crossroadsnews, january 22, 2011 - section b
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2011 Health & Wellness Expo Special SectionTRANSCRIPT
B1www.crossroadsnews.comJanuary 22, 2011 Section B
Health & Wellness Expo - Jan. 29, 2011
Fitness training takes center in the Fitness FaceOff competition during
the 2011 Health & Wellness Expo
n Free Health Screenings n Fitness Demonstrations n Musical Performances
n Dancers
n Elected Officials
n Door Prizes
Noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest
n Information Presentations by Doctors
Putting the Fun in Fit
B2
2011 Health & Wellness Expo Exhibitors and Grand Prize Entry Form
Name ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________________ E-mail_______________________________________________________________________
Home phone _________________________________________________ Cell ___________________________________________________________
* Eligible entries must have the numbers of at least 15 exhibitors, your complete name, address, e-mail address and telephone number. Employees and immediate family members of CrossRoadsNews, the Mall at Stonecrest and US Virgin Islands Tourist Board are excluded from winning. Prize is for hotel stay only. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. You MUST be present to win.
Visit at least 15 of these exhibitors* at the Mall at Stonecrest and enter to win a Grand Prize at the 2011 Health & Wellness Expo. Drawing takes place on Jan. 29, 2011, at 4:45 p.m. at the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.
© 2011 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without written permission of the publisher.
2346 Candler RoadDecatur, GA 30032
404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007
The Health and Wellness Expo Special Section is a publication of CrossRoadsNews Inc., East Metro
Atlanta’s award-winning weekly newspaper.
Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker
Graphics Editor Curtis Parker
Reporters Carla Parker
Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Expo offers new twist – a fitness trainer challenge
HealtH & Wellness expo
5 100 Black Women Decatur-DeKalb Chapter, Inc
5 American Red Cross
5 Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates
5 Be Fitness For Women
5 Chick-fil-A (Inside the Mall of Stonecrest)
5 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
5 CrossRoadsNews
5 Dr. Craig B. Williams, DDS
5 Congressman Hank Johnson’s Office
The 2011 CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo will be kicking off Jan. 29 at the Mall at Stonecrest with a lot of excite-ment around getting fit and healthy for the new year.
Title sponsors for the expo, which is in its sixth year, are Children’s Health Care of At-lanta at Hughes Spalding, Kaiser Permanente and 100 Black Women of DeKalb-Decatur.
New this year is the Fitness FaceOff Con-test featuring fitness instructors and personal trainers showing the moves and music they use to motivate their clients to get fit and stay that way.
Seven contestants will vie for the Fitness FaceOff Trophy and a grand prize of a table at the April 23 Best of East Metro/Small Busi-
ness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.A panel of celebrity judges will select a
winner. For a look at this year’s competitors, see pages B6-B7.
More than two dozen exhibitors, includ-ing hospitals, health centers, physicians, dentists and other health care professionals, health insurers, training institutes and gov-ernment agencies, will discuss health issues and offer resources on some of the health issues that plague our community.
Expo goers will have their pick of free screenings for diabetes, hypertension, sco-liosis, and HIV/AIDS. There also will be performances and demonstrations from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s.
Jennifer Parker, editor and publisher of
CrossRoadsNews, says the Health & Wellness Expo is one of four community expos that the newspaper sponsors annually at the 1.3 million-square-foot Lithonia mall. The oth-ers are the Summer Camp Expo in March, the Small Business Expo in April, and the Family & Adoption Expo in August.
Parker says the Health & Wellness Expo is East Metro Atlanta’s largest gathering in celebration of health and wellness.
Since its launch in 2006, the Health & Wellness Expo has attracted up to 10,000 people to the mall every January.
“It is a great place for people to educate themselves about health issues and become motivated to take better care of themselves,” Parker said.
Curtis Parker / CrossroadsNews
Fitness motivator Rae Rae Clark (left) will moderate the 2011 Fitness FaceOff. The winner will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges.
