Dr Oz and the 14-Day Reboot Diet Plan

The “3 Weight Loss Secrets”, the “5 Foods That Make You Fat”, and the “7 First Days” of the “14 Day Reboot Diet Plan”. (Yep — read on.)

oz show

ON THE last day of last year, I posted about Dr. Oz’s Revolution Resolutions and said that I’d be following up with specifics from his Dr. Oz Show, the forum he uses to “edutain” us about health matters. Sure enough, in his first show of the new year the good doctor jumped right into the second of his Resolutions: Don’t Get Hungry. (See the other two resolutions here.)

[If you’re looking for the Reboot Your Life program inspired by the documentary, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, go here.]

The focus of the show was to present information about the types of food and behavior that make us fat, and what to do about it from a doctors point of view.

To say that this topic is vitally important is an understatement — fully 60% of Americans are overweight! By Valentine’s Day, 80% of those vowing to loosed weight have broken their vow. And of those who don’t, and achieve their weight loss goal, only 2% keep off the excess weight that they lost.

I enjoy watching the Oz passionately crack the whip in his amiable way. He truly brings penetrating insights to his health topics. But I had to grin as this show revved up because there were a lot of numbers presented, enough to make this summary worthwhile to anyone who happened to watch it, not to mention those who have not.

Huh?

Well, here’s what I mean: There were the “3 Weight Loss Secret”, the “5 Foods That Make You Fat”, and the “7 First Days” of the “14 Day Reboot Diet Plan”.

Got it?

Let’s go through them one by one. You’ll want to continue with this, because you’ll learn at least one helpful thing that you didn’t know before.

 

3 Weight Loss Secrets

#1. Waist size is more important than weight.

We get obsessed with how much we weigh, but a better determinate of health is our waist size. A general guideline is that your waist should not be greater than 1/2 your height. For a woman, the max is typically 37 inches (measured around the belly button); for men, the high mark is 40 inches (don’t measure under the belly where perhaps your belt has been cinched).

#2. Blubber has a biology that must be understood.

Here Dr. Oz delves into one of his favorite topics — the omentum (rhymes with “momentum” as he often says). The omentum is a sheet of fat attached to the bottom edge of the stomach, extends to the undersurface of the liver, and hangs down in front of the intestines. Its other edge is attached to the transverse colon.

This so-called “sheet” of fat can enlarge into a balloon of fat. When it grows, so does the belly fat. And the liver fat. Overlarge, it changes the biology of your body, negatively impacting hormones, creating chronic disease and stress.

#3. Five foods that make you fat.

Simple Sugars. Sugar and other “simple” carbohydrate-based “food” and drink, like white flour and soda spike your blood sugar (glucose) levels without providing satiation. The blood sugar spike happens because there’s no fiber to slow down the sugar “uptake”.

What to do? Replace sugar with stevia or blue agave, or scrap it all together.

Syrups. Syrups are another example of “simple” carbohydrates that spike your blood sugar (glucose) levels without providing satiation. You don’t feel full because there’s no fiber or nutrition.

What to do? Replace syrups (and jellies) with chopped up whole fruit. Fruit may have the same calorie count and sugar content as what it’s replacing, but the fiber helps promote a slower blood glucose absorption. You’re left feeling fuller and with more sustained energy.

White Flour. You have to stuff yourself to be satiated from eating white flour (does pizza come to mind) because the nutrition parts of the whole wheat have been stripped away AND there’s no fiber to help make you feel full.

What to do? Replace white flour with 100% whole wheat grain. Love pizza? Buy 100% whole wheat pizza crust, take it home, layer it with lightly sautéed veggies, sprinkle it with virgin, cold press olive oil and lightly with mozzarella and/or feta cheese, and bake.

Saturated Fat. If you’re a big red meat eater, you may be getting more saturated fat than your body can deal with. Saturated fat clogs arteries and increases the “bad” cholesterol.

What to do? Eat chicken and fish. Pretty simple. Well, we can add an extra layer of complexity by suggesting you eat free range, organically fed chicken so you don’t potentially get pummeled with the hormones and bacteria that can infect factory-grown fowl. And with fish, it’s a good idea to avoid those species that are heavily laden with mercury these days. Here’s a list.

5. Trans Fat. This is also called “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”. It’s on the label of “foods” that need to hang out on store shelves, or in your pantry, for a long time. That’s because trans fats are designed to extend the “shelf life” of “food”. Many packaged foods have trans fats in them, as do fried foods.

