Realising that a healthy body is as important as a healthy spirit, Bright Temple AME will be hosting a specialized healthy lifestyle programme, CHIP, with the goal of seeing congregants of reaching not only their spiritual goals, but their physical ones as well.Organised by Beverley Howell, a nurse with more than 30 years experience, the programme meets four nights a week for four weeks, and encourages attendees to live a more healthful lifestyle.The Coronary Health Improvement Project, or CHIP as it is called, was developed by an American physician, Dr. Hans Diehl, who is the director of the Lifestyle Medicine Institute of Loma Linda, California, in 1988. Since then, thousands around the world have benefited from the programme, which is available in DVD form, under the guidance of a licensed and certified director, like as Mrs. Howell.The programme results have been published in many different scientific and peer-reviewed medical journals, including the American Journal of Cardiology, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Preventative Medicine, and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.Mrs. Howell first learned about CHIP through a colleague while she was working at King Edward Memorial Hospital:“The person who brought here in 2007, I was still working in the hospital at that time... she was a pharmacist. I said if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do the course. I was absolutely blown away by it.”No longer at the hospital, Mrs. Howell has continued to share the amazing results with colleagues at her current job.“I’ve been doing it at my job and the results have been astounding.”As a nurse, Mrs. Howell has seen the negative affects of a bad diet, from high blood pressures, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, and as a member of Bright Temple AME, desired that she could help her fellow congregants in reaching their own physical goals through the establishment of a health ministry. To launch the ministry, she decided that the best place to start would be running a CHIP programme.“We’re killing ourselves. Diabetes is rampant in this country; high cholesterol. Bermudians just eat and eat and eat... It’s just crazy the way we eat.“You feel okay; you don’t feel sick. But these are silent killers because they’re affecting you, but you don’t know what’s going on. We don’t exercise we live seditenary lifestyles. We’re instant gratification people, and we’re killing ourselves.”The focus of the CHIP programme is to: “educate, motivate and inspire individuals to make wiser lifestyle decisions and to facilitate the prevention and reversibility of many of our western killer diseases.”In the US, the CHIP programme has become a popular way of promoting better physical health within faith communities. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in America has particularly embraced the programme, and, as a result, the Adventist CHIP Association has since been created.“CHIP is being offered as the health ministry of Bright Temple AME Church to encourage committed members and participants to attain their ‘Best Life’ through healthy lifestyle modifications, which will enable participants to enjoy their maximum wellness potential physically, spiritually, psychologoically and socially.”In fact, Rev. Dayone Douglas, pastor at Bright Temple AME, and associate minister, Rev. Lucinda Burgess, are both expecting to participate in the programme.Through the four weeks, participants will enjoy 16 different health education DVDs, taught by Dr. Diehl, as well as a number of interactive demonstrations on cooking and package label reading.Each session last three hours, and includes subjects covering fats, reversing hypertension and diabetes, osteoporosis, artherosclerosis, diet and cancer, forgiveness and building self-worth. Participants also participate in two different heart screen tests, one before and one at the conclusion of the programme.“It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle intervention,” Mrs. Howell explained. “And if you’re committed and work at this, the results are astounding.”Committed participants can expect to see positive changes in their blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, a decrease in weight, and overall improvement of their fitness and energey levels, all within the four weeks.“It’s really, really easy, but it’s hard, because we have all kind of things that sabotauge us,” she added, but, “It’s designed to be a community based programme so you have other people supporting you.”The programme runs from January 23 to February 16, and costs $400.“I’m doing it at cost, making no money at it... I’m trying to just educate people that you are what you eat its about your quality of life.”“It does produce amazing results if you’re willing to commit.”To register, you can call CHIP Director, Beverley Howell at 236-2892 or email her at btchip[AT]hotmail.com.For more information on CHIP, visit www.chiphealth.com