5 DeKalb Community Service Board
5 DeKalb District Attorney’s Office
5 Full Body Loving Care Chiropractic
5 Georgia Medical Care Foundation
5 Injury 2 Wellness Center
5 Kaiser Permanente
5 Life Chef Asata Reed
5 Metro Foot & Ankle Center
5 Nappy Hair Shop
5 Oakhurst Medical Centers, Inc.
5 Omni Tech Institute
5 Optimal Health Chiropractic Wellness Center
5 Premier Women’s Healthcare & Aesthetics
5 Rae Rae Clark, Fitness Motivator
5 Rotary of South DeKalb
5 STAND Inc
5 Wellcare
5 Wonderland Garden WOW Factor
Circulation Audited By
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B2
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HealtH & Wellness expo2011 Health & Wellness Expo Program HighlightsJan. 29, 2011 • Noon to 5 p.m. • The Main Stage in front of Macy’s
Lower Level, The Mall at Stonecrest
11 a.m. Musical Interlude with Simply*Kool
Noon Expo Kick-off/Warmup Exercises with Rae Rae & The Eagle Essences Dance Troupe
12:30 p.m. Greetings:
Congressman Hank Johnson, 4th District
Pamela Holmes, Emcee
Healing our community one home at a time
w w w . o a k h u r s t m e d i c a l . o r g
Stone Mountain Location:
770 Village Square DriveStone Mountain, GA 30083
404-298-8998
Decatur Location:
1760 Candler RoadDecatur, GA 30032
404-286-2215
Call us to schedule an appointment today. Walk-in visits are wel-
come.
1 p.m. Fitness FaceOff Competition
2:20 p.m. Top Notch Dance Krew
3: p.m. Diabetic Food Demo with Life Chef Asata Reid
4. p.m. Beulah Boys
5 p.m. Grand Prize Drawing
CrossRoadsNewsJanuary 22, 2011 B3
B4 Life chef will offer food demonstration, tips for diabeticsHealtH & Wellness expo
By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
When Life Chef Asata Reid meets newly diagnosed diabetics, she says: “Congratula-tions.”
Not the reaction most people expect.“They usually look a little shocked,” Reid
admits. But she is not just saying that to be flip-
pant.“When you first get the diagnosis, you
are bummed out,” she said. “But the diabetic diet is the ideal diet. It’s eating good food. Complex carbs, whole grain, legumes and lots of fresh vegetables. What could be wrong with that?”
Reid, who teaches people to eat to fit their lifestyle, will be doing a food demonstra-tion for diabetics at 3 p.m. at the Jan. 29, 2011, Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.
Nationally, 23.6 million children and adults, or 7.8 percent of the population, have diabetes. Of that number, 3.7 million or 14.7 percent of African-Americans 20 years or older have diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes.
Reid’s food demonstration will be at the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the mall’s lower level.
She will discuss how diabetics can take control of their foods by experimenting with new flavors, new ingredients, and new herbs and spices.
For diabetics, Reid said the key is eating in moderation and watching food combina-tions.
“It is just correcting poor diet,” she said. “Your doctor didn’t say you can’t eat pie. He just said you can’t eat a whole pie. You have to pay attention to how you eat.”
Reid said it becomes very important for
people with diabetes to read labels.“There is a lot of hidden sugar in food,”
she said. “It is a preservative. So now you have to cook for yourself. When you cook for yourself you can control your numbers.”
She said you also have to embrace new cooking techniques.
“Steaming, sauteing, roasting, baking and grilling are all low-fat or fat-free cooking methods,” she said.
To help everyone with healthier cooking habits, Reid has developed a line of four bold herbs and spices that will be available at Sevananda and Irwin Street Market in February.
Her Flamenco Spice blend captures the flavors of Spain with smoked paprika, lemon, garlic and onions, and a touch of cayenne for heat.
Her Desert Rose Spice Blend brings the
savory essence of North Africa with Zaatar, sesame, thyme and sumac; her Humming-bird Spice Blend elevates vegetables and beans to new flavor heights with toasted Szechuan peppercorns, onion and parsley; and her Carnelian Spice Blend offers the complex nuances of a homemade curry with ingredients that are individually toasted and ground.
“These all-natural blends can be used as a salt substitute, seasoning, spice rub or marinade for your vegetables, beans, meats, soups and sauces,” she said. “They contain no salt, sugar or preservatives and will add big flavor to your healthy lifestyle.”
While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all ap-proach to diabetes, Reid said new diabetics shouldn’t panic.
“Your life is about to improve,” she said. “You are about to embark on a diet that we all should be eating.”
For diabetics, the key is eating in moderation and watching food combinations, Asata Reid says. “You have to pay attention to how you eat.”
Chef Asata Reid offers this salsa to accompany grilled salmon or chicken:
Grilled Pineapple Mango Salsa1 pineapple, peeled and sliced2 mangoes, peeled and sliced2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, diced1 jalapeno, seeded and diced1 bunch scallions, chopped1 bunch cilantro, choppedjuice from 2 limessalt and pepper
Toss pineapple and mango slices with balsamic vinegar and cook on grill or griddle 3 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool, then cut into medium dice.
Combine the tomatoes, jalapeno, scallions and cilantro with the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the grilled fruit, chill and stir prior to serving with grilled meats, fish or tortilla chips.
