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).
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the premiere of Oprah’s 2009 season, as well as her Best Life Week, you missed 30 minutes of the most candid we’ve probably ever seen the daytime diva. For a half-hour she put it all out there, talked about how her weight began to climb in February 2007 all the way through her reveal last month that her weight was topping 240 pounds… again. She expressed anger with herself for letting the weight climb back again, saying “I can’t believe I’m still talking about weight!”
CNN.com posted an interesting article, originally featured in Health magazine, about the top 10 best diets. The new year is here and if you’re like the estimated 80 million Americans who go on a diet every year, you might be interested to see the list that was compiled. According to the article, Health magazine collected some experts in the field of nutrition and examined 60 well-known diets and narrowed them down to the top 10.
This is structured after Gerard J. Musante’s (the author of the diet) work at the actual Structure House, a Durham, North Carolina-based residential treatment center for obese adults. This book/diet offers a holistic approach to weight loss with motivational components. This diet helps followers understand the ‘why’ behind overeating and helps them to put their lives in balance. This book wants you to find other things than food, i.e. time with friends, outdoor activities, etc., and includes many recipes!
This diet really focuses on walking to help motivate you to lose weight and slim down your waist, and it even comes with a pedometer. It incorporates easy things for losing weight from intentionally going for a walk or making small changes in your life like parking farther away from the store and in turn burning more calories. The plan puts emphasis on calories burned rather then cutting calories, while nutritionally this diet asks you to “Cut food intake to 75 percent of what you currently eat.”
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:
In 2008, diet-related searches online continued to be a hot topic. It seems Americans are wising up about their health and making more of an effort to get fit to reverse the concerning obesity epidemic that has begun to plague both young and old in our country.
In DietsInReview.com’s 2008 Most Popular Diets of the Year list, there were some tried and true plans that made the cut, not surprising any of us. Then there were those that seem to have a more fad-feel that left us scratching our heads, and some of you likely yo-yoing. Here are the 25 Most Popular Diets of the year, one of which might be the solution for you in the new year.
1. Weight Watchers
A 45-year veteran of dieting that is one of the most proven plans on the market. They not only help you to lose weight, they teach you how to keep it off for life. With the new year they introduce their new plan, Momentum.
2. 21 Pounds in 21 Days
Made popular by Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers, the book introduces a fruit- and vegetable-based detox in which you consume primarily fresh juices to rid your body of toxins, lose weight and reset your metabolism.
3. Cabbage Soup Diet
A fad diet that became very popular for its quick weight loss claims. It’s a seven-day weight loss plan that comes with a strict, low-calorie outline for foods you can and can’t consume each day.
4. 5 Day Miracle Diet
This approach encourages you to change the times of day that you eat and eliminate starches, caffeine, alcohol and sugar. They claim when you do so, you’ll regulate blood sugar and the need to munch and binge.
5. Slim-Fast
Shake, shake, shake the weight off with delicious shakes that replace breakfast and lunch, then dinner is a healthy meal of your choosing.
If there’s one thing that women will not divulge, it’s the number on the scale. But Oprah isn’t your average woman.
She’s one of the most powerful and successful women on the planet. But if there’s one thing that Oprah has had trouble with in her life, it’s her weight. She’s notoriously yo-yoed over the years, and now she’s actually being very candid in saying that she is tipping the scales at 200 pounds again.
She slimmed down to 160 pounds in 2006. But in the upcoming January issue of O magazine, Oprah is spilling the beans on her recent 40-pound weight gain: “Yes, you’re adding correctly. That means the dreaded 2-0-0,” Oprah admits.
Oprah sang during her show yesterday “There is a place for us…,” as she learned that Mauritania, a west African nation, classifies beauty as being overweight. Her Nov. 20 episode featured a look around the world at how different countries define beauty in women. In Japan it was having flawless, porcelain skin; in Iran it was having a petite nose (the nose job capital of the world); in New Zealand, the women tattoo their chins and have their lips tattooed blue.
Mauritanian men and women define beauty as being “plump,” said Houda, a native of the country. From a young age, girls are force-fed couscous and camel’s milk, which is high in fat, all in an effort to make the girls gain weight so that they can find a husband. Often times, the girls are stuffed so full that they get sick, but given little recovery time before the feeding begins again. It seems the fatter the better in this culture.
Last week on Oprah, Roger Schultz shared his pre-Biggest Loser ranch daily diet, including the snack of an entire sleeve of store-bought cookies which he said he ate while watching the Biggest Loser. Other Biggest Loser contestants have made similar revelations and I’m sure several of you snack while watching television. In graduate school, I often kept my mind engaged on my studies through continuous motion of hand to bowl to mouth. I was lucky to be young and active to balance such mindless habits.
How many times have you watched The Biggest Loser or Dr. Phil’s Ultimate Weight Loss Race or even Oprah’s Biggest Loser episode while eating? We eat more when we are focused on something else, not paying attention to what we are doing, and not paying attention to our bodies. Why do you choose to watch these shows in the first place? Do you relate to the contestants? Are you on a similar journey? Are you looking for new ideas to help you along the path? Do you consider these shows to be more family-oriented entertainment than other shows on during prime time and want to communicate a healthy lifestyle to your children? What are you thinking when you make the choice to watch these shows?
Take a vacation day, set your DVR or drag your TV into the office. Whatever it takes, do not miss Oprah tomorrow, Oct. 30. Oprah has invited Biggest Loser contestants from several previous seasons to talk about life after the ranch, how they keep off the weight, find out who still struggles and get the dirt only Oprah can get!
You can catch a flashy preview of the Biggest Loser episode at Oprah.
We know Biggest Loser season 5 Ali Vincent will be on, as well as other season 5 contestants Curtis and Mallory and Roger Schultz. Trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels will also sit-down for a little chat with Oprah.
Last week we introduced to you Oprah’s new favorite thing- the Amazon Kindle.
This impressive digital reading device sells at Amazon for $359. When Oprah pulls a string, people listen. As such, you can save $50 off your Amazon Kindle purchase by using the promotional code OPRAHWINFREY.
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