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Download a free chapter from Fighting Globesity here. Check out the book's appendices for help on living healthy. And as mentioned in Fighting Globesity, download these weekly meal planners for great nutritional suggestions.

Phillip Mills, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004 and a global exporter of fitness programs to 73 countries (where they are licensed to nearly 11,000 gyms), has spent the last year forming his views on health and fitness and sustainability into an engaging and challenging book, Fighting Globesity. People worldwide should read it.

As Phillip jokes, “What would a couple of gym bunnies know about climate change and sustainability?” As it turns out, rather a lot.

Phillip has done wide reading and research in this area over the last few years. From that he has distilled a carefully argued message: Health is a major ecological issue — we need to exercise more, to eat better and we need to urgently engage with climate change and other sustainability challenges. We can make a difference.

Phillip’s wife Dr Jackie Mills, a GP and Creative Director of Les Mills International and co-creator of its world-beating programs such as BODYPUMP™, contributes extensive chapters on nutritional medicine that will both enlighten and encourage the reader to make a healthy change to their way of living.

So, what exactly is Globesity? Globesity is a term Phillip and Jackie use to describe the relationship that currently operates between personal fitness, national health systems and global sustainability. Basic laws of economics dictate that societies must choose where they allocate their resources — the classic economists’ analogy is “guns or butter”, and we have similar choices to make regarding sustainability.

We do not, for instance, have the ability to deal with major ecological problems like global warming and prop up a health system overburdened by inactivity and poor food habits. People must learn to look after themselves, to exercise more and eat better. In the big picture, sustainability starts with our own bodies.

In Fighting Globesity, Phillip and Jackie Mills present a three-part blueprint for:

1. Creating a successful fitness lifestyle.

2. Eating in a way that will transform our health and that of the     planet, and

3. Becoming eco-friendly in all aspects of our lives.

Fit body first; fit planet next. As the Mills say in their introduction, “While we deal with the larger ecological issues in part three, the whole of part one is devoted simply to the most powerful strategies we know for getting yourself enjoyably active, and part two to dietary tactics for weight loss and for improving your health. We’ll show you how, starting in our own backyards, we can make a huge contribution to global sustainability in ways that can actually improve your life and be a lot of fun.

“This is a really important book about a big problem.” — Tim Flannery, leading environmentalist and climate change expert and Australian of the Year, 2007

“A fascinating description of how exercising regularly and eating better can play a major role in global sustainability” — Helen Clark Prime Minister of New Zealand

“Simple but revolutionary – better personal heath equals improved global sustainability” — Wayne Huizenga, world entrepreneur of the year 2006

Published by Random House NZ on 20 July 2007; $NZ34.99

The Motivation Behind Fighting Globesity

The reason behind writing the book, a major commitment for an extremely busy couple, is passion and concern.

“We’ve been concerned about the worsening health of society for a long time. The mission of our companies has always been to improve peoples’ lives. But like most people, we’ve started to get concerned about the bigger picture more recently. The consequences of global warming are becoming obvious, even to the most intransigent of skeptics. Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth has opened many eyes in this area and books like The Weathermakers by Tim Flannery and Heat by George Monbiot go a step further in spelling the issue out. Scientists like Jared Diamond and Tim Flannery have also brought the challenges to broader sustainability into the spotlight through their books Collapse, by the former and The Future Eaters and The Eternal Frontier, by the latter.

“On a more personal scale, we were motivated to become part of the solution by the death of Phillip’s mother. Colleen Mills was as healthy as a person could be. She played sport all of her life and was still running masters track and field well into her 60s. She always ate healthily and was slim and very fit. Everyone thought she would live to be 120. She was a hugely productive person in society, using her energies for many good purposes. She worked with charities, acted in sports administration, organized women’s groups — she helped a lot of people and died far too young at 71. Ironically, her pursuit of a healthy life was what killed her ... our mother died of skin cancer. She spent too much time outside in the sun, training for her beloved sport. She was first told that she had terminal melanoma in 2003, and she died in 2005. There is a direct link between our abuse of the environment and melanoma.”

At over 300 pages Fighting Globesity is full of expert information. Endorsed by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Tim Flannery, it is an authoritative, inspirational and challenging read.

As the Mills say, “For many of us, on a personal level our sustainability challenge begins with the health of the place we live — our bodies. Most of the actions we can take to meet these challenges, both personal and global, will improve our health, be fun, and enrich our lives in all sorts of ways. We know that you will reap rewards on so many levels when you get started on your own crusade. Whether it’s throwing away the car keys and riding your bike to work, eating sustainable-organic, joining a walking group, or any of the other choices we talk about in this book, you’ll feel better and your life will be much improved. Each one of us can make a difference. This book is full of practical steps we can take. Right now. Not tomorrow or when we find more time. Right now. The world can’t wait.”