Digital News Report – Doctor Oz had a special episode today on his TV show that is offering viewers a chance to participate in his Transformation Nation Challenge, which is a weight loss contest. One participant will win one million dollars. Weight Watchers has partnered with Doctor Oz on this challenge.
Doctor Oz explained that 2 out of 3 people in the United States are overweight or obese. He wants to see the nation lose weight and become healthier. That is why he has partnered with Weight Watchers.
Weight Watcher has four pillars that the company is founded around. These pillars are to eat smarter, get active, adopt healthier habits, and get support. Weight Watcher leaders are people who have struggled with weight problems themselves and end up helping other to lose weight. Some of the leaders were on the TV show today. One leader explained that it is not just a diet but also a change in lifestyle. Doctor Oz added that a study found that overweight and obese adults who were referred to Weight Watchers by doctors lost twice as much weight as the standard recommendations.
Doctor Oz said that the first step in participating in this transformation is to know your Body Mass Index (BMI) number. The calculation is found based on height and weight. (One easy to use BMI calculator is available at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/) The BMI should be between 18.5 – 24.9 for a normal weight. If your BMI is between 25.0 – 29.9 your are considered overweight. If your BMI is over 30.0 you are considered obese.
Dr. Oz explained the benefits to losing just 10 percent of the body weight. One benefit is the potential to reduce blood pressure numbers. Losing weight can help to reverse or prevent diabetes. Reducing your body weight will also help you to lower your LDL “bad” cholesterol. He also said that this small weight loss would help you to lose 30 percent of belly organ fat. Lastly, he said losing 10 percent of your body weight would reduce your risk of developing Breast, Endometrial, and colon cancer.
Weight Watchers is offering a complimentary weigh-in between September 26, 2011 through October 3, 2011. Then you can take that information to use it when you sign up for the weight loss competition.
Weight Watchers Points Plus Program was explained on the TV show. The Weight Watcher leader explained that the points are budgeted every day depending on each person. You do not have to give up the food that you love. You get an extra 49 points each week to eat the things that people love. There are no limits for fruits and vegetables they have no Points Plus values. They also said that people could join Weight Watchers to get the support at a weekly meeting. They give tips and recipes to help along on the weight loss journey.
The next segment on the show discussed ways to make high fat, high calorie foods to have less of either. To lower the fat and calories in pizza they change the flour to whole-wheat crust and changed out to skim mozzarella cheese. Instead of using a sauce, they used tomatoes and no meat but instead they use many vegetables. The barbeque sauce is using agave nectar instead of sugar as an ingredient. Tacos they recommend not frying the taco shell, use fish instead, lime juice, and reduced fat sour cream.
The contest requires you to weigh in at the beginning and at the end of the May 2012 when the contest comes to an end. The rules of the sweepstakes are posted and you can sign up http://doctoroz.sharecare.com/.
By: Robert Williams