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Exercising at Work; Weight Watchers Offers Options for Health; Exercise Without the Gym; Jack La Lanne's Fitness Secrets
Aired July 08, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: Welcome to IN THE MONEY. I'm Ali Velshi in New York.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: And I'm Christine Romans in Washington. Coming up on today's program -- learn how to eat smarter when you're spending your cash on fast food.
VELSHI: And what it will cost to take off 30 pounds.
ROMANS: And work out like a gym rat without shelling out for a gym membership. Ali, this is the hour to watch if you want to eat healthy or lose a little weight and spend less money doing so.
VELSHI: I'm actually hoping it's the hour to watch if you don't have the inclination to do what it takes to work out and eat healthy, because that describes me. So I'm going to be testing all of our guests on, OK, what if you're really me and you don't have that time.
ROMANS: But there's always time. We'll learn a lot of tricks about how to spend less money and if you don't have the time how to lose some weight.
VELSHI: Let's start with that. Today we're focusing on America's weight problem and the serious cash that's riding on our efforts to lose weight and to shape up. But fat and fitness more than just money issues. They're medical issues mainly.
So we're going to start off with a doctor's perspective on the situation and what it's costing you. For that we're joined from Atlanta by CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. Hey, Sanjay. Welcome. Thank you for being with us.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you doing, Ali?
VELSHI: Good. Listen, I know this is something you spent a lot of time on, the connection between obesity, weight issues, and our productivity as a nation. What's the headline? What's the main thing we need to know about?
GUPTA: The headline is that obesity-related illness is going to start costing us more than tobacco-related illness in the next couple of years. It's about $75 billion a year in direct costs and another $60 billion in indirect costs. For a long time, Ali, this was really hard to quantify because obesity and overweight is related to just about everything, every chronic disease you could imagine. But they're starting to put numbers on it and the numbers are really high. I think it's going to become the most expensive disease in America in relative short order.
ROMANS: Sanjay, are we calling this an epidemic? I mean, is it fair to say that? And you pointed out before on your "Fit Nation" series that this could be the health issue that starts to erode at our long, hard-fought gains in life expectancy?
GUPTA: And that really concerns me, more than anything, that simple fact, this idea that my children, our children could have a shorter life-span as a result of obesity. That's really alarming. I mean, all the gains that we make in science, all of those could potentially be erased by the obesity problem.
So I think that's a real concern. It is an epidemic, I think, Christine. An epidemic strictly defined is when you get numbers higher than what you'd otherwise expect. Over the last 30 years or so, the numbers of overweight and obese adults have doubled. In kids, it's tripled, so it's really gone up. And the numbers just seem to keep going in the wrong direction.
VELSHI: Sanjay, I've struggled with my weight for a long time. And one of the things that causes that for me is my eating habits. It's hard for me to eat right or at least I feel like it's hard for me to eat right when I'm in a hurry, when I work too many hours, when I have to grab something on the street. Is that a big contributing factor to the problem we face?
GUPTA: It is, Ali. I think what you're getting at here is something I think one of the hardest points about this whole obesity problem. That is, look, food is still food. It's not tobacco. You don't want to over-regulate food. And if you're a family, for example, living near the poverty line and have a family of five, McDonald's is still a pretty good deal. You can feed your family of five for 20 bucks. The problem is that we have less access to the really good foods, the healthy foods.
I heard an interesting statistic, that if we in fact followed the food pyramid in this country, which very few people do, we don't even create enough fruits and vegetables to actually feed us.
ROMANS: Wow.
GUPTA: Instead, we're making corn, which as you goes know is turned into corn syrup, which is in just about every product you can imagine, and the other big product in this country is soy beans which gets turned into hydrogenated oil better known now as trans-fats. Two of our biggest crops, neither one of them are particularly good for us.
ROMANS: Beyond what I can do, Sanjay, like trying to stay away from the corn syrup or looking at what things are in food and staying away from fast food, what's the government doing about it? What are companies doing about it? GUPTA: Well, I think the government is starting to pay attention to it now for the first time probably ever, quite honestly, and I think in large part because of the financial implications. A hundred seventeen billion dollars or so it's costing us every year to take care of these related illnesses.
So trying to create more wellness programs as a society, I think, is something that really does make a difference. Christine, you can literally hear people's eyes glaze over when you talk about things like wellness programs. But the statistics and data will show that they in fact make a difference.