Salsa adds pizazz to chicken or fish
Take control of your diabetes now!
Paid for by GMCF under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Call 888-313-9355 to register.
FREE diabetes self-management education classes for eligible African-American and Hispanic Medicare bene�ciaries
Living Well with Diabetes...
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B4
B5Rae Rae Clark, Atlanta’s “Fitness Motivator,” will debut “Rae Rae’s Sassy Classy Hustle” at the expo on Jan. 29 at the Mall at Stonecrest.
HealtH expo
Fitness guru to debut workout
Premier Women's Healthcare LLC5404 Hillandale Park Court
Lithonia, Georgia 30058678-418-6990 office
678-418-6986 faxwww.premierwomens.com
Principal: Dominique J. Smith, MD FACOG
After 24 years of motivating people to fitness, Rae Rae Clark is committing one of her energetic fitness routines to video.
But before she does that, Atlanta’s “Fit-ness Motivator” will unveil “Rae Rae’s Sassy Classy Hustle” at the Jan. 29, 2011, Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.
Clark says she will premiere the “Hustle” to warm up crowds for the expo’s kickoff at noon at the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the mall’s lower level. She will be joined by the Eagle Essence Dance Troupe from Atlanta’s Whitefoord Elementary School.
Clark said the five-minute upbeat cardio workout focuses on the tummy, waist, thighs and the buns.
“I created the ‘Hustle’ because women always want their midriff area worked on.
People like to dance. You can always put on some good music and get people moving.”
Clark said her “Hustle” supports first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign and her cardio commitment campaign that kicked off in 2004 to reach churches, schools, health fairs and warm-up walks.
Clark, who has worked at Bally’s Total Fit-ness, the YMCA and various senior centers, said her “Hustle” video will help her goal to reach a billion people with her fitness mes-sage over the next decade.
“When I celebrated my 23rd year in February last year, I had reached a million people,” she said. “The purpose of the ‘Hustle’ is to take me to the next 10 years. When I started 23 years ago, I said I would do it for 32 years. This will help me get there.”
CrossRoadsNewsJanuary 22, 2011 B5
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Elfreda Cherry Smith, 57, teaches 15 classes a week at various fitness venues. “I am an advocate of everything to prevent breast cancer. I am an advocate of eating right and exercising.”
Carla Fields plays up the fun in fitness. “Push yourself. Feel good about it,” she says.
HealtH & Wellness expo
Athlete spins way into new calling
‘Everybody deserves to be in shape’
Personal success evolves into studio to help others
Trainers bringing their best moves to Fitness FaceOff
Exercise, nutrition help change course of family history
“People are becoming more aware and more conscious of what they eat and how they move.”
By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Here’s the word from the people in the know.
Getting and staying fit can be fun and defi-nitely more healthy for you.
If there is any doubt about the truth of this statement, you must come to the Jan. 29, 2011, Health & Wellness Expo from noon to 5 p.m. at the Mall at Stonecrest for the 2011 Fitness FaceOff Competition.
During the contest, which starts at 1 p.m., seven of metro Atlanta’s leading fitness instruc-tors and personal trainers and their crews will
demonstrate just how much fun working out can be.
Stepping up to the stage will be Wesley Franklin of Bally’s Total Fitness; Tiffany Maddox, owner of Body Goddess Fitness; Carla Fields of Carla Fields Fitness Buffs; El-freda Cherry Smith, owner of Door-to-Door Fitness; Elgin Key, owner of Elgin Fitness; Marshah St. Louis of Samson’s Health & Fit-ness Center; and Melvin Cruver of the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center Tunnel Crew Line Dancers.
They will step, strut, dance and stretch to music.
Eleven years ago Wesley Franklin was big man. And that is putting it kindly.
Then 19 years old, he was packing 350 pounds on his 5-foot-11-inch frame.
“Yes,” he said, “I had a big muffin top over my pants waist.”
Franklin was lucky. With youth on his side, he didn’t yet have any health issues but because he had been overweight all his life, he didn’t know what it felt like not to be fat.
“My doctor kept telling me that I would be better off if I was smaller,” he said.
In the summer of 1999, he finally listened and headed to Bally’s gym.
He hasn’t looked back.Over the years, Franklin lost 135 pounds,
the equivalent weight of another person.“I saw my body shape change,” he said.He went from a size 52 and shopping at
the big and tall store to a size 32 and can now buy his clothes at department stores.
“That was one of the pluses of losing weight,” he said. “I can now go to the mall and buy off the rack. I can shop at the Gap.”
Franklin, who now tips the scale at 215 pounds, made Bally’s Total Fitness his home. The change in him was so dramatic, his fit-ness instructor talked him into becoming a trainer. He started teaching class there when he hit 280 pounds.
