The Student Body - Movie Review

Obesity.

It is a term almost everyone understands and it doesn't need defining. The federal government along with our current President and First Lady and state lawmakers however have taken it upon themselves to govern which students in public schools are labeled within limits, obese or underweight. Like students need any more labels thrust upon them. Believe me if you are like most people I know, we already wear our own labels or ones society deems we need in order hopefully to enact some type of reform or change as if things are simply that easy to change like eat less and exercise more.

The Student Body is a documentary by Bailey Webber who takes it upon herself to find out the answers why lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to pass controversial mandates forcing schools to perform BMI tests on students. They felt these were non evasive and easy to conduct and when students fell into one of three categories, letters were generated to parents in hopes of educating them and seek help for their children if they were determined to be under weight or over weight. This launched a national debate. Coined the "fat letters" by students, notification letters were sent to kids whose body mass did not fall within a narrowly acceptable range; essentially telling children, even as young as kindergartners, that they are fat.

Maddie, a friend of Bailey's cause is the inspiration behind the documentary who received such a "fat letter" in the same envelope her report card came in. While she excelled at being a straight A student, it was the letter that drove Maddie into a deep depression when she felt less than worthy in an area where it wasn't possible for her to simply change her eating and workout habits. Even more shocked were Maddie's parents who felt the district overstepped their bounds in sending out the letters and making them feel less that worthy parents. Like that they had failed their child somehow.

Bailey takes viewers through the documentary into the bureaucrats who passed the law, one of them taking over 7 months to sit down and discuss with her why his actions in passing this bill, lead to the letters being distributed. His only response is that the one reading the letter has a responsibility to not take it as Maddie did and simply see it as a way of making better choices in their health for the future. What the lawmakers believe is that people who are obese don't want to lose the weight and need to be told. What they fail to understand is obese people know they are overweight or close to it. No one needs to be weighed and calculated whether they fall into an acceptable or unacceptable range. Interestingly enough all but 3 of the legislators were deemed to be obese based on their own BMI numbers.

The one thing science and nutritionists have determined is that it has only been in the last few years that obesity has become a global epidemic not only in the US, but other nations as well including animals used in testing and in zoos. The one thing the film provides is that further research is needed to come up with a better plan at managing obesity rather than simply telling someone to eat less and exercise more. Until then, I believe that lawmakers need to stop placing labels on kids about their weight ranges. It could push kids into eating disorders when they are told they are too fat or too thin and really cause things to spiral out of control. They aren't passing laws for the rest of the nation, why target kids?  I received The Student Body compliments of Nightfly Entertainment and Edify Media Inc. This movie is currently playing in select theaters now, and will come to video early next year, but I believe it is one all parents should watch and be involved in. For me, this one rates a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about The Student Body, where you can find a theater near you playing it, or how you can get involved, please click on the links below:

The Study Body by Nightfly Entertainment

You can find The Student Body on Facebook to get more information about the movie and more.

Ditching the Drive Thru

Today it seems like we never have enough time and certainly not enough time to make a dinner from scratch like our grandmother's make unless it's a holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Most of us are families in which both parents work and we barely have enough time to get it all done, along with taking our kids to school, picking them up, homework, sporting events and finding time for dinner is usually something we grab on the go or head to the nearest drive thru. While we know it is not healthy, what else can the average home do to ensure we are feeding our families healthy food and just how can you be sure what you are buying is truly healthy anyway.

J. Natalie Winch wrote a book just for people like us called Ditching the Drive-Thru, how to pass up processed goods, buy farm fresh, and transform your family's eating habits on a modern mom's schedule. Just hearing that was enough to make me want to check out this book. She teaches you the difference between grass-fed versus grain-fed, pastured versus free-range, or organic versus sustainable. Readers will gain a much needed lesson not only in knowing why but in how to do it, along with a 30-day plan to convert your family from junk food to real food without a revolt, something that I absolutely needed because my kids are hard to get them to try something new, especially if it sounds healthy. This book even includes recipes and advice on planning and preparing meals to you can make home cooked a habit for your family besides those special holiday times. Tips are included from locating local farms, seeing through marketing buzzwords and shopping with CSA's.

