That's Fit

Dr. Oz, Oprah's much-loved health guru, recently gave a piece of advice that is raising some eyebrows. The influential doc recommends eating whole grain bread topped with extra virgin olive oil before meals to fill you up and keep you from overeating. Apparently it slows the passage of food.

Over at Celebrity Diet Doctor, they're weighing in on this piece of advice. The verdict? Filling up on something that is high in calories (olive oil) before a meal is no way to lose weight. Instead, fill up on something low in calories, like a piece of fruit or some veggies and you'll not only eat less, but your pre-meal meal won't pack much of a calorie impact.

Your thoughts?

Good news: Calories don't really count. That's what Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen say, and I'm inclined to believe them. Here's how they explain: Counting calories isn't really worth it because eating isn't about calories; it's about satisfaction. Plus, each one of us has different caloric needs, depending on our genes, metabolic rates, activity levels, and other factors. There just is no one-size-fits-all calorie formula. For some people, larger portions may be reasonable; for others, small may be sufficient.

Now that you've got permission to ditch the calorie-counting, embrace these four tips for eating and exercising wisely.

• Eat nutritionally-rich foods.
• Avoid toxic foods -- simple sugars and carbohydrates; saturated and trans fats; cereals, pastas, grains, and flours that are not 100% whole wheat or whole grain.
• Use your body's clues -- eat the amount of food that feels right in order to reach and maintain your ideal waist size (32.5 inches for women; 35 for men).
• Walk daily and lift weights three times per week.

I recently interviewed Erin Andrews, the very pretty and fit sideline reporter for ESPN. While we spoke, Erin told me her secret to staying really fit and trim. After gaining 10 pounds "eating like a guy" with the College GameDay crew, Erin was mortified to see her much larger bum showcased all over the internet.

I was like "Oh my God!" she said. "What happened to my butt?!!!" And with that ... Erin hired a trainer, changed the way she was eating and made sure she didn't try to keep up with her male coworkers at the bar. Can you imagine having the world document each and every pound you gained each day of your life?

What should Mr. Crab do if Sponge Bob gets too yucky and gross? Toss him, say Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen of RealAge.com. Dirty sponges, say the docs famous for their YOU book series, actually grow harmful bacteria.

They suggest instead buying ten cheap dishcloths and two buckets. Keep the clean cloths in one bucket and the dirty cloths in the other bucket containing some diluted bleach. Wash all the cloths once a week. But if you are just not the cloth type, try washing your sponges in the dishwasher at least once a week to kill germs. Putting sponges in the microwave will produce similar germ-eradicating results.

Poor Sponge Bob. Who knew that in order to keep clean, he has to be cooked up in a microwave or soaped up in a dishwasher ever week. Better than poor you and your family, though, who would otherwise be exposed to these germs.

I am a slow reader. Veeeerrry slow, actually. I've always been amazed at people who can tear through a 500-page novel in a few days. I think my problem is that I read the words in real time, whereas I think more adept readers are somehow able to speed things up like the Micro Machine Man.

Because of my slow reading speed, even some of the lightest pieces of literature can sometimes feel like a ponderous tome. For this reason, I generally don't go back and read a book a second time. However, on some rare occasions I do, and one such instance involved the book "YOU: Staying Young" by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen. In rereading it, I was reminded of many important facts (the good and the bad) about some well-known vitamins, herbs, and medications. Here's a few I thought were worth mentioning:

Vitamin E: People who consume the RDA of this vitamin have been shown to have a 43-percent less chance of developing Alzheimer's Disease.

Vitamin B: The authors suggest 400micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40milligrams of B12, stating that B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work more effectively.

Ginko Biloba: Although the authors point to some promising research, there is nothing conclusive yet regarding ginko biloba's alleged brain-boosting benefits.