He is now a fitness trainer and personal trainer, and he also warms up big groups like the Kaiser Permanente annual 10K Walk/Run at Turner Field.
Franklin says that fitness is a growing market. “People are definitely more inter-ested in being fit.”
While he is not a nutritionist, Franklin says that he encourages his clients to drink lots of water and eat smaller portions six times a day.
“I tell them to be smart [about] what they put in their bodies,” he said. “Eating properly is important.”
When he is teaching class, Franklin said that he often uses himself as an example that success is possible,
“Everybody wasn’t meant to be skinny, but everybody deserves to be in shape.”
Wesley Franklin, who became a fitness trainer after a dramatic weight loss, often uses himself as an example to motivate clients. Over the years, he has lost 135 pounds.
Marshah St. Louis says spin cycling is so popular because it’s music-based and doesn’t put strain on your knees. “I use music to create the mood and the workout.”
In Elfreda Cherry Smith’s family, she is the first in three generations of women to live to see her grandchildren.
Her mother, who died at age 45, never saw Cherry Smith’s family, and her grandmother never knew her.
Cherry Smith said the women on her mother’s side of the family died from breast cancer.
“I am an advocate of everything to prevent breast cancer,” she said. “I am an advocate of eating right and exercising.”
On her mother’s death, Cherry Smith made a lifestyle change that led to her becoming a fitness instructor in 1997.
She teaches 15 classes a week at the YMCA, Just Wellness and at a number of corporate fitness centers.
She also goes door to door to do personal training, from which the name of her company – Door-to-Door Fitness LLC – comes.
“In most of my classes, I am usually the old-est person in the room,” said Cherry Smith.
The only exception was when she worked at the Lou Walker Center where she had clients as old as 93 taking her chair exercise class.
Cherry Smith, who hasn’t eaten meat since 1975 and chicken and turkey since Sept. 11, 2001, says she is seeing new interest in fit-ness from baby boomers in search of heathier lifestyles.
“They are realizing that their parents may have eaten differently than they did and moved more,” she said. “People are becoming more aware and more conscious of what they eat and how they move.”
Cherry Smith said that eating cake is fine, but not three or four pieces a day.
“Make it a treat, not a meal,” she said.Cherry Smith said that people also need
to work out three to four times a week.“Just do something,” she said. “Move, even
if it’s just to go for a walk.”Each week, she interacts with 100 people
in her fitness classes. She says she always makes sure her clients know that their fitness
“I do what I do because I like it,” she said. “It’s fun to exercise. That’s what I am going for – fun.”
In high school, Marshah St. Louis was very athletic and competed in long jump and hurdles. And after high school, she competed on the amateur circuit.
After college, she moved to New York City and taught step. Then she took a spin class and loved it.
“It has no impact on my knee and it was fun,” she said.
Spin is done on a weighted flywheel bike, created by professional cyclist Johnny G to keep him off the roads and fit in winter.
She got certified and became a spin instructor in 2003. She has been lead spin instructor at New Birth’s Samson’s Health & Fitness Center since June 2008.
St. Louis said the cycling is done to music and simulates bumps, hills and straightaways. “We have bikes with 24 gears. We can climb really huge hills or go over small bumps.”
As the trainer, who also is riding with groups that range in age from 18 to 70 years, St. Louis varies the music to fit the terrain. She slows it down going over the hills and speeds it up going downhill.
“I use music to create the mood and the workout.”
Over the course of a week, spin classes focus on strength training and endurance so that riders get to use different parts of their bodies.
“You can burn 500 to 600 calories per hour,” she said.
“I had a woman drop 88 pounds over eight months of training four to five times a week.”
St. Louis said spin cycling is so popular because it’s music-based and because it doesn’t put strain on your knees.
“It’s used by triathletes and athletes re-covering from knee surgery and by regular people who just want to get fit.”
St. Louis said she is finding more interest in fitness because of the obesity epidemic.
“This is the first generation where 10-year-olds are not expected to outlive their parents.”
In Atlanta, where everyone drives every-where, St. Louis said that people have to work harder at staying fit.
“It’s not natural here,” she said. “When I lived in New York, people walked. Here you don’t as much. Here you have to make a point of doing things.”
When it came to fitness training, Carla Fields took to it like ducks to water.
She began taking classes in 1990 while do-ing research for her husband, David, who was opening a mega hair styling and fitness center in Lithonia.
As her body got toned and fit, she fell in love with training.
“I like to sweat,” she said. “I like feeling sore. I love the workout.”
She also loved what it did to her then 30-year-old body.
