Alberta nurses create guide for a healthy lifestyle

Alberta nurses Denise Hamilton and Chantal Jakel have teamed up with fitness guru and former Miss Canada Cynthia Kereluk of Everyday Workout to write a fitness and recipe book they say will help Canadians "Eat Well, Get Moving, and Feel Better!"

Fit to Cook: Why "Waist" Time in the Kitchen? is much more than a healthy cookbook, say the authors. They call it a game plan - a simple set of time-saver, heart-saver, cook-saver, and waist-saver tips that will keep Canadians on track to a healthier lifestyle every day of the month.

Hamilton, a licensed practical nurse, and Jakel, a registered nurse, saw the effects of poor nutrition first-hand while working in a Calgary cancer clinic. Both had nutrition training and were surprised at how little Canadians knew about the basics of Canada's food guide. They were also concerned about a Canadian Obesity Survey showing 51 per cent of Canadians are overweight or obese, yet 52 per cent think weight has little or no impact on overall health. With this in mind, Hamilton and Jakel came up with the idea for Fit to Cook - and what began as a two-month project is now a full-time enterprise.

"I (spent) 15 years at the cancer clinic, and after a while you realize that a lot of diseases are related to poor habits," Jakel told Calgary Herald reporter Cinda Chavich in a Jan. 3 article. "You have to wonder why are we are just putting on Band-Aids?"

Fit to Cook is available in any bookstore for $23.95. For more information, call Fit to Cook(tm) Inc. at (780) 274-3442.

Copyright Alberta Association of Registered Nurses Mar/Apr 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved