonsense guide to a sensible workout routine, complete with photographic illustrations and occasional inspirational quotes. The author is a certified personal trainer. • Ideal Publishing, Farmington, MN, 2000. 150 pages, paperback with ring binding, $14.95; ISBN 0-9675188-2-2
VOLUME II, 184 pages, paperback with standard binding, $17.95; ISBN 0-9675188-3-0
Online info: www.WeightTrainingWorkouts.com
Change Your Life with Martial Arts by Linda Davis Kyle. A health writer and martial arts black-belt provides a quick overview of the major martial arts, discerns their differences, and gives some guidance on choosing the right school, including a comprehensive appendix of directories, associations, and federations. Useful not only for adult enthusiasts, but also for parents and physical education instructors helping children choose a martial arts discipline. • Blueberry Press, Austin Texas, 2002. 128 pages, paperback, $16.95. ISBN 0-9673651-4-7. Online info: www.blueberrypress.com
Marcel Moves Mountains! by Jeff Lappin with illustrations by Jeremy Madl. Preschoolers looking forward to their first bike will thrill to the story of mop-haired Marcel, who transits from merely dreaming about two-wheeling, to his first set of trainers, to his first jaunt in a mountain park. Plenty of safety reminders are given along the way. The book will come alive for kids with an 8" Marcel doll designed by the illustrator. • Endurance Publications, Agoura Hills, CA, 2001. 48 pages, hardcover, $16.95. ISBN 0-9708805-0-2; doll is $14.95, ISBN 0-9708805-3-7. Online info: www.endurancepublications.com
Copyright 2004 by D. Patrick Miller. All rights reserved.
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