Three months after her first fitness class, Fields, who was an accountant working in corporate America, was competing in body-building contests and winning trophies.
When women wanted to look like her, she referred them to her trainer until her husband suggested that she become certified, which she did in October 1991.
Today, Fields runs her own training studio, Carla Fields Fitness Inc. in Decatur. There, she offers one-on-one and group personal training, nutrition and fat loss.
She also travels to do fitness seminars for corporations like Coca-Cola and Essence Music Festival and has done health expos for TD Jakes and Ray of Hope.
Now that she is 50 years old, Fields says she no longer competes in body-building contests but that she stays fit year-round.
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B6
B7
The SNAFC Tunnel Crew Line Dancers will perform at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church’s Super Bowl Party. The Environmental Protection Agency workers dance in a downtown tunnel at lunch.
Elfreda Cherry Smith, 57, teaches 15 classes a week at various fitness venues. “I am an advocate of everything to prevent breast cancer. I am an advocate of eating right and exercising.”
Tiffany Maddox got moving after seeing a photo of herself in 2004, when she weighed 240 pounds.
Elgin Key is sometimes therapist as well as personal trainer. He says clients feel comfortable sharing personal issues.
HealtH & Wellness expo “We have people who have lost over 60 pounds. We do it for our health. We do it for fun.”
Key: ‘Everybody can do something’
Personal success evolves into studio to help others
Trainers bringing their best moves to Fitness FaceOff
Exercise, nutrition help change course of family history
Photo shocked trainer into getting in shape
EPA’s line dancers shedding pounds in a fun way
Tiffany Maddox knows that people come into the gym for different reasons.
“Girls in their 20s are preparing for dates,” she said. “People in the their 30s are maintaining. Those in their 40s want to look 30 and those in their 60s want to not take so much medication and be able to move around.”
In her 21 years as a fitness instructor and per-sonal trainer, Maddox, owner of Body Goddess Fitness, has seen it all, and through it all she has been a champion and supporter of adults and children who want to live a healthier lifestyle.
Maddox, who lives in Decatur, has spent the past three years teaching kickboxing, water aero-bics and step yoga at Beulah Baptist Community Center.
Each week, 200 people, 18 to 70 years old, come through her classes at the center. She also teaches at the Lady’s Only Total Fitness Gym and is a volunteer aerobics instructor at Narvie J. Har-ris Theme School in Decatur, where her daughter, Morgan, is in the fourth grade and son Jaylyn is in the fifth grade.
Maddox is passionate about regular exercise and proper eating habits because a mere seven years ago, she was size 18.
“Everyone in my family – my parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts – are overweight,” she said. “Everyone has diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and hypertension.”
Even though she was a fitness instructor, Mad-dox said she was headed down the same road.
“I was the kind of instructor who showed the exercise and walked around the class,” she said. “I was giving out the medicine but I wasn’t taking it.”
Then she saw a photograph of herself.“I looked at this picture and I was appalled,”
she said. “I had no idea that I was that big be-cause when I looked in the mirror, I saw what I wanted.”
Maddox, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall, said she weighed 240 pounds at the time.
She said she stopped cold turkey that Father’s Day in 2004.
“I stopped frying foods,” she said. “I worked out twice a day. I did kickboxing, steps aerobics. I stopped using plates and used saucers. It was hard but I was adamant that I was going to lose the weight.”
It took a year but Maddox dumped 72 pounds. Today she weighs 168 pounds and is a size 8.
“I felt incredible,” she said. “I could walk with ease. My breathing wasn’t labored. I got new
clothes. That was the best part.”Maddox teaches people of all ages, including a woman in her 70s
who had two hip and a knee replacement.“She is doing step aerobics,” Maddox said. “She doesn’t feel she
is too old to exercise.”
And you will move right along with them.These contestants are no strangers to the
weight issues that plague most of us and a ma-jority of Americans. Some have battled obesity and found new figures and new lives. Now they have made it their mission to help others find fitness religion.
At the end of the competition, a panel of celebrity judges will pick the 2011 Fitness Fa-ceOff Champion, who also will win the grand prize – a complimentary table at the April 19 Best of East Metro/Small Business Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.
Here are their stories.
goals are attainable.“I always tell them that they can do it,” she
said. “Yes, you can.”For her family, Cherry Smith has made
enormous strides.Now 57 years old, she has already outlived
her mother. Best of all, she has lived to see her grandchildren.
“I have four,” she said. “They are 10, 7, 2, and 1 year old.”
Elgin Key is only 32 years old, but he has spent nearly half of his life teaching fitness to others.
“Everybody can do something,” he said. “No matter who you are, you can start somewhere and benefit from working out.”
