TORONTO — Dr. Mehmet Oz touts tips for wellness on his popular daytime show, but even the health-conscious heart specialist isn’t immune from indulging his sweet tooth during the holidays.
Baklava is among his weaknesses.
“I’ll tell ya, I just got a shipment in today,” he said in a recent conference call with reporters. “The stuff is just so good, and I have to cut it in little pieces.
Oz said he soothes his yearning for the sticky, sweet pastry by having a bit, washing it down with water and then moving away.
With fitness and diet top of mind for many drafting their resolutions for 2011, he is kicking off the New Year aiming to help others get — and stay — onboard the wellness wagon with a new challenge.
The Emmy-winning host of The Dr. Oz Show is launching the 11 Weeks to Move It and Lose It program on his Jan. 3 broadcast, which airs in Canada on CTV. The free, online initiative includes interactive nutrition and fitness tools accessible on www.doctoroz.com.
Participants can take a quiz to evaluate diet and exercise based on their current health, use a food log to track their eating, and access exercise videos to help them shed the pounds.
Also featured is a customized calendar to monitor progress and set goals with reminders of where individuals need to be daily, based on height, weight, body mass index, age and lifestyle.
Oz said such social ties can be forged anywhere, including drawing on support of those already in your life.
“We tell people to exchange sneakers: give your friends your sneakers and you take theirs so that when you go running they have to come with you or else you won’t have your sneakers,” he said.
“If they walk every morning at 7 o’clock, even if you don’t feel like it today, you know they’re going to be there and you’ll get up and get there.”
When it comes to his top three health habits, Oz first cited physical activity.
“You don’t have to go running a marathon, you can just do simple, basic things, but over and over again,” he said, citing weight-bearing activity and walking as examples.