"You: On A Diet"
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It's Not Your Weight, It's Your Waist When most people think about weight loss, they think about the numbers on the scale. They think that loading their shopping baskets full of low-fat and nonfat foods and stepping up their exercise plan will help them win the battle of the bulge. Think
again, say best-selling authors Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen.
Their new book, "You: On a Diet," blows a hole in many
of the beliefs Americans have held concerning health and weight loss. Testing the Theory Jodi Hazan knows all about weight-gaining tendencies. By age 32, she had tried more than 20 different diet plans and products, but nothing seemed to work long term. At 5 feet, 2 inches tall, the busy New York salon owner weighed more than 200 pounds and admits she was basically in denial about her excessive weight gain. "I stopped
weighing myself after I got over a certain point," she
recalls. "I was wearing size 16 clothes that didn't
fit me. They were too small, but I refused to buy the bigger
size. I refused to
go to size 18." "I'd always thought of myself as kind of tall and lanky, and I had completely lost that look," says Bouchard. In an effort to regain her single-digit size, Bouchard tried everything from the latest fads in meal plans to good old-fashioned juice diets, but each one ended in failure. 'It's Not a Diet, It's an Education' "Most diets are like trying to hold your breath underwater," says Roizen, "and how long can you hold it before you come up gasping or gulping for that food? What we wanted to do was teach people why it's important to know about food, and how your body works, so that you could get something that worked for you forever." Oz and Roizen
showed these two frustrated women and countless other TV viewers
exactly how to do this
last May, on
a Discovery Health
Channel documentary named after their best-selling
book. But anyone can stay on a diet for the short term. "20/20" picked up the story to see how well the diet worked once the cameras stopped rolling. Today Bouchard and Hazan look and feel like new women, having lost 27 pounds, and 43 pounds, respectively. And, perhaps more important, each lost at least 10 inches from their waistlines. Oz and Roizen carefully point out that an expansive waistline is the true indicator of excessive weight, and that educated dieters should gauge their success by inches lost rather than pounds on the scale. According to Bouchard, followers of the "You: On a Diet" program are anything but dieters, and the program is far from a diet. "This program is an education," she explained. "It's not a diet, it's an education."
..............
DR. MEHMET OZ Although he's pioneering new ways of thinking about medical care, Dr. Mehmet Oz, an award-winning heart surgeon with degrees from Harvard, Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania, wasn't always sure medicine was his calling. "As a child I wanted to be either a pro athlete or a heart surgeon," says the Turkish-born Oz. "I failed at the former, so I pursued the latter. In reality, they are scarily similar professions. You have to deliver the goods every day. And no one cares how well you performed yesterday." Today, Dr. Oz is vice chair of surgery and professor of cardiac surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and is a founder and director of the Complementary Medicine program at New York Presbyterian Medical Center. He is the author of the book Healing From the Heart and more than 350 other publications. He has appeared on television and has been interviewed in national magazines and newspapers to discuss his success with complementary medicine. He also holds several patents. His approach incorporates both traditional Western techniques for treating disease and alternative ideas about healthy lifestyle choices that contribute to overall wellness. "My heritage as a Turk allowed me to see the world from different perspectives," he says. "Remember that Istanbul bridges Europe with Asia and Christianity with Islam. We face similar conflicts with simultaneously profound differences and similarities in medicine today." In his New York practice, Dr. Oz has seen success treating patients some of them famous celebrities with Eastern techniques such as acupuncture and yoga as well as controversial therapies such as hypnosis, music, massage, reflexology, aromatherapy and energy healing. He encourages patients to become partners with their doctors in their care, and hopes people will learn to be experts on their own health. The doctor certainly practices what he preaches. He says yoga is an important part of his weekly fitness routine and anger and stress management are keys to his wellness. His advice for a healthy life emphasizes emotional health and gratitude. "Stay vital and engaged. If you do not have an important reason to stay healthy, then you will get sick," he reminds us. He uses the example of a tumor to illustrate why simple lifestyle choices like giving back to the community will keep you healthy. "Cancer cells survive by hurting those around them. They suck the chi, or energy, from life. Instead, we need to behave like our immune cells, searching out problem areas and protecting our communities." |