What to do? Jettison all foods that contain trans fat. Check the labels on everything that lasts a long time on the shelf, whether in the fridge or cabinet. Get rid of it. When you want a quick snack, grab a rice cake, lather it with peanut, almond or sunflower seed butter, and then top it off with a few raisins for sweetness.

With these insights under your belt, the Oz turned to his “14 Day Reboot”, starting with the first 7 days. The 14 days is an important length of time, as this is how long it takes to begin forming new habits. The first 7 days, go like this…

 

7 Day Plan of the 14 Day Reboot

(the first 7 days)

Day 1: Dump the Fridge. You can get a good idea what to do here… just let the Five Foods that Make You Fat (above) be your guide. Add what’s in the kitchen cabinets. If the food is on the “Five Foods” list, dump them.

Day 2: Drop 100 Calories. Buy yourself a good pair of walking shoes and a pedometer. Lace up the shoes and go walking, 10,000 steps per day worth of walking. Doesn’t need be all at once, but by the end of the day, 10,000 steps should be recorded on your pedometer. If you can’t (or won’t) do that many, choose a number — a large number — and increase it every few days till the number “10,000” gleams back at you from the pedometer.

Day 3: Automate Meals. The idea here is to choose a meal that’s healthy and you’re willing to prepare and stick with day after day for the 14 days; after that, add some variety. The purpose of this is to take the indecision and lack of preparation out of the equation.

For instance, if in the morning you’re in a rush to get to work, you could choose this one simple breakfast: A smoothie consisting of low-fat milk or almond milk, water, blueberries, banana, flax seed powder and/or psyllium powder (for fiber), and whey protein powder.

For lunch and/or dinner, select a protein source, like fish or chicken, and a vegetable or two, or three, some salad fixings and perhaps a grain (couscous or millet), brown rice (brown basmati rice has a particularly low glycemic index, meaning a slow blood sugar uptake), or beans (red, pinto, black, garbanzo).

Downsize your plate size along with your expectations for quantity of food. Use a plate that measures nine inches diagonally.

Day 4: Role of Soul. By “soul” Ozdoc is referring to your life’s ecosystem, such as whose in your life and what’s in your life. If something in your environment is causing stress (a big factor in producing belly fat), get rid of it, or change it.

If you have toxic friends, put them aside while you work on building yourself up. Bring close to you those people who will support this dream and the activities that make it materialize. In fact, grab a buddy that wants to take this journey with you. You can reinforce the good things and behaviors in one another.

Day 5. Learn to Cheat. By “cheat” what’s meant is to cheat your taste buds. For instance, eating spicy, “hot” foods can naturally reduce the amount of food you want to eat at the next meal. So, add peppers to your lunch to slow you down at dinner, and add cinnamon to your smoothie or oatmeal (not instant) at breakfast to slow you down at lunch.

Day 6. Call Your Doctor. I guess it could be argued that this program should be vetted by your doctor. But it sounds to me like this is just one of those CYB statements. Although, if you’re already under close supervision of a doctor for things like diabetes, heart disease, super high cholesterol, etc., couldn’t hurt to get a sign-off.

Day 7: Go Public. This is all about making yourself accountable, particularly to those who care about you, for those who love you will react to your vulnerability (should that occur) by providing moral support and kindness. Can’t beat that!

So, should you follow this Plan, by day 7 you’ll be half way through the “14 Day Reboot”. Of course, unless you were only a few pounds overweight to begin with, 14 days is not sufficient time to get you to your goals.

It’s not supposed to. The purpose of this Plan is to get you started by reprogramming some unhealthy, fat-producing behavior into healthy, lean-producing behavior.

There’s a lot more good information about healthy eating on this blog. I suggest you cruise through the selection at the “Diet/Nutrition” section under “Topics” in the sidebar, or consider these gems:

Eat Right by the Numbers

Diet 101

Eat Like A Gorilla

Good luck with your first 14 days, and thereafter!

Yep.


Last Updated on February 9, 2019 by Joe Garma

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Joe Garma
 

I help people live with more vitality and strength. I'm a big believer in sustainability, and am a bit nutty about optimizing my diet, supplements, hormones and exercise. To get exclusive Updates, tips and be on your way to a stronger, more youthful body, join my weekly Newsletter. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 2 comments
Joseph Garma - February 17, 2010

Not to undermine Jon Benson's achievement, but every diet guru has a system that works wonderfully for some. The key thing is to learn about food, stop eating non-food, eat less, have support in the form of a buddy who is taking the journey with you, and to MOVE.

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Pdrockton - April 5, 2011

The essence of the Every Other Day Diet is that if today is strictly prohibited many of the products, then tomorrow you can eat them. Every Other Day Diet is effective diet for those who cannot!

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