Key, owner of Elgin Fitness, teaches classes and seminars all over metro Atlanta. In the course of a week, he teaches more than 200 people, ages 14 to 63 years, at places like the East Lake YMCA, Emory University, Urban Body Fitness, and Before and After Fitness in Lithonia.
When he was in the third grade, he was hit by a car and almost died. The scar on the left side of his forehead is a constant reminder of that close call.
“I know that my life was spared for a reason,” he said. “I view life as the precious gift it is.”
Key, who graduated from Southwest DeKalb
Every week day at lunchtime, up to 40 employees of the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency can be found in a tunnel leading to the old Rich’s store in downtown Atlanta, line-dancing to country and western, hip-hop or other music they find on YouTube.
As they step in unison to the beat, the men and women are confident of two things – it’s fun and they are burning calories.
Melvin Cruver, a 25-year EPA analyst who helps train the group, said the line-dancing class, aptly named the SNAFC – Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center – Tunnel Crew Line Dancers, is changing lives at the EPA.
“We have people who have lost over 60 pounds,” he said. “We do it for our health. We do it for fun.”
The lunchtime dance class, which began in October 2009, was started by employees and supported by Cruver’s boss, Lou Ann Gross. He called her the real motivator behind the class that is regularly attended by 100 of the agency’s employees, ages 25 to 70.
Cruver said the EPA has a fitness center but that employees just wanted a place with-out restrictions where they could dance.
They got so good, they have performed at the Georgia Department of Labor and at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Jonesboro, where Cruver’s daughter, Shelley Williams, is choir director.
She teaches her clients to sculpt and tone all of their muscle groups.
“I put together a routine that is so much fun, you don’t even know you are hitting those muscle groups,” she said.
She also creates a meal plan for her clients because muscles need protein.
“I don’t do diets,” she said. “I teach people to read labels and to know what body fat is.”
In addition to personal training, Fields teaches aerobics, weight lifting, kickboxing and fitness boot camp.
When people decide to embrace fitness, Fields said it is important to identify their goals.
“And have fun,” she said, “Go with the flow. Push yourself. Feel good about it.”
Fields said the growing emphasis on health and wellness is here to stay.
“People want to feel good and they are turn-ing to health,” she said.
Still, Fields said she is not seeing much action.
“We are seeing more advertisement and more talk about health and wellness, but I am not seeing people take action,” she said.
To encourage action, Fields said community and church expos are important.
“We have to take screenings to people,” she said. “We have to make it a lot easier for people to get access.”
After the group’s performance, Cruver was asked to start a group at the church. The SNAFC Tunnel Crew Line Dancers also will be dancing at Mount Pleasant’s Super Bowl Party on Feb. 6.
Cruver, who is one of the group’s instruc-tors, said that before the class started, he did very little exercising and had high blood pres-sure. “My doctor kept telling me I needed to get my numbers down,” he said.
After a year, he is 20 pounds lighter and
his blood pressure is down. He also has had to alter his pants waist to make them fit.
“I still have a little potbelly but I think I am the most sexy individual you ever laid eyes on,” he said with a chuckle, “and I am confident too.”
Cruver said the line-dancing class is popular because people like to dance and it’s a fun way to stay fit.
“I love to dance,” he said. “It’s the best thing that happened to me.”
High School in 1996, went on to Morehouse College, where he studied child development, but fitness kept calling him. In 1996, he helped choreograph the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony in Atlanta.
These days he teaches kickboxing, step, boot camp, body shop, chisel and step survival at various gyms and Y’s.
In 2008, Key put music to movement and created a cardio, core and strength-training DVD, “Everybody Can Do Something.” It’s sold on elginkeyfitness.com and buyers have come from as far away as the West Coast.
In his classes, he is sometimes therapist as well as personal trainer.
“My clients feel comfortable sharing with me all the stresses and personal issues they have going on in their lives,” he said. “Being in good physical shape is about both your body and your mind being healthy.”
CrossRoadsNewsJanuary 22, 2011 B7
B8Larry JohnsonAndrea Riggs Pamela Holmes
FaceOff judges are health nuts
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Norman L. Elliott, M.D.Midtown | Lithonia
Tommie Haywood III, M.D.Atlanta Medical | Decatur | Lithonia
Barry Levitt, M.D.Decatur | Lithonia
HealtH expo
Personal trainer and national health spokeswoman Andrea Riggs, DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson, and fitness buff and Nappy Hair Kitchen creator Pamela Holmes will pick the Fit-ness FaceOff Champions during CrossRoadsNews’ Jan. 29, 2011, Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.
Riggs, a personal trainer for 15 years, is founder of Body Beautiful, a wellness com-pany that helps women achieve better health through lifestyle, nutrition and fitness.
