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Eating more, weighing less is topic of special movie
Sara Clarkson
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Updated: September 24, 2012 6:21AM
Here’s a startling little quip: “The first sign of heart disease may be sudden death.”
Amazingly, some people attribute this quote to Olympian Michael Phelps despite it being an oft-expressed observation throughout heart attack and heart disease literature.
For those of a certain age (ahem), these concerns do become more pressing as do others like diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety. At the same time, the notion of preventative medicine starts to sound more interesting and, frankly, appealing, which is why the Complete Health Improvement Program caught my eye. It is a series of sessions designed to change lifestyles and thus not only improve health but improve lives. It looks realistic and pragmatic, not trendy and chic with unpleasant side effects like so many popular diets.
Deborah Ward has been the director of the local program series, which has been held twice a year for two years now. She is a dietician at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital as well as with the DuPage County Health Department. She is serious about the program and about her work. In fact, she said, “This generation may not outlive its parents.”
The incidence of childhood obesity, the lack of exercise, unhealthy eating habits and much more are contributing to a generation of people who are unhealthy.
Ward would like to see many, many people take an interest in the health improvement program.
“This is a really wonderful program to help people improve their lives,” Ward said.
She has made a concerted effort with this next series, scheduled to begin in late September. Prior to the start this program, Ward has arranged for two public viewings of the film “Forks over Knives” which will be followed by a talk from program founder Dr. Hans Diehl speaking on Eat More, Weigh Less.
Now there’s a topic that definitely peaks my interest. I have a feeling that double-stuffed cookies aren’t going to make it to the “Eat More” part of the list, but I am still interested. According to Ward, Diehl is an engaging, fun and personable speaker who is also well informed. He has an impressive list of initials following his name and signifying his credentials. More than that, though, some 50,000 people who have completed the health improvement program series and committed to the principles of better living through good diet, exercise and sound mental health have been able to change their lives.
The movie “Forks over Knives” posits that animal-based and processed foods contribute greatly to the incidence of degenerative diseases in the United States. The showings and Diehl’s talk are scheduled for two days. The first is at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church, 201 N. Oak St., in Hinsdale A light and healthy meal will be served in conjunction with this presentation. The second is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Community House, 415 W. Eighth St., in Hinsdale. Refreshments will be served. Both presentations are free and open to the public, though Ward does request that people call and register in advance.
Diehl will also give a mission story called “From Cripple to Champion” before the Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church service at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8.
Four other information meetings — which are free and open to the public — are scheduled prior to the start of the next program series on Sunday, Sept. 23. The other meetings are set for Sept. 6, 11, 12 and 16, all at 6:30 p.m. at the Community House.
For more information, visit www.hinsdalechip.hsdac.org or contact Deborah Ward at (630) 403-8095. The health improvement sessions will run three times a week for five weeks from Sept. 23 though Oct. 28 at the Community House in Hinsdale. Joining the program takes a commitment of time and effort as well as money. The cost is $275 a person with reduced fees for those members of a family who can share materials. The fees include the costs of blood testing and analysis at the beginning of the program series and at the end. Be careful!
As of today (Thursday) when the nine Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 schools celebrate the first day of school, just about every child under the age of 18 who should be in school should be in school. For those of us driving cars, that means Drive Carefully. The bleary-eyed teenagers will certainly not be paying any attention to the traffic since they probably haven’t been up that early in two months. The younger and more eager grade school kids are too excited and too noisy to be paying attention to cars. There’s still lots of unfinished and messy roadwork out there, so we all have to be extra vigilant.
