Watching Dr Oz 2/2/12: Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie's Four Steps to Weight Loss, Superfoods for Super Mood, Mood-Boosting Meal

The Dr. Oz Show

Airdate: February 2, 2012

Dr. Oz Takes on Rosie O'Donnell - And Her Shocking Confession

• Rosie O'Donnell talks honestly about her weight
• Four steps to weight loss by Rosie O'Donnell
• Eat the right foods for the right mood
• Iron Chef Marc Forgione makes mood-boosting foods

Dr. Oz says he's been waiting three years for today's guest to visit his show. Rosie O'Donnell joins Dr. Oz to talk about weight, depression, and losing her mom at an early age. She also wants to share the four steps that have helped her lose weight.

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Rosie O'Donnell, star of stage, screen, television, author of several books, talk show host and one of the funniest people Dr. Oz says he has ever met.

Ms. O'Donnell situated herself in the guest chair and said she was impressed with Dr. Oz's audience. They are happy and well dressed. She asked if Dr. Oz had given them sugary treats!

Surprised that Dr. Oz had been wanting her to appear on his for so long she said he could ask her anything. She said she'll be naked by the end of the show you'll either be canceled or the ratings will be through the roof.

Dr. Oz asked about her experience with menopause. She's given lively discussions on her show and he enjoys her humor.

Ms. O'Donnell called them her menopause monologues and said they are to sweat for. She said she's been angry for years at every women who's been through menopause and didn't tell the truth about it. She said it was miserable for her. So bad that the person she's been fantasizing about could walk naked into her room and she'd ask them to move out of the way of the television.

At 41, she described waking up in menopause drenched in sweat. She thought her kid had peed in the bed but there were no kids in the room. Going outside naked in sub zero temperatures would to get relief is not uncommon for her.

Her friend Suzanne Sommers called her up to ask how she was dealing with menopause. Terrible. Ms. Sommers told her menopause is like a car engine without oil, it can seize and needs a lot of work to get going again. Since that call, Ms. O'Donnell said she's been on bioidentical hormone cream and it's been great. Every person is different and bioidentical hormones, she says, isn't right for everyone but women should find what works for them.

Dr. Oz shared that hot flashes can be made worse when women are over weight, the belly fat pulls you down.

Ms. O'Donnell explained that weight has been an issue for most of her life. Her mother died at age 39 leaving her and her siblings to find through on their own. Before her mother died, she says, she and her siblings were a healthy weight. Pictures of them a few years after their mom died shows the weight gained through the chaos of coping. She said that's what happens when a 10- and 11-year-old do the shopping. Give kids $100 to buy groceries and they'll come home with a lot of cereal.

What triggers your eating?

She said she didn't really know. Her partner, Michelle, woke up one morning and said she was hungry. Ms. O'Donnell said she hadn't been hungry for over 23 years. She eats without thinking about it and eats when she wants never because she's hungry.

Do you find yourself eating secretly?

Only recently, she said, over Christmas she did eat in secret. From Halloween to January, she says, it fat hell – she laughs and pointed at all the fat people in the audience laughing. The thought of which candy to steal from her kids keeps her away the month of November. Her kids know to hide their candy from their mom.

Do you feel shame about your weight?

Oh, yes, she says. She and Michelle want to get married but Michelle wants to work on getting Ms. O'Donnell healthier first saying it's not if she'll get diabetes, it's when. Ms. O'Donnell, and her partner, recognize that she takes care of everyone but treats herself like crap.

Dr. Oz said he wasn't going to put her in the truth tube.

What the hell is it? Is it like a pap smear? Ms. O'Donnell asked.

Instead, Dr. Oz wanted to show her something that he said would change her life. On go the purple gloves to look at a normal stomach. Dr. Oz said he wanted to talk about why jer belly is big.

Ms. O'Donnell said she knows she gains weight in her belly. She says she was at Baskin Robbins years ago when a woman recognized her and said she didn't Rosie was pregnant. Ms. O'Donnell says her belly doesn't go with the rest of her body. She invited Dr. Oz to feel her butt and her thighs – rock hard. And then she showed her belly. Remember the Special K inch? she asked. She said her belly was the Special K foot.

Then, Dr. Oz unveiled the other tissue sample – a stomach of someone over weight. It was huge. Ms. O'Donnell said the first sample was regular nachos and the over weight stomach was extra grande nachos with extra cheese. Ms. O'Donnell told the audience to stop “ewwww-ing”.

Dr. Oz explained that belly fat comes alive and begins to make estrogen which, he said, can cause cancer especially breast cancer. Dr. Oz said that losing her mom to breast cancer caused her to gain weight and because she is gaining weight in her belly she's at risk for getting cancer.

Ms. O'Donnell said she wants to lose weight for her kids first, then for herself, and then for her partner but when she's alone and goes through these emotional issues she's been going through for 40 years then she eats cookies. To be over weight in this country, she says, is to have an accepted addiction, an abuse. You can't shot up heroine in a restaurant but you can order a pizza and brownies and no one stops you.

Dr. Oz heard that she doesn't like to look in the mirror.

