More MS news articles for July 2001

A Warrior's Workout

"My strength has gone through the roof. I'm in the best shape right now that I've ever been in my life."

http://www.etonline.com/celebrity/a4706.htm

July 17, 2001

These are the words spoken by a man who every day fights a battle against the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. And as a result, TV host MONTEL WILLIAMS has once again turned author. With the help of his personal trainer, WINI LINGUVIC, Montel has documented his workout regimen in the new book Body Change, now in stores.

Montel says his 21-day fitness plan will help show anyone the way to a sounder mind and body. But he feels it has been particularly effective for someone such as himself, who needs to work hard each day to protect and preserve his strength.

"I would routinely walk and say, 'Don't trip,'" Montel tells Entertainment Tonight, "I don't trip at all any more. I have one of the most insidious chronic diseases out there. It lets me know it's there every day, but this is part of my arsenal to keep it at bay."

Montel's "arsenal" includes weight and strength training, balance drills and exercises, and a new diet consciousness that includes lowered carbohydrates and avoidance of chemically processed foods.

Montel also says that after his MS diagnosis in 1999, his doctor told him to lower his stress level. "I looked at him and laughed," Montel recalls. "Are you kidding me? With the job I have, I'm going to lower my stress level?" But Montel's new fitness discipline has helped. "The more aerobically fit you become," Montel says, "the more you and your body are able to handle stress."

And Montel says perhaps the best by-product of his new "body change" regimen is the energy he has in reserve for the people that matter most. "I'm working out more for everyday life, so I can play with my children and kind of delay the onset of this illness," Montel says. "My sons, my daughters, all my children -- they have a little bit of a hard time keeping up with Dad as it is!"

For more of Montel's workout secrets, check out his spread in the August issue of Muscle and Fitness magazine ... and tune in to ET tonight!