In 2009, Riggs launched the “Get Body Beautiful” campaign, the state’s largest African-American women’s fitness program with more than 15,000 participants.
Johnson, who is on his third term repre-senting District 3, is the presiding officer of the Board of Commissioners. A big health advocate and health care employee in Ful-ton County, he hosts the annual four-mile
Walk for the Health of It event at Arabia Mountain to encourage county workers to be more active.
Holmes, an avid exerciser, is founder of the Nappy Hair Kitchen, a line of shampoo, conditioners and hair cream for natural African-American hair.
The Fitness FaceOff competition starts at 1 p.m. at the Main Stage in front of Macy’s on the mall’s lower level.
The champion will win a trophy and an Exhibitor table at the April 23 Best of East Metro/Small Business Expo at Stonecrest.
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B8
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HIV/AIDS The test for HIV/AIDS can be taken with
blood or with the non-invasive OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV Test, done from a swab of the mucous membrane in the mouth.
Results are available in 12 minutes. From a private physician, the cost of an HIV test is $100.
ScoliosisScoliosis is a medical condition in which
a person’s spine is curved from side to side. The test includes the forward-bending test, a simple test in which a person bends for-ward at the waist, arms hanging loosely and palms touching, and the examiner looks for unevenness in the back or ribs.
ministry PG
The diabetes test is taken from blood drawn from a finger prick and assesses your blood sugar to determine if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes.
HealtH & Wellness expoLots of free health screenings will be available at Expo
Visit the new...
Dr. Garcia, DC
* Limited to 1 spinal region ($300 approximate value), new Wellness Patients only, coupons cannot be combined, may require 2 separate office visits at no additional charge. Offer expires February 28, 2011.
* Free Examination & X-ray * Free Doctor's Report of Findings * Free 1st Wellness Adjustment
Chiropractic Wellness Clip N' Save Coupon
Injury 2 Wellness Centers, PC4982 Covington Highway • Decatur, Georgia 30035
404-288-8433www.Injury2Wellness.com
(**Limited to 2 spinal regions ($300 approximate value), new Injury Patients only, & coupons cannot be combined. Offer expires January 1, 2012. Must receive medically necessary examination prior to X-ray at additional cost that may be billed to responsible party or appropriate insurer. All treatments at additional cost.We bill insurance. We do 3rd Party and work with Attorney Liens.)
**Free X-Ray of your Injuries!**Free Doctor's Report of Findings
Injury / Car Accident Case Clip N' Save Coupon
Injury 2 Wellness Centers, PC4982 Covington Highway • Decatur, Georgia 30035
404-288-8433www.Injury2Wellness.com
Assistants – DQ & Cindy
Early diagnosis of most health problems can usually lead to a good outcome, but many African-Americans don’t find out about their illnesses until the disease is in its late stages and more difficult to treat.
At the CrossRoadsNews Health & Well-ness Expo on Jan. 29, a number of health organizations will offer free screenings for diabetes, diabetic foot infections or athlete’s foot, hypertension or high blood pressure, HIV/AIDS, and scoliosis.
Visit these exhibitors for free screen-ings:
DiabetesThe diabetes test is taken from blood
drawn from a finger prick. It assesses your blood sugar to determine if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes.
If the results register a glucose level high-er than 200 mg/dL and are accompanied by classic symptoms of unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and increased thirst and urination, then the doctor will suspect diabetes mellitus and will request a fasting blood glucose level test to confirm the results.
Diabetic foot infectionsDuring a diabetic foot infections or ath-
lete’s foot test, the foot is checked for severe swelling and/or deformity. Doctors also will check for long, thick or ingrown toenails or foot or ankle muscle weakness.
High blood pressure
Hypertension or high blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because about a third of the people with it do not know they have it. High blood pressure is easy to diagnose.
You have hypertension if your blood pressure is more than 140/90.
Because high blood pressure has no symptoms, it’s important to have blood pressure measured by a nurse, physician or another knowledgeable person (including yourself).
Diabetic Hyper-Exhibitor Diabetes FootInfections tension HIV/AIDSScoliosisRotary Club of South DeKalb xOakhurst Medical Centers x xSTAND Inc. xFull Body Chiropractic x Metro Foot and Ankle Center x
Free screenings at the Health & Wellness Expo
To screen for it, you must be in a relaxed state, preferably in a sitting position.
Allow half an hour to have passed since your last cup of tea, exercise or stressful situation.
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
CrossRoadsNewsJanuary 22, 2011 B9
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“The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office strives to offer citizens prevention, protection and peace of mind to
support your health and wellness goals in 2011.”
