Discovery Health Channel!

Discovery Health has begun taking registrations for its National Body Challenge 2009, billed as a free, comprehensive weight loss and fitness challenge. The National Body Challenge 2009 aims at providing weight loss tools and inspiration, as well as expert advice and recipes. Discovery Health Channel programming is an integral part of the National Body Challenge 2009.

The January 5-9, 2009, kickoff will feature two competing teams of severely overweight people working with Bally Total Fitness personal trainers, a nutritionist, a therapist under the guidance of fitness expert Dr. Lydie Hazan. The teams’ goal will be to shed a lifetime of unhealthy habits in the span of six months, replacing them with healthy ones.
The National Body Challenge 2009 is not the latest fad diet or reality tv show. What the challenge aims for is educating and supporting viewers on healthy lifestyle changes that can reduce their risk heart disease, stroke and cancer.
This is the 6th annual National Body Challenge so naturally potential participants will want to explore the effectiveness of past year’s challenges.
According to Dr. Pamela Peake, a Discovery Health Channel spokesperson, the 2005 National Body Challenge resulted in a cumulative weight loss of 395,000 pounds (or 197.5 tons) for participants nationwide, almost double the amount lost in 2004.
The National Body Challenge generates a lot of enthusiasm for lifestyle management changes even among those who are not ultimately up to the challenge. On the 3fatchicks blog, 3 bloggers who tried the National Body Challenge in 2007 applauded it as fun and worthwhile, even though 2 of the 3 dropped out.
Testimonials on the Discovery Health Challenge website also praise the benefits of the National Body Challenge. One woman wrote that she lost 65 pounds in 2008, dropping from 208 pounds to 143, and dropping from pants size 19 to 8. Another lamented regaining the 40 pounds lost in the 2008 challenge but expressed determination to lose weight and keep it off as part of the National Body Challenge 2009.
Among the tips from those who have participated in past National Body Challenges: it is not necessary to join Bally’s Total Fitness when the 8 week trial membership expires or to avoid the challenge if there is no Bally’s nearby. Success at the challenge does require exercise but that exercise can be done at home.

The Failing Health Of Our Children!

The number of children on the Autism spectrum is rising at an alarming rate. A milder form of autism, known as ADHD, is springing up like weeds amongst our children. Diseases that were rare or did not exist before, like diabetes, autism, and cancer, have become common place in our children.The failing mental and physical health of our children is a warning that the world has become too toxic.
These children are like the canaries that miners used to take down in the mines with them. These birds were sensitive to the toxic odorless gas that sometimes could be found in mines. If the canary would die, the miners would be warned to get out of the mine quickly so they don’t inhale the toxic fumes. However, most of the world is not heeding the warning.
Many children are growing up on a poor substitute of vitamin fortified cow’s milk instead of their mother’s breast milk. The ramifications of this modern practice are now becoming apparent. The immune systems of our children are weakened and their mental and physical development is compromised.
Health professionals continue to inject children with more and more vaccines, sometimes overloading their already weakened immune systems. In addition, instead of making individually sealed doses of the vaccinations, pharmaceutical companies make multiple dose vials laced with mercury to preserve their freshness. In order to save a few pennies, they are willing to ruin people’s lives. We would never think to let our children drink even trace amounts of mercury, yet we unwittingly drag them to get injected with the poisonous liquid.

Instead of injecting our children with deadly poisons to preserve their health, why don’t we try to strengthen their immune systems with probiotics and prebiotics?
The use of relatively safe and effective herbal and natural medicines is being forgotten, as new prescription medications are being formulated. The busy population, engrossed in their daily activities, is bombarded with advertisements for new prescription drugs that can fix their health problems quickly and with little effort on their part.

These prescription medications have many unfavorable side effects, and they are not as safe or effective as their herbal counterparts.

Antibiotics are being over prescribed, destroying a major line of defense for the body, the good bacteria in the intestines. The use of pro bio tics afterwards has become a long forgotten practice. With the decimation of the good bacteria in our intestines, candida yeast has plenty of room to grow.
Candida yeast overgrowth is rampant in the general population, yet very few people are aware of this major health crisis. Not only can this fungus destroy one’s physical health, it also has a huge impact on one’s mental health. Obesity, overeating, insomnia, chronic fatigue, depression, stress, rage, and obsessive compulsive behaviors have become common place, all symptoms of candida yeast overgrowth.
Even our food and drink are contributing to our declining health.

Tap water contains toxic fluoride, a neurotoxin, and chlorine, which indiscriminately kills off the good bacteria in our intestines.

Trace amounts of prescription drugs that pass through people’s systems and are not absorbed can also be found in our tap water. Our crops are sprayed with toxic pesticides and other chemicals. Even the milk we drink contains antibiotics and growth hormones, once again killing off our good bacteria, and encouraging the early maturation of our children. Understanding the ingredients on most of the items in the grocery store requires one to have a degree in chemistry.

Our over processed food supply is stripped of it’s nutritional value, and over consumption of sugar has further encouraged candida yeast overgrowth.
We need to stop taking the easy way out and put some thought and effort into our actions affecting our health and our environment. We need to rethink our values and encourage those who want to make a difference in people’s lives for the better. We need to encourage companies and individuals who put people first and not their profits.

We need to look around us at the signs forewarning an impending health crisis. Our children are giving us a clear warning. Will we take heed?