Businesses for the same reasons. You are starting to hear about businesses actually create incentives for employees to stay healthy and prevent illness in the first place. Here at CNN, for example, we're doing our "Fit Nation" day to day. We're actually having people exercise, we're having people sign up, commit to hours of exercise and hours of life and giving away things to try and encourage that sort of behavior. I think it's becoming more ingrained. We're not there yet but I think it's becoming more common.
VELSHI: Sanjay, we're going to have you a he back a little later on to keep talking about this topic. Thank you for being with us. And stay right there.
GUPTA: Thank you. Sure.
ROMANS: When we come back, find out how you can eat fast and still eat right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to IN THE MONEY. Christine, do you know what my first memory of you is? All those years ago?
ROMANS: It has to be eating fast food.
VELSHI: It was unbelievable. I met you one morning many years ago. We were in the makeup room together and my thought was, wow, she's eating that?
ROMANS: You and I both have a real love affair with all of the fast food joints around the studio. I admit it.
VLESHI: We both know we should be eating healthier but it's easier said than done. In fact, I think a lot of people don't have time to cook a healthy meal every night or cook that or prepare that for lunch. Fast food does satisfy our need to get something quickly but we know that it falls short on the nutrition side of things.
ROMANS: And our next guest says there are healthy options at your favorite fast food chains. Dr. Timothy Harlan also known as "Dr. Gourmet." He joins us now from New Orleans. He is an internist and author of the book "Hand on Heart." Welcome to the program.
DR. TIMOTHY HARLAN, AUTHOR, "HAND ON HEART": Great to be here. ROMANS: OK. So you don't have to swear off fast food altogether if you're trying to lose weight. I mean, you have to be careful about the add-ones, the supersize, the value meals and all that. But there are ways to navigate your favorite burger joint and find something that at least is going to be passable, right?
HARLAN: You're absolutely right. And like you were saying earlier in the program, we're all really busy today. Clearly, the best thing is to do a little bit of planning and try and maybe make that sandwich to take to lunch with you.
But when you don't do that, making the same plans for going to the fast food restaurant is key. So looking at the nutrition information, the Dr. Gourmet Web site, for instance, we've done kind of the highlights of those things that will be better for you at all the different fast food joints about.
VELSHI: I've been known from time to time to pop into McDonald's. I've got to say what I've got in front of me here is not the choice I normally make. On your Web site you talk about a California Cobb Salad with grilled chicken with some of the dressing, the Newman's own low fat balsamic vinaigrette and Apple Dippers with Caramel Dip. You say that's the choice to make if it's McDonald's and you've got to get through there.
HARLAN: I think the key at McDonald's or any of the fast food restaurants now is that there are a lot of fresh choices. Salads at McDonald's, those salads generally run in the 250 to 300 calorie range, a little bit more when you add the dressing on. If you choose those Newman's low fat dressings, they're only going to be about 50 calories per serving, and you've got some room left over for apples, and they have a fruit cup, too, with granola. So there are great choices.
It's just a matter of kind of stepping back, maybe, looking up at the menu and saying, where, where did that come from? There are things now that the fast food places are doing to help you eat healthier.
VELSHI: Hey, Chris, you made -- I've got the food in front of me, which is fantastic. The second choice, by the way, is more up our alley. There is actually fried chicken on this desk in front of me.
ROMANS: That's me. So fried chicken, KFC, you can get at least a decent meal at KFC if you're careful?
HARLAN: Yeah, I think you can get a good meal at KFC if you're careful. The nice thing is they started using oil with no trans-fat. That doesn't mean that there's no fat but that just mean that they're using better and healthier quality fats. But a drum stick with some corn on the cob and some beans really high in fiber and only about 350, 400 calories. That's not a bad meal. And only about 14 grams fat. That's pretty good for anybody. So it's just making those choices, not supersizing, not getting the big meal.
ROMANS: There's -- Wendy's has sort gone out of its way to advertise in the market that they have got some healthier options. Is that really true?
HARLAN: I think it is. They've been doing baked potatoes for years and they've got baked potatoes. You can put chili on top. Again, really high in fiber. They make the chili fresh. It's not all that high in fat, that's a great choice. They make it with broccoli and cheese sauce, so there are some choices that will bring you in under that target that I look for when I'm doing these options on the Dr. Gourmet site of, say, 300 to 400 calories for a meal. They also have terrific salads and have for years.