"The diet industry present us with a simple equation: fat=unhealthy. Of course, it tends to ignore the possibility that increased body fat is related to the chemicals and additives in processed foods manufactured by the industrialized food system. Fat in itself is not inherently unhealthy, although fat-laden refined food generally is. As our food becomes more and more processed in order to make food easier and faster to consume, our people are rowing less and less healthy. Food quality declines, overall healthy declines, people start gaining weight, and then the diet industry gets a major boost. " (pg 8).

I received Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch compliments of Spikehorn Press and iRead Book Tours for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation, aside from a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. After watching my husband at 46 have a major heart attack, this was a huge wake up call for both of us. After meeting with our cardiologists, he agrees that the ages of people having heart related issues is getting much younger than ever before and it is based on what we are eating. This is why this book is so critical to gain the knowledge we need to make the right decisions to start feeding our families the right way and in doing so, give them a quality of life that they can pass on to a future generation. It is interesting to note that there has also been a rise in cancer deaths and when you look at the facts, it is hard not to put it all together and discover it has to do with our food we are eating. This book helps put all of that into perspective and well worth all 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Ditching the Drive-Thru, J. Natalie Winch or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Ditching the Drive-Thru by J. Natalie Winch 

You can find J. Natalie Winch on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest tips on healthy eating.

To read more reviews on Ditching the Drive-Thru, please visit iRead Book Tour page. 

Why Diets Are Failing Us!

I know that there is a way to reduce the weight gain that is happening all over the world and I'm been doing my own research into what is happening to make it so hard to lose weight without going to the extremes. So when I was contacted to review, "Why Diets Are Failing Us!" by Peter Greenlaw, Dr. Dennis Harper, and Drew Greenlaw, I was hopeful this one might fill in the missing answers for me. At first the book has some great information that really draws the reader in, about the levels of toxins that we are introducing into our bodies through pollution, pesticides and additives in our food. In fact if you consider it, our food has fallen so far from what God originally intended. In fact, I would hardly call what most of us eat anymore as food, and it's no wonder our bodies are constantly craving more unable to satisfy the hunger within us.

Yet I can honestly say despite what this book claims on the back cover, it is not what you will receive once you read this in its entirety. I was hoping for what most would expect upon getting this and reading it, the answers we all seek to what is happening to our bodies, our food and what we can do to counter the effects. Yet in fact, all this book is is an ad for Isagenix products and testimonies from people who have been successful on it's diet and cleansing program. While I do not argue the claims as to whether or not this program works, the fact remains that the book is misleading.

If you're like most of us, you expect to get a book that defines how to sleep better, how to gain more energy, experience less stress and how to safely lose weight fast. I truly believe that we are a generation spiraling out of control with the fact we are doing more than we were 50 years ago, technology is enabling us to be more sedentary in lives and we are too busy to sit down and simply eat right anymore. Not only that, I think Peter has hit on the proverbial nail, that were are simply ingesting too many chemicals, toxins and additives that our bodies simply can't keep up with. Not only that the fast food industry and convenience foods are not helping for families that are looking for a way to save time, yet still eat.

If you are looking for answers like I am, this book does offer some insight I hadn't considered before but the fact remains that this book is strictly a glorified ad for Isagenix products and program. However if you are looking for a program that might work for you to help you might want to check out the companies website first before looking at this book to provide the answers based on what it promises. I received this book compliments of Peter Greenlaw for my honest review and based on the feedback I have provided I would rate this book a 2 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Why Diets Are Failing Us!, Peter Greenlaw, or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Why Diets Are Failing Us! By Peter Greenlaw, Dr. Dennis Harper, Drew Greenlaw

You can also find out more information about Isagenix Products from their website.