CHRIS FIELDS
Chris Fields, Executive Director
“I am a man of God, created in His likeness and image, to do His good work. The work created me to do. His will is to see His people healthy and whole. H.E.A.L. Mississippi is one of His avenues to do just that.”- Chris Fields
Chris, is a graduate in Kinesiology and a former athlete who is currently furthering his education in nutrition. He serves as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, CPT through American College of Sports Medicine and is accredited in Exercise Is Medicine. Chris is also a Diabetes Educator and Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach and he currently works with various low income clinics throughout the state helping to implement health programs, specifically for their patients suffering with chronic diseases related to obesity, diabetes prevention programs and diabetes self-management programs. Chris’s health background dates back 20 years from being involved in sports. In his later years, Chris began to understand the true essence of exercise, health. “Exercise is medicine.”, he says. Knowing this he decided to further his education in nutrition. Growing up minority, he was told that vegetables were good for him but wasn’t told that soul food, fried chicken, fried catfish (staple foods in the black community) could eventually kill him. So as a child, he suffered with obesity and its related diseases, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Later “growing out of it”, by becoming active.
“For the most part, being unhealthy is a learned behavior. Some behaviors are innate, some are not. We have to want to unlearn to be able to learn and grow. We are cultured into poor eating habits. We are cultured into sedentary behavior. As a result, we push our bodies to the point to where it can’t fight back anymore resulting in obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, which leads to cardiac events and eventually death. We are blessed if diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol precede heart attacks and death. Developing diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and other diseases related to obesity, is our bodies way of letting us know there is still time to make a change. H.E.A.L. Mississippi is that change. God had whoever is going to be impacted through H.E.A.L. Mississippi in mind when he gave us the vision for H.E.A.L. He always has us in mind. ‘HE knows the plans HE has for us. Plans for us to prosper, never to harm us.’ Jerimiah 33:3. ”
-Chris Fields