Jimmy Peña Named as First Advisory Board Member to The Daniel Plan

Peña joins expert panel for Saddleback Church’s worldwide faith-and-fitness initiative Lake Forest, Calif., July 3, 2012 – Jimmy Peña has been named as the first member of the advisory board for The Daniel Plan, Pastor Rick Warren’s worldwide faith-and-fitness initiative that helped 15,000 members in 190 countries lose over 260,000 pounds in 2011 alone.

“We’re excited to have Jimmy as the first member of our advisory board,” says Dee Eastman, Director of The Daniel Plan. ”He has an essence of how faith is integral to making lasting lifestyle changes. The strength of his background in the fitness industry is amazing but we were drawn to his heart. You can’t train that.”

Peña began PrayFit (www.prayfit.com) as a blog in 2008 and has since grown the brand to include a book (“PrayFit: Your Guide to a Healthy Body and a Stronger Faith in 28 Days” – Regal Books), two DVDs (“PrayFit 33-Day Total Body Challenge,” “PrayFit 33-Day Body Toning System” – Lionsgate Entertainment) and a list of endorsers that includes producer/actor Tyler Perry, entertainer LL Cool J, TV host Mario Lopez, elite ultramarathoner Josh Cox and Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton.

“When I got the call from Dee, I couldn’t believe my ears. I am so honored and humbled to be a resource to her and the entire Daniel Plan team.”

The Daniel Plan was the brainchild of Pastor Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” in January 2011 as the first of seven “Decade of Destiny” initiatives at Saddleback Church, a Southern California-based church that serves over 20,000 congregants on a weekly basis. The idea came to him on a day when he had baptized over 800 people – Pastor Warren realized he, like his flock, was overweight and that the issue needed to be addressed.

Peña is the first member of the Advisory Board team that Eastman will be filling with like-minded, highly-qualified nutritionists, doctors and health and wellness experts. The first Daniel Plan effort was a year-long program by a team that included Drs. Mark Hyman, Daniel Amen and Mehmet Oz. The success of The Daniel Plan has captured the attention of CNN, ABC News and other major news outlets. Recently, it was the subject of a feature in TIME Magazine.

“We want to build a robust advisory board that will consist of people that can partner together to really improve health across the nation,” Eastman adds. “I want an amazing dream team of wellness professionals and Jimmy is the first member of that team.”

Peña will collaborate with Eastman and her staff on further curriculum development, additional resources and an enhanced online experience for Daniel Plan users in addition to speaking engagements and seminars.

>> For additional information about The Daniel Plan, visit www.danielplan.com, like it on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thedanielplan) or follow it on Twitter (@thedanielplan).

An Avenue of Affliction

"In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider God has made the one as well as the other." —Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

Read: Ecclesiastes 7

On the treadmill to my right, walked a man maybe 80 years old; on the one to my left, a teenager with a disability. The three of us huffed and puffed, each with a window overlooking a busy intersection -- sort of a fitness fishbowl, if you will. Each stoplight ushered in a new array of commuters and though every once in a while we'd capture the attention of a driver or two, one vehicle in particular caught mine.

But first, isn't it interesting that you really don't know what motivates someone? Some things you just can't see. You can only see the result. Oh sure, while the dashboard on my treadmill might give me distance, it doesn't know what it took to get me that far. Pastor Chuck Swindoll wrote, "Although this journey along the avenue of affliction is unpleasant and unappealing, it is inevitable. Working through the hurt is essential if we hope to become effective for God."

To be effective for God. Isn't that the goal both physically and spiritually? And since we know that nothing hits us without Him allowing it, it's a compliment that He believes we can work through the hurt. Or better yet, we're never in pain alone. So as I stepped in between the two bookends of life on my left and right, it was a comfort to know the steps God took to see me through mine. (Lord only knows what was inside their hearts-the history, the pain, the drive,- but whatever it was, they walked).

And oh yes, I almost forgot. The car that got my attention? An Official Vehicle of the Department of Aging. Somehow, the three of us "vehicles" could easily relate. Wow. Can't you just hear the applause of Heaven? Listen closely, take courage and keep going. Because thankfully, the road we're on as believers? It's an incline.

--Jimmy Peña

CARBS: CHOOSE WISELY

While PrayFit isn't completely against low-carb dieting, we stress the importance of choosing the proper types of carbohydrates to fuel your training and other daily activities. Carbs are, after all, the body's preferred fuel source, so extended or extreme deprivation can backfire for dieters as well as the companies that stake their futures on no-carb schemes. Case in point...

"The low-carb diet craze reached its peak in 2004, with far fewer people following diets like Atkins and South Beach in subsequent years," according to John Robbins, author of Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples. "On August 1, 2005, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., filed for bancruptcy court protection."

Remember, the key is to control refined sugar, not to overly restrict healthy complex carbohydrates. Refined sugars, such as those found in sugary drinks, white bread and candy, digest quickly and spike insulin levels, which can cause the body to store fat. Complex carbs, such as those found in whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, digest more slowly and provide sustained streams of fuel to cells.

Source: Healthy at 100 by John Robbins