You attribute the success of metabolic typing to individuality and a "one-size doesn't fit all" notion. The low-carb craze is everywhere, with Atkins-style, low-carb foods in grocery stores and fast food restaurants quickly scrambling to add low-fat selections to their menus to keep up with their competitors. How would you challenge the attitudes of low-carb followers and how is your program the better option to losing weight and keeping it off?

Humans, for the most part, are still a lot like our ape ancestors in that they are very much "monkey see, monkey do." They seldom think about the natural, logical rationale behind the diet industry, nor do they think about how we got here through millions of years of evolution with a fraction of the illness and minimal need for the medicine man!

Quite simply, the reason all the diet gurus have success cases to sell their books by, is because they are only telling you about their success. Their failures are simply the results of live metabolic typing experiments!

Think about it. People bounce from diet to diet, choosing the one that made their sister, mother, brother or coworker look or feel better until they finally land one that works for them. My book simply saves them all the trial and error (which is extremely hard on the body by the way!) by implementing Bill Wolcott's system of metabolic typing right into my overall health and vitality plan.

In rare cases where the person using my approach doesn't get the kind of results they feel they should for their time investment, I suggest reading Bill Woloctt's book or hiring a CHEK NLC II Practitioner to assist them with Intermediate Metabolic Typing, which is much more advanced and specific in their dietary and supplement prescription. Rarely do we not see success after that is done. I've only had a small number of cases that had to go to the Advanced Metabolic Testing Level and a disease process was involved in each case.

In short, eating a low-carb diet will make you fat just as quickly as a high-carb diet if you are eating wrong for your metabolic type!

Along with finding your metabolic type, your book seems to mirror many other Dr. Mercola's program and beliefs. How do you feel your book complements Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program? How would people benefit from having both books?

There are no inconsistencies between Dr. Mercola's book and mine. Where I go much deeper into critical lifestyle factors and strategic use of exercise, Dr. Mercola offers more information about the negative effects of some foods, such as grains and gives a lot of fantastic recipe options. This is important because society's commercial food services today are not equipped to feed people wanting to be healthy. Anyone combining the two books has no option but to get healthy and vital.

In the foreword of your book, William Wolcott talks about who the book is designed for -- from students wanting to learn more about nutrition, practitioners trying to keep up with the latest developments and athletes in training to housewives and people facing a dire health challenge. How would a housewife use this book or benefit compared to a professional athlete?

Because the book uses a series of questionnaires to determine how much stress your key physiological systems are under (digestive system for example), each individual assesses his or her unique needs. A professional athlete and his mother, for example, will get very different scores on each of the questionnaires and will have different total scores, which indicates "total stress or physiological load" on the body.

The Chi cultivating exercises (called Zone Exercises) are specific to your stress zones, while the suggested exercise programs are designed to lower your total score. Therefore, there are any number of possible outcomes for any number of people!

The exercises in the exercise library are intensity coded so that anyone can choose the exercises that are appropriate for their level of health and fitness based on their total questionnaire score. The book encourages people and teaches them how to lower their score through natural means. I have found that 8 out of 10 people following my book will never need to see me.

Those who simply desire professional guidance will be very supported by the fact that I have developed a very large network of CHEK Practitioners and Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaches to assist them personally by becoming a client. They can be located via my Web site.

Throughout your book there are several tips called "CHEK Points." As the obesity rate continues to rise, particularly childhood obesity. What "CHEK Points" would you give to a family with children who wanted to use your book as a tool to exercising right and eating right?

The way my book works is congruent with my philosophy as a Holistic Health Practitioner, which simply stated is: "Don't treat the disease that has the patient. Coach the patient who has the disease!"

Obesity is a symptom of not caring for yourself correctly and you could just as easily have diabetes, chronic fatigue, irritable-bowel syndrome, cancer or any other malady as a result. You can see this idea proven in any military camp that runs basic training programs where all the soldiers eat the same food, experience the same exercise programs and mental stressors, go to bed and rise at the same time, yet suffer a tremendous variety of differing maladies, even diseases!

I know this for a fact, because I was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and watched it happen over and over again in basic training, Advanced Individual Training (specialized schools) and during Jump School.

My book is, above all else, a book of truths regarding what it takes to have a healthy body, as is Dr. Mercola's book. There is no fancy this-for-that prescription of the latest high-tech supplements or hormones. There is a lot of "do" involved in these things or you will end up bouncing from doctor to doctor like a rubber ball, getting fatter and sicker as you go!

Continued next issue, in Part II (Page 3) of this Interview

Paul Chek, Corrective, Holistic Exercise Kinesiologist and certified Neuromuscular Therapist, is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in Vista, California. A sought-after consultant to sporting organizations, his services have benefited numerous professional sports teams and athletes.

Paul has produced over 60 videos, 17 correspondence courses and is the author of several books, audio programs and articles. For more information on Paul's recent book "How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy!" or his popular "Equal But Not The Same" correspondence course, or for any of Paul Chek's other courses, videos and books, call 1-800-552-8789 or 760-477-2620 or visit on-line at www.chekinstitute.com. Feel free to request a catalog of CHEK Institute products.

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