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Contact: Adena Miller 312/988-2295

NEW NATIONAL CHALLENGE HELPS PUT WOMEN ON A HEALTHY PATH TO WEIGHT LOSS
Prizes and Incentives May Give Some Just the Kick They Need This New Year

Washington D.C. (December 20, 2004) - Every year millions of people deprive their bodies of nutrients and calories trying to slim down after the holidays, but the odds say only 10 percent will actually lose weight and keep it off. This year a new 12-week program, The Great American Weight Loss Challenge, is giving people the free expert help they need to lose weight in a healthful way.

The program is developed by Pam Peeke, M.D., MPH, author of the best-seller Fight Fat After Forty and the upcoming title Body for Life for Women (Rodale, April 2005). Anyone can register for the free Challenge at www.2424milk.com and group participation is encouraged and rewarded. One lucky group will win a $10,000 cash prize for their successful completion of the 12-week program. And 24 women will be chosen in January to receive free coaching from Dr. Peeke and a registered dietitian in their town.

24 Ounces, 24 Hours - The Milk and Weight Loss Connection
This new plan invites Americans to lose weight in a healthy way by following a reduced calorie diet, increasing exercise and drinking 24 ounces of milk every 24 hours (www.2424milk.com). That's the amount of milk that's been shown to increase weight and fat loss in multiple clinical studies. Although calories still count, the studies have shown that overweight/obese adults who included 24 ounces of milk in a reduced-calorie diet lost significantly more weight and fat than those who drank little or no milk in a diet. Those who drank milk also maintained more muscle and burned more fat in the abdominal area.

"Another reason drinking milk works is when your body doesn't get enough calcium, it assumes you're undernourished and releases higher amounts of a hormone that signals fat cells to make more fat and slow fat burning," Peeke explained. "When looking at the U.S. population, those people with the lowest intakes of calcium have the highest BMI, or body mass index."

Beating Belly Fat
The latest research is pointing to body shape as being just as important as the number on the scale. Pear-shaped people may have trouble losing weight from their hips and thighs, but it's the apple-shaped folks, who carry excess abdominal fat, who may be at a greater risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

"I call it 'toxic weight," Peeke said. "People with wide waistlines are more likely to have larger than normal amounts of deep-hidden belly fat around their organs."

According to Peeke, the combination of nutrients in milk appears to reduce fat accumulation in our fat cells and increase fat breakdown. "So when you drink milk and you increase your calcium intake you help improve your body's ability to burn fat," Peeke said.

Free Support and Motivation
Group motivation can play a major part in weight loss success. This 12-week program gives friends, families and neighbors a simple structure that they can follow together. At www.2424milk.com, challengers will find step-by-step weekly instructions, customized meal templates, an online food journal, calorie calculators, localized fitness ideas, weekly motivational support and delicious ideas for getting more milk in your diet.

The program will be touring the country beginning in March and will visit 75 cities with the Milk Mustache Mobile to provide weight loss support in conjunction with Curves For Women and Ladies Home Journal. Cities who sign up the most Challenge participants will win a $25,000 grant to put towards a fitness-related improvement in the city.

Living Proof - Role Models Wanted
Participants who register for the Challenge will also be eligible for the chance to receive one-on-one weekly nutrition counseling, exclusive coaching from Dr. Peeke and the chance to appear in a milk mustache ad. Twenty-four lucky women who sign up for the Challenge will be selected in January for national recognition for their got milk? Great American Weight Loss Challenge transformation. Their stories will be featured on the Web site at www.2424milk.com.

For more information on the got milk? Great American Weight Loss Challenge and to register, visit www.2424milk.com.

The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), Washington, D.C., is funded by the nation's milk processors, who are committed to increasing fluid milk consumption. Together with dairy farmers, the MilkPEP Board runs the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign, a multi-faceted campaign designed to educate consumers on the benefits of milk. For more information, go to www.whymilk.com.

The tagline "got milk?"® was created for the California Milk Processor Board by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and is licensed by the national milk processor and dairy producer groups.

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