Watching Dr. Oz 9/26/11: Win a million dollars, Transformation Nation, BMI, 50 State 50 Plate Transformation, Secrets to losing weight, Oprah!

The Dr. Oz Show

Air date: 9/26/11

Million Dollar You: How to Lose Weight and Win a Million Dollars

• 7 simple steps for a Transformation Nation and a Million Dollar You!
• BMI: What does it mean? Use the calculator at the bottom of this blog page
• 50 State 50 Plate Transformation
• Secret boost to lose 10% body weight
• Oprah makes a guest appearance

Dr. Oz says this is the most important question you're going to hear all year:

Will you make this year the year of you?

Will you put you on top your list? Looking good helps you to feel good. Letting go of extra weight, getting healthy, empowering yourself are all keys to personal success.

The Dr. Oz Show is putting their money where their mouths are and want to give away ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Dr. Oz has put together a simply, easy 7 step plan customized to fit your needs and help you lose the extra weight. It's now or never people! Lose the fat and lose the weight to gain a healthier you!

Two out of three Americans are overweight or obese. Count me as one of those two. Heart issues, diabetes, and cancer are all on the rise in America and Dr. Oz wants to help people make healthier choices so they don't ever have to deal with these issues.

Why are audience members wanting to make this year their year? Here's what they said are getting them up and moving and making a commitment to themselves:

• Want to look good for their age be it their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond!
• Want to be active and fabulous like their friends and family!
• Want to look good at a class reunion!

Dr. Oz has partnered with Weight Watchers to provide support to people across the nation fulfill their weight loss goals. From 9/26/11 through 10/1/11 Weight Watchers is opening their door across the country providing a complimentary weigh-in to use as your official starting weight. It's all about adopting a healthier way of life and Weight Watchers wants to be a part of your personal transformation.

Sign up here for Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation! Over one million people participated in Dr. Oz's previous weight loss program and he's hoping to encourage more people to make a commitment to themselves and put in the energy to make a healthier you.

To be eligible for Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation:

• sign up at http://www.doctoroz.com/
• complete the 7 steps including a complimentary weigh-in at Weight Watchers at both the start and the end of the program
• lose 10% of your body weight or achieve a healthy BMI

Weight Watchers began in New York, the home state of The Dr. Oz Show, when founder Jean Nidetch invited a group friends over to her house to talk about the best ways to lose weight and keep it off. Forty years later, Weight Watchers continues to provide support with over 1 million people a week throughout the world gathering to help each other achieve their weight loss goals with their 4 pillars: eat smarter, adopt healthy habits, get active and get support.

Weight Watchers Leader Liz Josefsberg along with 19,000 staff members world-wide believe that people will succeed with weight loss when they change their lifestyles. She says Weight Watcher is not a diet, it's a life-long commitment to yourself.

Dr. Oz explained that overweight and obese adults who were referred by their physicians to Weight Watchers lost twice the weight as people who did it on their own.

When you sign up for Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation, the first thing you will be asked to do is calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). Why is this important? BMI takes into account your height along with weight to give a better picture of overall health instead of just looking at weight. People of different heights can weigh the same however that doesn't necessarily mean all of them are healthy. Simply measuring body weight doesn't tell the whole story.

Scroll to the bottom of this blog for an easy-to-use BMI calculator.

What does your BMI mean? Check out the CDC website for details on accessing your weight. Here's what the CDC says your BMI can tell about your weight:

• If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the "underweight" range.
• If your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, it falls within the "normal" or Healthy Weight range.
• If your BMI is 25.0 to 29.9, it falls within the "overweight" range.
• If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the "obese" range.

The goal of Transformation Nation is for everyone who signs up to lose either 10% of their body weight or to get their BMI into the normal or healthy weight range.

What can losing 10% of your body weight do for you?

1. A BMI above the normal range causes premature aging.
2. Lowering body weight can reduce or prevent diabetes.
3. A healthy BMI can help to reduce LDL cholesterol.
4. A healthy weight leads to less belly fat and better over all health.
5. Significantly reduce the risk of breast, endometrial and colon cancer.

Check out Weight Watchers for more inspiring information on what losing 10% of your body weight can do.

From September 26, 2011 through October 1, 2011 participating Weight Watchers locations will be opening their doors to viewers of The Dr. Oz Show providing free weigh-ins and inviting viewers to stay for a meeting. All the details are listed on Dr. Oz's website.

