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"My personal goal for the challenge is having 5 million people lose an average of 10 pounds," says Smith. "It's a realistic goal and an attainable goal but it's something that people need to get energized to do."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, four out of every five Black women and three out of five Black men are overweight.
It's no wonder that obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, stroke, hypertension, heart disease and even
cancer hasten blacks to early graves.
One of African America's most prominent health professionals, however, has an idea to turn the trend around.
Dr. Ian Smith, best known as the diet expert on VH-1's
'Celebrity Fit Club,' has come up with a campaign to encourage African Americans shed 50 million pounds over the next two years.
On April 7, the
50 Million Pound Challenge kicked off on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
"The 50 Million Pound Challenge is an idea I came up with to kind of reverse this bad trend of African Americans and obesity," Smith told AOL Black Voices. "While all of America is having problems with weight, we are dying faster. So the challenge is about everyone coming together to lose the weight in a positive good way and to make lifestyle changes to help stop this."
Besides following the 'Extreme Fat Smash Diet,' the good doctor recommends the following to lose 10 pounds:
1. Cardiovascular exercises 40 minutes a day for four days a week.
2. Eliminate all white foods from the diet -- white bread, white potatoes, white rice.
3. Consume 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. A serving is the size of a fist.
"If you do just those three things, you won't lost 10 pounds in two weeks but you will lose 10 pounds in two months," says Smith.
The campaign begins in Washington D.C., then travels to 13 other cities with large African American populations. Participants are encouraged to go to
www.50millionpounds.com to sign up.
On the Web site, entrants can track their own personal weight loss. Each pound lost will be noted online with a ticker, which will constantly change until the 50 million mark is reached. They are also encouraged to pick up a free challenge kit which includes a CD-Rom, booklet and pedometer from over 11,000
State Farm agents.
The campaign has already signed up "celebrity champions" such as
Patti Labelle, Bootsy Collins, Yolanda Adams,
Steve Harvey, Biz Markie and N.Y. Giant Michael Strahan.
"It's an easy sell for celebrities," Smith notes. "It's free to their fans and the people who have made their careers successful. We ask them to incorporate the messaging of the challenge into their own messaging and so we're happy because the list is constantly growing."
Dr. Ian, as he's affectionately known, says there are two main reasons that obesity related deaths have reached epidemic proportions in the
African-American community."First is economics. Prevention can be expensive. Access to health care is expensive. And when you look at all the studies, a lot of us are uninsured or have partial insurance so our access to health care is not very good," he explains.
"The second thing is our mistrust of the medical establishment for good reason. There's been a very
tenuous relationship between African Americans and the medical establishment."
Why eating oranges can save your life.
For the next two years, Smith says he'll be canvassing the country speaking at churches, corporations, schools and community groups to rally the masses. He just released his fifth book, 'Extreme Fat Smash Diet,' the follow up to his N.Y. Times bestseller 'Fat Smash Diet.'
Smith is also featured on the fifth season of 'Celebrity Fit Club,' which premieres on VH-1 on April 22.
To sign up for the 50 Million Pound Challenge, go to
www.50millionpounds.com
