“The Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour”: The Start of Something Thing Big!
The Big Push: A Push Toward to A Healthier Future
For all the attention paid to America’s conflicts overseas, it sometimes gets lost that we’re fighting another war right here at home. While this war might not be as prominent in the daily news, it’s every bit as deadly – claiming the lives of millions of us each year. It can’t be fought with battalions or cruise missiles, and generals will never be able to lead us to victory or retreat. In this war, the battles rage door-to-door, from one home and family to the next.
If it sounds like I’m being overly dramatic in describing America’s crisis with lack of fitness and proper nutrition, then let me share some of the intelligence data with you. These statistics were not garnered from spies or satellites, but headlines, medical journals and simple surveys:
- Obesity has more than doubled in the US since the 1970’s, posing an unprecedented health risk to the general public; amongst children, it has nearly tripled. (Center for Disease Control)
- Two thirds of Americans are now either overweight (defined as a body-mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher) or obese (A 30-plus BMI). http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100261061
- Approximately 119 million Americans, or 64.5 percent, of adult Americans are either overweight or obese. Estimates of the number of obese American adults rose from 23.7 percent in 2003 to 24.5 percent in 2004. (Trust for America’s Health Study)
- Over 100 million Americans have metabolic syndrome, which is one step away from having type-2 diabetes. (Alternative Medicine America)
- Obesity has been cited as a contributing factor to approximately 100,000–400,000 deaths in the United States per year[9] and has increased health care use and expenditures,[24][28][29][30] costing society an estimated $117 billion in direct (preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to weight) and indirect (absenteeism, loss of future earnings due to premature death) costs. http://www.ajcn.org/content/82/1/207S.full
http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/
- Nearly 34 percent of adults are obese, more than double the percentage 30 years ago. The share of obese children tripled during that time, to 17 percent. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/14obese.html
- Now in 2010 things have gotten much worse with today’s millennium generation with 60% of our teenagers overweight and 17% of those kids are considered obese.
Of course, I could produce another hundred statistics to make my case, but the trend is clear: Americans aren’t just getting fatter, we’re killing ourselves. The food we eat, along with the exercise we don’t get, is destroying not only our health, but our quality of life.
Kevin Saunders: post accident paralyzed from the chest down. Before exercising and eating healthy then After implementing a proper fitness and nutritional plan
None of this is news, even if most of us haven’t been paying attention. In fact, bookstores are overflowing with the latest diets and fitness fads. If anything, we’re facing an information overload. It seems that everybody wants to make a buck off our nation’s fat problem, whether it’s the burger stand selling greasy fries, or the author pushing the latest ‘miracle cure’ So why another title on fitness?
What gets lost in the noise about health and nutrition is a simple, reasonable discussion about what Americans can do – right now – to help themselves. And my book, Revolutions, is written towards that end. As a Paralympics champion and former member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports, I’ve seen what changes in health and diet can do on a personal and national level. During my time helping to shape our nation’s fitness policies, I began to see the current disturbing trend taking shape. Determined to raise awareness of the problem, I did the only thing I could think of – pushed forward.
During a three and half-month tour, I pushed my wheelchair across America, North to South, stopping in big cities and small towns along the way. Not only did I see some of our fittest (and fattest!) zip codes, I met concerned citizens at every stop. In some cases, they were families struggling to make nutritious choices. Other times, it was politicians working away to improve their citizens health. In each case, however, the challenge was clear – to change habits and thinking, first at the individual level, and then within the community.
As a result of my journey, I gained a new, first-hand perspective on America’s health crisis. I also gathered some attention to the issue, both from local radio, news and television outlets, and bigger venues like FOX News, USA Today and ESPN. In the end, however, I knew I still needed to do more. The first step in that direction is “Fitness 4 All 50 State Tour” Blog called Revolutions which you are reading now. Within the pages of my book, I want to explore the challenges facing us today, along with practical solutions that hit the problem at every level. Interspersed with tales from my push across the continent, I’ll mix in a brief history of our nation’s health, the story of how exercise saved my life, advice on proper nutrition and fitness, and strategies for changing the outlook in your community – no matter where that is. It is our vision for our nation’s youth to have a solid background, knowledge and understanding of the huge importance and the significance of lifelong positive implications of taking part in physical fitness, activities, sports and how to and why making good overall nutritional choices will have on their individual lives versus the negative implications NOT taking part in this initiative. We will use daily personal accountability journals for students to help them (write down & visualize themselves reaching their goals and taking action on them) set short and long term goals for participation in fitness activities, sports, making good nutritional choices along with choosing to make daily improved overall healthier choices.
Kevin pushes hard toward a healthier future
Our goal is to provide the how, what, where, why and when answers for each student. This was they know how being active and eating properly balanced meals work together to help them stay alert and provides them the energy they need for their activities. How to find and get involved in activities or sports they find enjoyment in taking part in. How they can determine what food choices are best for their particular needs. What vitamins, nutrients, and minerals their body needs to keep them at an optimal performance level and what foods they can find them in. This helps them lay the foundation for their proper fitness activities and nutritional needs.
With this information, they can look at their personal daily journals over a period of weeks and months to see how their personal choices and decisions they have made effects how they feel, their self esteem, how they see themselves, their energy levels, and increases their ability to learn. This type of accountability helps each student develop a personal desire to make the necessary changes to make better choices to lead healthier lives.
During our 50 state tour, our focus is also to keep a balance between big and small schools, cities and towns located in the center, north, south, east and west corners of each state in all 50 states. Our vision is for our presentations to create a synergy with our audiences where we are able to become simpatico with the students with through a sharing of information, thoughts, ideas, examples and facts to help create a deep desire within the students by synergizing with them through our presentations, media interviews and website. To create an environment where students throughout each state are motivated from within to set and reach personal goals for their own fitness, health and well being. We will help create a desire within the students to become motivated and inspired to carry on active lifestyles, with good nutrition and making healthier choices on a daily basis for a lifetime.
We are going to show America that the revolution is coming, and we can all take part during the “Fitness 4 all 50 State Tour”.
As a top motivational and inspirational speaker and coach, Kevin Saunders, who is paralyzed from the chest down, shows kids, schools, teachers, and community and state leaders that anyone can get fit. As former Governor of California Arnold Swarchenegger said, “Kevin’s broken body bears silent testimony as someone who has overcome tremendous adversity to get fit and beckons others to follow.” Mr. Saunders, a world champion paralympian and wheelchair athlete, will be carrying his message of health and fitness to thousands of schools across America. Bob Richards, two-time Olympic Pole Vault Champion, said “ One of the most heroic and valiant endeavors in sports I have ever seen is the effort and struggle of Kevin Saunders. I am inspired by his message in There’s Always A Way. He is not a dependent in this world but a thrilling contributor to this world…”.