Why is it critical to be on a program? Tackling a weight loss goal is challenging and tackling it on your own is really difficult. Find a program that works for you and get going. Maybe that's Weight Watchers. Maybe that's see a personal trainer. Maybe that's setting up walking and exercising dates with friends. Give yourself the opportunity to have structure and accountability to your goals and the rest will click into place.

Weight Watchers has provided millions of people all over the world with tools and support to achieve their weight loss goals. Have you seen their commercials on TV? They do have a lot of amazing success stories.

What do you get when you become a member of Weight Watchers?

Learn to make a smart food choices. Members get a set of number of points to use everyday. They teach you the point value of different foods and help you learn how to put together a healthy meal plan for each day. The points are customized to each member, tailored to each individual.

Extra points are given for each week to use where you want so you don't have to give up the foods you love that may be a little higher in points. With good planning and balancing meals throughout the week, having the foods you love is still possible.

Eat more fruits and veggies. Weight Watchers plans are all about eating healthy foods. Learning to incorporate more healthy food choices will help you make the shift to a healthy lifestyle.

A support system is key to success. When members have questions they have a team ready to help. The staff is ready to help when members need support and accountability.

The idea of Weight Watchers sounds great but, I'm always hesitant about spending money on something like this. I must say, I've never been to a meeting or even a site so I have no first-hand information. I am thinking about going to a site for a weigh-in and try one meeting. You never know until you try, right? And it's free and I certainly ain't making any headway on my own!

50 State 50 Plate Transformation

Apparently Dr. Oz will go through and revamp a favorite meal in every state. Three states were covered in today's show but, nothing was mentioned during the show regarding when the other state favs would be revamped.

But I found it! On Dr. Oz's website I did find a link to Weight Watchers Recipe Road Trip that includes one, sometimes two, redos for each state!

Here are the states covered on the show:

New York Pizza!
New Yorkers and Americans love their pizza but how to maintain or lose weight and still enjoy a slice of pie? Make a healthier option! Get rid of the white flour and add fiber with whole wheat flour instead. Add more veggies and use a lower fat cheese for a redo that still tastes great.

Texas, Dallas BBQ! Everything is bigger in TX and that includes BBQ. Two-step on over to Dr. Oz's website to make this BBQ healthier. Lose some fat and toss the sugar but keep the flavor. Using agave and ketchup lowers the calories without sacrificing taste.

Los Angeles, California loves taco's! But that fried shell and full fat sour cream needs a little tweaking to fit into a healthy meal plan. Choose a whole grain tortilla or even a sprouted grain tortilla to increase the fiber and nutrition. Food of Life has a great, and very popular, sprouted corn tortilla. Substitute high fat meat for a lean baked fish and increase your omega-3 intake at the same time.

Secret Boost to Lose that Extra 10% of Body Weight

Who Wants to Be a Fit and Healthy Millionaire?

What's best form of exercises to lose that extra 10%?

Is it lifting weights, rock climbing, arm wrestling, speed walking

Speed walking! Cardiovascular exercises rise the heart rate and burns calories.

Snacking supports long term weight loss because it reduces this hunger inducing hormone.

Is it leptin, ghrelin, epinephrine, cortisol

Ghrelin is a gremlin! Ghrelin is a hormone released in the stomach when we are hungry. It's the signal to the brain that more food is needed. When we are hungry, higher calorie foods are more appealing, according to studies discussed on the website WebMD.

Then there's also all those other hormones that come into play when we eat sugary foods, comfort foods, high fat foods which also play a role in which foods looks appealing to us. The studies on WebMD lead towards the idea that when we are really hungry, starving hungry, a chocolate cake is going to look more appealing that a salad. On the other hand, when eating healthy meals the stomach and brain are both satisfied making it easier to choose healthier options. People who eat a regular intervals and choose healthy, filling snacks will, ideally, produce less ghrelin hormone.

OPRAH Makes a Guest Appearance!

Oprah wishes everyone great success on their own incredible journey of self discovery. Positive changes that we for ourselves can only transform a nation. Take that first step and get a friend to make the commitment along with you. People who lose weight with a friend are more successful!

Get all the official rules and details on Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation on his website. Entries must be received by 4/9/12 and a winner will be chosen sometime in late May.

Good luck!

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