She admits that she'll only look from the shoulders up. She doesn't notice weight gain or loss. When she looks back at movies she was in she understands that she didn't appreciate her body then. At 170 pounds, she felt as she does at 210 pounds.

How would life be different if you were not over weight?

Ms. O'Donnell says she can't even imagine being thin, Her daughter found a picture of her when she made the move Exit to Eden, and asked if they put her head on someone else's body. Realizing that her mom could look different if she wanted to, she asked Ms. O'Donnell why she didn't want to look different.

Getting attention from men makes her feel threatened, says Ms. O'Donnell, and that goes back to being sexually abused as a child. Having a big belly means you don't have to look at your genitals and that has to do with sex abuse. She said she worry's that if she loses the weight it will just come back.

Would you be less funny if you were thinner? You wouldn't be the same Rosie?

No. It's a promise that she says she can't maintain. Seeing celebrity promote their weight loss, she hopes that they can maintain the weight loss.

You're on a new show. Why not start fresh?

Ms. O'Donnell says she promised herself that at age 40 she would retire and be home with her kids. She never thought she would live past 39 so she never made plans for it. Every year when she gets mammogram she expects to be told she has cancer but it hasn't happened. Now, she says, with a new show and a new love she's experiencing a second chapter in life. So far she has lost 15 pounds and discovered she likes Brussels sprouts. She says she's smart but messed up. [Yeah! She's normal!]

You have different insights now then you had 10 years ago.

Ms. O'Donnell says this new show is a beautiful balance. Her previous show was entertainment but this show, now that she's age 50, needs to have more of a feel of what she's know now that she didn't know then.

Backstage at the Rosie Show

There's a row of vending machines back stage at the Rosie show. She thinks about the treats but so far stays away. Her staff appreciates the daily catered meal but Ms. O'Donnell trys to limit her exposure and even altered her route to the stage so she would avoid that area.

There's even a staff gym at the Rosie show. Her daughter has used it but she works out at home. In Ms. O'Donnell's office she has her own kitchen and it's filled with health food. Today a piece of cake tastes too sweet to her. A year ago if you told her anything would taste too sweet she wouldn't believe it.

Rosie's Four Steps to Weight Loss

Rosie's Step #1: Go Green

Drink a green shake in the morning. Ms. O'Donnell likes Green Vibrance by Vibrant Health, a green juice powder that she mixes with orange juice. She says people say her skin looks great and she thinks it's the green drink.

Rosie's Step #2: Three Plates a Day

Ms. O'Donnell focuses on portion size and she eats fish four or five times a week. Her typical breakfast is cereal (and a green drink), lunch is a salad, and dinner is fish and veggies. In the beginning of this healthy eating plan she says she felt deprived and thought the food was disgusting but then she started to feel better and it became easier.

Rosie's Step #3: Swap Snacks

Snacks are apple slices dipped in peanut butter or apple chips or hummus with pretzels. Against potato chips and cookies she says she's powerless and can't have them around. The potato chips will kill you the apple chips will not, she says.

Her goal is to lose a pound a week and is excited at the prospect of losing 50 pounds in a year.

Rosie's Step #4: Shoot Hoops

Michelle, Ms. O'Donnell's partner, thinks working out is boring so they have fun doing activities together like shoot hoops. Dr. Oz says this is the foundation to her weight loss success.

Rosie O'Donnell's show is on the OWN Network five nights a week.

Superfoods for Super Moods

Boost your mood naturally. If you think all your solutions are outside of you today Dr. Oz will show that you are in control of your mood. Instead of hiding from your moods tackle them with these superfoods.

Kefir for Anxiety

Kefir is milk fermented with kefir grains and loaded with probiotics and tryptophan to help you cope. [Kefir is a drinkable yogurt-like product. It's thicker than milk and thinner than yogurt with a slight sour tinge. Kefir comes in plain as well as a range of fruit flavors. My kids love strawberry Kefir.]

Asparagus for Mood Swings

Dr. Oz says you have to know how to make asparagus and then start enjoying it. He recommends to have an omelet with asparagus tips to keep you more stable during the day. Add the asparagus right to the omelet or blanch them. As a special treat, smell your urine after eating the asparagus – it will smell like the asparagus.

Oranges for Stress

Vitamin C in the orange takes stress hormones back to normal and supports healthy blood pressure, says Dr. Oz. He recommends keeping an orange with you and to eat it an hour before going into a stressful situation or at lunch time to help bring down stress hormones.

Mood-Boosting Super Meal

Grilled Chicken, Kefir Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus Shavings with an Orange Vinaigrette

Marc Forgione

Using ingredients from Dr. Oz's Superfoods for Super Mood segment, Chef Marc Forgione puts together a dish that keeps you happy and relaxed.

Iron Chef and restauranteur, Chef Forgione has tried Kefir before but never cooked with it. He marinated the chicken with curry and orange zest. To the mashed potatoes he used Kefir instead of cream. For the salad, Che Forgione grated, or shredded, asparagus then plunged the shreds into ince water causing them to curl. To top a salad, he made a vinaigrette with an orange juice base.

Bonus Tip!

Dr. Oz says to make brownies to stop your food cravings! He recommends getting a dark chocolate brownie mix and instead of oil use canned pumpkin and add strawberries.

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