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Camille Miller wasn't a chunky kid growing up. In fact, she said she was tall and skinny. But things took a turn when she was a high school junior and the pounds started piling on. As
a teen, she became inactive when she gained driving privileges
and stopped playing sports. "I want to encourage children to believe that ordinary people can do amazing things," she said. "You don't have to be an athlete, supermodel or rich to achieve extraordinary success." Formerly employed at Indiana Wesleyan University, Camille resigned her to job to pursue her dream of educating people on the affects of childhood obesity. With the help of family and friends, she has started the Young American Health Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money to fund research for adolescent and childhood obesity. "This program will be a lifesaver to unhealthy children and an insurance policy for healthy children," she said. Camille's goal is to lose 100 pounds and run the New York City Marathon in 2006. She will get people to sponsor her to run, and all of the money will go to various organizations for research. The inspiration to lose weight came after she suffered some health problems from eating the wrong kinds of food. She went to a health retreat in Michigan that taught her the benefits of eating raw (uncooked) foods, and she said she felt better just a week after beginning the diet. "Family life was home-cooked, (but) I did a lot of sit-down restaurants," she said. Camille said the raw food diet takes a lot of discipline, and isn't for everybody. The main object of the diet is to stay away from processed foods and animal products. For instance, when she wants spaghetti, instead of using regular wheat noodles and canned pasta sauce, she makes her noodles from squash and uses fresh organic tomatoes and seasonings for the sauce. "(It) surprisingly tastes better than regular food," she said. When she first started her fitness plan, she weighed 305 pounds. She now has lost 45 pounds, dropping her down to 260 pounds, and still is losing. "I'm looking forward to probably playing tennis," she said. "Being able to run without stuff shaking and wheezing." According to the American Obesity Association, about 15.5 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19 and 15.3 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese. Kevin Miller has seen children who are in those percentages. For 26 years, Kevin has been a physical education teacher with Oak Hill schools and has seen the changes in youths' exercising habits. He said a lot of children aren't playing outside like they used to. Instead, they spend their free time watching television and playing video games. To help curb some of that, the school system began a walking program about two years ago to get the students' hearts pumping. "For the first 15 minutes of class, we walk around the gym," he said. "We do that with every class, (then) 30 minutes of normal activity." Fortunately, Kevin said he doesn't have problems with trying to get the kids in the Oak Hill system motivated to exercise. "Most of them love to do the walk," he said. Kevin said he doesn't recommend using the raw foods diet for children. But it's something that has worked for Camille, even though she said she has a weakness for cake and potato chips. "It takes planning," she said. "You have to be committed. I used to be anal (like), 'It needs to be organic,' (but) you have to kind of be practical." To get in shape for the marathon, Camille has been doing a walk-to-run program to condition herself for the 26.3-mile run. "When I run, I see myself completing it," she said. "I ran a lap around the track without stopping; I felt like God gave this to me. When I did that lap I said, 'You got this, go ahead and claim it.'" Camille said in the future she hopes that the foundation snowballs into a nationally-known program. She would also like to do a camp to raise kids' self-esteem. "If you don't believe in yourself, who else
will?" she said. Source: http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051023/NEWS01/510230303/1002 |