Lifelong Wisdom from Dr. Oz

I've read two of Dr. Oz's books now (he co-wrote them with another Dr. but Dr Oz is more famous). Anyway, I'm a very cause/effect logical scientific sort of person and I like to understand how things work to make them function better. Just ask me about the anatomy of singing sometime. Well, don't if you don't want to hear all about how to breathe properly and resonate in your pharynx. I only charge $20 every half an hour for this information! haha! At any rate, Dr. Oz's books have been the most helpful in understanding how your body processes and relates to food. So I wanted to share this with people because it's logical and it's for the long term and it's not about weight, it's about health. And that's what's really important. If it was healthy to be obese, than more people would embrace it right? But it's not and that's why I like how he approaches lifestyle.

Enough of my jabbering. Here's the link to the Full Article.

And here's the copy/paste of it. It's kind of long. But I end up saying half this stuff on here all the time, so this summarizes it and you only have to read it once. And you should. You know you should!

Forget the fad diets. Stop counting carbs. Dr. Mehmet Oz has teamed up with Dr. Michael Roizen to develop a diet plan that they say really works.

Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen have already helped millions live longer, look younger and become smarter patients. Now, they want to teach you how to lose weight and waist once and for all. The goal is to shrink your waist down to the ideal size—32 and a half inches for women and 35 inches for men—and make eating so easy, you never realize you're dieting!

In the book YOU: On a Diet, Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen explain why the body stores blubber and how cutting just 100 calories a day can help you lose a pound per month!

Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen studied people who lost weight and kept it off. They noticed that dieters who cut 400 calories a day ended up yo-yo dieting and regaining weight. Fasting shuts down your metabolism, Dr. Oz says, so when you bow to temptation and devour a candy bar, most of the calories are quickly deposited as fat.

Cutting 100 calories a day—the equivalent of a Granny Smith apple—is a dieting strategy that most people can sustain for a lifetime, he says.

The first step to getting on the path to better eating is to take stock of your pantry! Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen say there are five ingredients that should be banned from your diet forever.

The first ingredient to avoid is hydrogenated oil, which often masquerades as partially hydrogenated oil. Dr. Roizen says we should also eliminate sugar and high fructose corn syrup from our foods. "We eat 63 pounds of [high fructose corn syrup] a year, which puts 33 pounds on the typical American," he says.

Enriched flour is the fourth ingredient to avoid. "[Enriched] means they took all the good stuff out and put a little back," Dr. Roizen says. In 1960, Americans didn't use enriched flour, but today we consume 63 pounds a year, he says.

The fifth offenders are white foods—including bleached flour. The only white items you should have in your fridge are egg whites, cauliflower and fish, Dr. Roizen says.

Your favorite snack foods won't advertise their artificial ingredients—Oprah's medical experts say you have to read the small print for yourself!

After you've read the ingredients on the label, check out how much saturated fat and sugar is in your food. Dr. Roizen says you want to buy foods that contain less than four grams of saturated fat and less than four grams of sugar per serving.

Keep in mind—polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good for you and help fight depression.

Can't seem to find any food that fits the bill? Dr. Oz says you should head over to the produce aisle and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Packaged goods usually contain harmful, artificial ingredients because they're designed to stay on the shelf for years, he says.

The supermarket shelves are filled with foods that seem healthy…but don't be fooled. Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen say that 50 percent of the sugar we eat comes from "fat free" foods like salad dressings and soft drinks. In fact, young women get about half their daily calories from salad dressing! Dr. Oz says to substitute olive oil and vinegar for a healthier alternative.

It's 3 p.m. and you're craving something sweet…and something salty. Before you put your quarters into the closest vending machine, consider some healthy alternatives to potato chips and candy bars.

When Dr. Oz wants to crush a craving, he relies on his emergency snacks, which he carries everywhere! "Emergency foods you want tend to be foods that are a little crunchy with some sweetness to them," he says.

Apples, carrots and nuts are great snacks to consider. A glass of vegetable juice also takes the edge off, he says. One snack you may not have thought of are breath strips! "I like [breath strips] because, a lot of times, we have a craving center in our brain that says put something in me," he says. "It doesn't tell you what."

Dr. Oz says a glass of water, a good night's sleep or sex might also satisfy your craving center.

Another way to fight fat is to spice it up! Adding red pepper flakes or cinnamon to your food can reduce your appetite. Starting with a smaller plate also helps you eat 33 percent less, Dr. Oz says.

Breakfast is also a key component to Dr. Oz's diet plan. "People who eat breakfast every day are thinner," he says. "Jump start your metabolism with breakfast—don't miss it!"

Dr. Roizen says people should try to automate their breakfast and lunch. "Why we get so fat is we have so many choices…we want one of everything," he says.

For breakfast, Dr. Roizen says you should have the same thing or the same small variety of things every day. Steel-cut oatmeal, whole grain cereals and egg-white omelets are great options. Then, do the same thing at lunch. Find a lunch that's satisfying and stick with it. Then, come dinner time, you can enjoy a variety of options!

When soggy cereal and steel-cut oatmeal loses its appeal, whip up one of Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen's favorite breakfast treats!

The Quick Magical Breakfast Blaster
2 servings, 136 calories per serving

1 scoop (1/3 cup) Soy protein (like Nature's Plus Spiru-Tein)
1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 large ripe banana (or other fruits of your choice)
1/2 tablespoon apple juice concentrate or honey
1 teaspoon Psyillium seed husks

Peel banana; break into chunks. Put all ingredients in a blender. Add 12 ounces of water and ice, as well as powdered vitamins. Cover, blend until fairly smooth.

You don't need balls, mats and elastic bands to get a great workout. Dr. Oz says there are only four exercises that you'll ever need to know—and none require fancy machinery!

First, Dr. Oz suggests that people walk for at least 30 minutes each and every day. "Walking is the foundation for all other exercises because it increases your stamina and prepares your body for strength training," he says. You should strive to walk 10,000 steps a day.

The second step is to build muscle by lifting weights for 30 minutes a week. You can lift a dumbbell, a gallon of milk or your toddler…just start lifting!

Now that you're on the right track, Dr. Oz says you have to work up a sweat for about an hour a week. "The number one predictor of how long you're going to live is how well you can exercise your heart," he says. "If you can push yourself to sweat for an hour a week, that's great. You can break it down into three little segments of 20 minutes each."

Finally, you have to stretch so that you don't get hurt. Dr. Oz likes to do yoga, but he says you can get the same benefits from stretches you learned in high school gym class.

There's one secret fat-burner that you can do anywhere—fidgeting! Most of the one million calories you consume every year are burned without you ever thinking about it. Only 15 to 30 percent of calories are burned through intentional physical activity, so minor additions like being fidgety helps keep off the pounds!