Aspirin: The authors state that people who take 162mg of aspirin per day have been shown to have a 40-percent decrease in arterial aging, which contributes greatly to memory loss.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz. I would like to start teaching my family good eating habits. I'm overweight and my children are too. Where should I start? Thanks. Charlene

A. Hello Miss Charlene. Thanks for the great question. Raising fit and healthy children is my soap box, and actually one of my favorite lecture topics. Why? It's so important! Parents literally have the capability to set their children up with terrific habits which will greatly increase their chances of living a long healthy life. What a wonderful gift! The opposite is true as well. Moms and Dads who do not insist upon healthy foods and exercise can doom their children with awful diseases, ailments and even worse ... premature death. Junk food is no fun in the long run, and we as parents, owe it to our beautiful babies to provide a healthy start.

It's inevitable that we will all someday shuffle off this mortal coil. Still, there is much we can do to stick around for as long as we possibly can, and it's no secret that a healthy lifestyle is the key to celebrating more birthdays.

Growing old is not so much a matter of how old you are, but rather how fast you're aging, say Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. in an article for Open Air magazine. The way our bodies react to stressors can affect the speed of our aging process, similar to the way our brake system changes the speed of our vehicles. Considering that our rate of aging doubles every eight years, if we are able to put on the brakes, so to speak, we could -- at least in theory -- live to be well over 100.

Three tips for life extension, all of which are offered by the docs in the aforesaid article, are to: 1 - stay active with regular exercise; 2 - keep glucose levels in check by limiting your intake of simple carbs; and 3 - be sure to floss regularly, for it will not only keep your teeth and gums healthy, but it will also help prevent inflammation in your arteries.

Dr. Mehmet Oz makes an appearance in the February 2008 issue of Reader's Digest and dishes out some heart-y facts.

• The heart is the body's metronome. This means it gives our bodies a rhythm that lasts until the day we die.
  
  

• Did you know male and female hearts are different when it comes to heart disease? Dr. Oz says they are. Female hearts are affected more by emotion, says the good doctor. Their arteries are more likely to spasm under emotional distress. Men's arteries, in contrast, tend to be rigid.

• The heart is selfish, in a good way. Before sending blood to the brain, lungs, and elsewhere, it sends blood to the coronary arteries. Essentially, it feeds itself first so it can keep pumping, no matter what. Dr. Oz says mothers would be wise to adopt this selfish tendency so they don't sacrifice their own health to benefit their children.

Everyone's favourite celeb doctor, Dr. Oz, has some great advice on how to healthify your life, and now he's offering advice on how to improve your mind too. Here are some tips:

• Teach people. You're far more likely to retain information if you have to teach it to someone else.
  
• But don't just teach -- learn. You should never stop learning. Why? People who are willing to learn throughout their lives have better memories. In short, use your brain or lose it. So take a class, pick up an informative book, watch a documentary or take up a new hobby!
• Think about thinking. Instead of doing everything on auto-pilot, think about what you're doing, and notice what's going on around you.
  
• Take care of your body. You brain can only be as healthy as the body that sustains it. Eat well. Exercise. Get lots of sleep. It will all pay off.
  

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Whether or not you're the kind of guy who admits to watching Oprah, you might just want to tune in on Monday. For the first time in the show's 22 years, Oprah will step off the stage and leave Dr. Oz and the men-only audience on their own to discuss men's health. The 300-man audience includes a handful of sports superstars, and promises to answer men's most embarrassing questions.

The queen of daytime talk shows is never far away, however. Oprah's in the back room listening in with her own audience full of women. Dr. Oz is usually full of interesting health information, so hopefully there's something to learn from this entertaining episode.

Do you find you just don't have the energy to work out? Chances are the fact that you're not working out is the reason you don't have energy in the first place. And if you're a serial gym-avoider, you probably have a long list of reasons why you shouldn't work out, but I challenge you to rip up that list and instead focus on the reasons why you should work out.

Here's help: Dr. Oz's Excuse-Busting Workout is an simple-to-follow workout that can be as difficult or easy as you want to make it. In addition to walking 30-minutes a day, you'll perform a set of exercises that can be done at a gym or in the comfort of your own home.

So, no more excuses -- do something for yourself and start exercising!