Contact: Lesley Burbridge-Bates, L.A.B. Media, 615-321-6400, lesley.bates@labmediaonline.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- How many people are willing to devote an entire year to combat one of our nation's greatest enemies? That's exactly what health crusader Jordan Rubin will do on New Year's Day when he'll embark on a year-long, 200 city bus tour of the United States to help Americans shed pounds. Rubin has his bags packed to travel more than 44,000 miles and along the way he'll sign 100,000 copies of his new Perfect Weight America book (www.perfectweightamerica.com), speak at 250 public events, shake more hands than Mike Huckabee, and even adopt families in serious need of total health makeovers.

Why is the New York Times best selling author opting for life on the road when he could just as easily sit in his comfy West Palm Beach office and leave book sales to his publisher? Rubin says it's because he's committed to sharing a message of health that Americans need to hear – and to let people know that they are killing themselves with their knives and forks at staggering rates.

"In many homes, the average diet of processed convenience foods has resulted in fat parents, fat kids, and a fat family dog who has feasted on too many leftovers," said Rubin. "What I'm concerned with is the millions of Americans who genuinely want to lose weight but are discouraged from failing on so many diets. With the Perfect Weight America program, I will show them how they can finally succeed and achieve a 'perfect weight' where they can feel and look their best."

Rubin is no stranger to health journeys. In 1995, he battled Crohn's and several diseases that puzzled more than 70 doctors and specialists on three continents. When his strapping six foot frame wilted to a skeletal 104 pounds, Rubin began a diet of healthy "living foods" rich in vitamins, enzymes, and probiotics. Consuming a whole foods diet similar to what his ancestors ate in Biblical times, Rubin reclaimed control over his health and vowed to devoted the rest of his life to transforming the health of others one life at a time.

Rubin became well known to millions in 2004 when he wrote the New York Times and USA Today best-seller The Maker's Diet. But Perfect Weight America (Siloam Press), which hits bookstores January 2, is his most ambitious work to date because it encourages readers to "Change Your Diet, Change Your Life, Change Your World."

Traveling in a 45 foot red, white, and blue Perfect Weight America bus outfitted with bold graphics, Jordan will be recognizable to many fans who are already buying tickets and making plans to hear him speak in cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Tulsa, Boston, and Baltimore. They'll greet him at bookstores, health food stores, gyms, organic farms, hotels, churches, and town halls to hear about how "globesity" will lead to chronic diseases and to 75 percent of adults being classified as overweight by 2015. Sick, worried, and discouraged by their failing health in many cases, the crowds are banking on Rubin to show them a better way. 

"This is more serious than losing five pounds to fit into a bikini or knocking off 10 pounds for a high school reunion," said Rubin, who noted the Pew Research Center reports that most dieters say they are at least 29 pound heavier than they wish to be. "This country is finally realizing that weight-related diseases are skyrocketing and health costs are soaring because we have one of the poorest diets in the world," he said.

Rubin's well-researched campaign started with a "pilot program" in Toledo, Ohio in the summer of 2007. Working with the city's mayor and a local church, Rubin guided 126 participants through a regimen that emphasized nutrition, supplementation, exercise, and healthy snacking. During the program a medical team documented weight, body fat, BMI, waist circumference and other measurements before and after the program. In 11 weeks, the participants lost more than 1,700 total pounds – an average of 13.5 pounds per person. Several, such as Melissa Gertz from Findlay, Ohio, continued on the Perfect Weight American plan for several months and lost more than 50 pounds.

Rubin will reach out to more families on the Perfect Weight America Tour. He plans to sponsor several weight-challenged families across the country by "adopting" them for extreme health makeovers. He'll educate the families on grocery store shopping, cooking, dietary choices, exercise programs, and a host of other topics. Participants must be committed and not cry when their favorite snacks are tossed, as Rubin and his team will start with the family's fridge and throw out all junk food, toxic substances, and anything that might stand in the way of extraordinary health for the family. Rubin and his health and wellness company, Garden of Life (www.gardenoflife.com), will underwrite the dietary supplement, and functional food expenses for each family for a year. Other sponsors of the tour will provide everything from home exercise equipment to indoor air purifiers. The experiences will be documented and video-graphed as the families' progress is tracked.  Results will be broadcast via radio, television, and print.

 "Their losses will translate to America's health gains," says Rubin.

Perfect Weight America balances the emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of health. Readers can take a complimentary health assessment on www.PerfectWeightAmerica.com and learn how to eat, drink, snack, and supplement for their age, body type, gender, and even geographic location. The online resource serves as a Personal Health Coach and supplies a detailed, customized health and wellness plan that covers everything from cleansing and cooking to stress management.

Rubin is a firm believer in taking weight off the planet, so part of the program suggests ways to go green and promote global sustainability. Rubin will do his part by making donations to Carbon Fund (www.CarbonFund.org) for every gallon of gas his tour bus burns in order to offset carbon usage.

To view the schedule of tour stops and dates, visit www.perfectweightamerica.com or www.tour.perfectweightamerica.com/TourDates/tabid/808/Default.aspx

For interviews with Jordan Rubin, contact:

Lesley Burbridge-Bates

L.A.B. Media

(615) 321-6400

lesley.bates@labmediaonline.com