Robert D. James, District Attorney
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IT’S TIME TO CALL OmniTech!!!
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Training provided by Certified Instructors in:
1. Information Technology
2. Medical Assistant
3. Medical Billing & Coding
4. Audio Engineering
5. Certified Nurse Assistant
VA Certifying OfficialsOn site
The Rotary Club of South DeKalb Diabetes Awareness
and Prevention Program
Visit the Rotary Club’s table for Free Diabetes Screening*
at the Jan. 29, 2011 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest
Everyone receiving a Free Diabetes Screening will enter a Prize Drawing for an Apple IPod. People with
abnormal glucose levels will receive a complimentary Glucometer* to take home.
The Rotary Diabetes Awareness and Prevention Program is co-sponsored by Southeastern
Primary Care Consortium, Inc./Atlanta AHEC, and Liberty Medical.
* Diabetes Screenings & Glucometers Available While Supplies Last.
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B10
B11Red Cross touts disaster preparedness
HealtH & Wellness expo
“Specialty Care For The Foot & Ankle In Atlanta And Surrounding Areas”
Diabetic EvaluationIngrown NailArthritisNeuromaHeel Pain
Limb SalvagePediatricsFracture/SprainBunion CorrectionArthroplasty
770-484-9599
Dr. Javan S. BassMetro Foot & Ankle Centers, PC
8225 Mall Parkway Ste. 230Lithonia, Ga 30038
By Carla Parker
March marks the beginning of active tornado season in Georgia, and residents should have a plan in case a tornado hits close to home.
At the Jan. 29 Health & Wellness Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest, the American Red Cross will provide materi-als and answer questions on how to prepare for disasters ranging from a house fire to natural disasters.
Karl Hoerz, the Red Cross community outreach di-rector, said they are preparing people to cope when hur-ricanes, tornados or flooding hits the area.
“It is important that people have some type of plan in place in case of a natural disaster,” he said.
Hoerz said families should have an emergency kit with things they will need.
“Food and water are the main things you would need,” he said. “But you should also have copies of identifica-tion and copies of prescriptions if you’re on medication, because those items are hard to find when a house is destroyed.”
In case of a tornado, Hoerz said family members should know where to go.
“Identify a safe place to go,” he said. “Everyone in a family must know what to do.”
During a storm, families often lose electricity and that
is why Hoerz says it is important to have a weather radio to stay updated on weather changes.
At the expo, which takes place from noon to 5 p.m. on the mall’s lower level, the Red Cross also will give out information on house fire prevention. In metro Atlanta, firefighters respond to house fires at least once a day. Ho-erz said it is important that people educate themselves on ways to prevent house fires.
“Most house fires are caused from bad wiring in the house, cooking with grease or burning candles,” he said. “People can prevent fires by just being cautious in what they’re doing.”
The cold weather and winter conditions often bring an increase in home fires as many people use alternate heating sources such as space heaters, fireplaces, or coal or wood stoves to stay warm. Hoerz said people must be very careful when using space heaters during winter.
“Leaving a space heater unattended can cause a fire,” Hoerz said. “Always turn them off when you leave a room.”
One message that Hoerz wants to leave with expo goers is that people can always count on the Red Cross to take care of them during emergencies.
“You don’t have to worry about having a roof over your head or food in your bellies,” he said. “We’ll take care of that.”
What do Thomas Brown, Larry Johnson and Gwen Keyes Fleming all have in common?
How about St. Philip AME, Covenant Christian Center & Berean Christian Academy?
They’ve all been nominated for2010 Best of East Metro Reader’s Choice Awards.
Have You Nominated Your Favorites?
Hurry. The Nomination Period Closes on January 31.
Visit www.crossroadsnews.comand follow the links for
Best of East Metro.
Readers Choice Awards
Time is Running Out!
Voting Begins Feb. 1
CrossRoadsNewsJanuary 22, 2011 B11
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Children’s at Hughes Spalding is located at 35 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE.
– Emergency Department
• Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to treat children and young adults from birth to age 18.
– Primary Care and After-Hours Care for checkups, immunizations, sports physicals and sick visits
• Open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Also from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday.
We also offer the following specialty services:*
– Asthma
– Endocrinology, including diabetes services
– Sickle cell disease and other blood disorders
– Autism and behavioral disorders
Parking next to hospital.
www.choa.org/hughesspalding
Call 404-785-9850 for appointments.
*Requires pediatrician referral
We have a new hospital close to you.Experienced doctors specially trained
to care for children and teens.
© 2011 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Inc. All rights reserved. HS 941543.mw.1/11
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
CrossRoadsNews January 22, 2011B12