Dr. Oz and Oprah introduce the Ultimate Health Checklist (Oprah.com)
As Oprah’s Best Life week continues, she welcomed Dr. Oz, a.k.a. America’s doctor, to the show once again. In the second day of her campaign to get healthy alongside the rest of us, she asked Dr. Oz to share the most important things about our health that we need to be aware of and proactive in doing. He calls it the Ultimate Health Checklist, and says that as long as we’re able to keep to the list, which really isn’t that overwhelming, we can live long, happy lives.
Here are the 10 things on Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Health Checklist that all men and women should make a point of following.
1. Schedule a Check-Up. Dr. Oz told Oprah’s audience that people who have a family doctor are healthier, and pointed out that while many do not have health insurance, you can find free and government-funded access to quality health care providers.
2. Know the Five Ingredients to Avoid. Check food labels for this simple list of ingredients, and pass on foods that include them in the first five ingredients listed (meaning they are highest in concentration).
Ruby provides us with a great outlook on how to approach this new year and trying to be healthy. This video below is a great, short but sweet motivational spill by Ruby. She states just that, your focus should be on health, not “trying to be skinny like a tooth pick.”
Just last month, Oprah Winfrey confessed to once again topping the scales at 200 pounds as she continues to endure a life-long battle with food, weight and her body. True to her honest and always helpful candor, Oprah has taken her battle public in the hopes of not just improving her own life and health but for anyone else who wants to take more control over their own lives in 2009 as part of her Best Life challenge.
Starting on Monday, January 5, 2009, Oprah will feature five days of Best Life shows that showcase Oprah’s favorite medical professionals, fitness gurus, financial coaches and nutrition experts. Here is a snapshot of what to expect in the week to come:
For the first time we’re honoring 10 sites in the DietsInReview.com Diet Awards. Each of these sites share a common thread - a desire to help people live healthy lives. That’s what drives DietsInReview.com everyday, and we know it’s a priority for all of them, too. We selected a winner and a runner-up in each of five categories: Best Diet Blog, Best Healthy Recipe Blog, Best Fitness Blog, Best Diet Community, Best Health Site.
Please join us in congratulating each of these sites and the talented people behind each of them. Without further ado, the 2008 winners are:
Best Diet Blog
Winner: DozenDiets.com
For Joel’s 2008 New Year’s Resolution, he resolved to lose weight this year, and to do so tried a different diet during each month of the year. He was able to capture the entire dieting experience over the course of a year. He’s currently following 8 Minutes in the Morning, and has completed Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, Hydroxycut and eight others.
Runner-Up: RonisWeigh.com
A few years ago Roni was a new mom, had a full-time job and was trying to lose weight. She blogged her Weight Watchers journey, and developed a loyal following of fellow dieters. She’s completely candid, divulging everything from her two tummy tucks to triumphs in the gym. Roni’s site is a friendly place on the Web where you’ll find a real woman, facing real challenges, sharing her successes (and even hurdles) in a very real way.
Being active is very important and requires a huge commitment to find time every day to exercise. I am going to have you rate your physical activity on a daily basis. The physical activity guidelines state that an individual should exercise at least thirty minutes a day for three to five days a week. That is just a guideline though; recommendations for physical activity are as follows: forty-five to sixty minutes of exercise for five to six days a week.
These guidelines and recommendations are tough to achieve and will definitely take a lifestyle change if you have not already done so. The daily rating scale is as follows:
Each day is worth 20 points:
If you exercise for an hour you get 20 points
If you exercise for forty-five minutes you get 15 points
Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba - the list goes on of A-list moms-to-be who immediately transform their post-baby bodies into their pre-pregnant shapes. How do they do it so quick?
The overwhelming pressure to be thin in Hollywood is a massive driving impetus for these new moms to whip their bodies back into svelte shape. But all of them work hard to do it. They may have the money for personal trainers, baby-sitters and personal chefs but when it comes down to it, each of these new moms have to put in the work.
Health experts recommend pregnant women gain anywhere between 20 to 40 pounds for a single pregnancy. For those moms-to-be who are underweight to begin with, they are encouraged to fall on the weightier end of this spectrum. For those ladies carrying multiples like Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie, the weight recommendations are a bit more generous.
A few weeks after Jolie gave birth to twins, Vivienne and Knox, it didn’t even look like she had ever been pregnant: Her slender physique showed very little, if any, hint of her pregnant self.
Whether you’re just beginning to start eating healthier or you’ve been doing it for a while, you can easily find yourself in a rut and doing the same boring dishes over and over again. You may find yourself wanting to cheat more often or that healthy foods don’t sounds that appealing. However, you can easily introduce new and exciting ways to keep your nutrition efforts interesting.
Below is a list of 15 different things you can do to spice up your nutrition life:
1. Experiment with new foods and combinations. Purchase a new fruit or vegetable each week and try it in a meal. This way you can look forward to something new and you can really expand your food options.
2. Take advantage of ready-to-use foods. Fresh-bagged salads, frozen vegetables, etc. Just stay smart about it and read the food label.
3. Add legumes/beans to your salads.
4. Try meat alternatives. The food industry has come along way with providing us with tofu or veggy-based meat alternatives. Buy some and try it out!
5. Use herbs and spices to add color, savory taste and sensational aroma.
Ever wander how the acute care that you apply to your lifestyle is extending those nine lives of yours? Whether you exercise, eat your Super Foods and pop your multi-vitamin daily with the intention of extending your life, to ward off disease or to feel great about yourself, there is a new calculator which can predict how long you live. This calculation is based on a number of factors.
A little more scientific than spending $75 on psychic reading, The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator uses the most current and carefully researched medical and scientific data in order to estimate how old you will live to be. And it’s free! The calculator was created by Thomas Perls M.D., MPH who is the founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians and their families in the world.
If this sounds a bit intimidating, take comfort in knowing that if you score lower than you would hope for, there are tons of lifestyle and medical preventive measures you can take to ensure that you live a long and healthy life. And the feedback at the end of the calculator points out these areas that could help add a few more years to your life.
One of the first steps to making a life change is moving from the stage of precontemplation to contemplation, becoming more aware that your life could be improved in some way and how the status quo could be less than helpful. A process that can help you in this stage transition is known as Consciousness Raising. Consciousness Raising can occur purposefully or you may stumble upon information. Regularly visiting DietsInReview.com presents more opportunities for new information to be integrated into your consciousness; however, not everything we blog directly applies to you and your goals. Stumbling upon information would be as if someone unexpectedly handed you a brochure or flyer about what you needed to know while you were walking down the street one day. Checking out books from the library on the subject would be purposefully increasing your own awareness.
According to a new study, women who gain more than 40 pounds during pregnancy are about twice as likely to give birth to a heavy baby compared to those that gain weight within the recommended range. This is not good! Mothers of babies who weigh more than about nine pounds at birth are at greater risk for birth complications, and heavy babies are more likely to be overweight or obese later in life. Which also means that child will be exposed to more weight related complications, i.e. diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, etc.
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ver, not everything we blog directly applies to you and your goals. Stumbling upon information would be as if someone unexpectedly handed you a brochure or flyer about what you needed to know while you were walking down the street one day. Checking out books from the library on the subject would be purposefully increasing your own awareness. 