ROMANS: You know, Dr. Harlan, I have to say Ali conveniently left out the most healthy fast food chain. I don't see the subway salad with no mayo and all of the low fat vegetables on it. That is, if you have to make a choice, you should go to Subway, you point out first, because that's where you are going to have the easiest time.
HARLAN: I think of Subway as kind of standing in my kitchen, open the refrigerator door and you have got all these great fresh ingredients. But somebody else is going to make the sandwich for you. They've got great whole wheat breads. I think they're a fantastic choice. You can go down the line.
And they've got some really fantastic low fat, low calorie sauces like chipotle -- spicy chipotle sauces, their low-fat ranch, that makes great sandwiches, and you get to make the decisions.
VELSHI: Dr. Timothy Harlan, thanks a million for talking to us about this. It is going to help me make easier and better decisions. We'll talk to you again.
HARLAN: Thanks very much.
VELSHI: Coming up after the break, how to ditch 30 pounds without putting your wallet on a crash diet. We'll tell you about that on IN THE MONEY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange. Trading on Wall Street was light this week, adding a good dose of volatility as many investors took advantage of the holiday to get away.
Still the major indices managed to gain at least one percent each on the week. And oil prices stayed above the $70 a barrel mark. On the economic front, 132,000 jobs were added to the economy. That's in June, beating expectations. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent for the third straight month.
The biggest story of the week was arguably about Hilton, but it had nothing to do with Paris. In less than two weeks as a public company, Blackstone agreed to by Hilton Hotels for $26 billion. The Hilton brands include Embassy Suites, Double Tree, Hampton Inn and the Waldorf Astoria here in New York. No surprise that Hilton's stock rose 26 percent when the market reopened after the Fourth. Kraft Foods was in the mood for a little French this week. The snack maker is in talks with Danone to buy a French company's biscuit and cereal unit for about $7 billion. Kraft already makes Oreo and Chip Ahoy cookies. This deal would add several other brands to its menu. And finally, Coca-Cola reportedly wants a piece of the best stuff on earth. It is interested in buying Snapple from its British owner. Cadbury Schweppes has previously announced plans to split its candy and soft drink businesses. That's a look back at the week in business. Now back to IN THE MONEY.
VELSHI: Welcome back to IN THE MONEY. I know exactly what it takes to lose weight. Christine, all you have to do is eat less and exercise more.
ROMANS: Simple.
VELSHI: Totally simple.
ROMANS: Anybody can do it.
VELSHI: But we're not all doing it, which, I guess, is one reason why the diet business is pulling in millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars every year.
ROMANS: And the folks at bankrate.com checked out a few of the more popular weight loss programs. They're trying to find out what it's going to cost you to lose, say, 30 pounds. Sheyna Steiner is with bankrate.com and she's going to tell us what they found. Sheyna, welcome to the program.
SHEYNA STEINER, BANKRATE.COM: Hi, thank you.
ROMANS: Look, you did all the research. Let's roll through some of the programs, sort of the pros, the cons, what the deal is on these. We're not endorsing any of these, let's make it clear. But you've done all the work and sort of gone through the top five or six. Let's talk about Jenny Craig first. What is the story with Jenny Craig?
STEINER: Well, at Jenny Craig, you're going to go. You're going to get counseling. You're going to get weighed. They give you a special menu and you buy your food from them. They also will give you some motivational packets and educational materials that will help you down the road.
VELSHI: L.A. Weight Loss is another one that you've looked at. How is that different?
STEINER: They give you a menu plan and you go to the grocery and you actually buy the food yourself. They also have some protein bars and snacks that can supplement your menu. But it's sort of the same thing. You can get counseling and you get weighed there or you can do it online. ROMANS: Nutrisystem costs more, more than 1,000 bucks at Nutrisystem to try to lose some weight. What's the difference there? It looks like all the food's included except you have to buy the dairy and the fresh greens.
STEINER: That's right. That's right. They just mail it straight to you. So you don't have to go anywhere. ROMANS: So you don't have to think on that one?
STEINER: Right, no thought involved.
ROMANS: Weight Watchers, this one is really -- really popular.
VELSHI: You know what I heard about Weight Watchers is if you can stay within a financial budget on a monthly basis, Weight Watchers might be for you, because it's conceptually that kind of idea. You're budgeting what you eat.
STEINER: Yep, that's true. It's portion control, basically.
VELSHI: And you were talking earlier about meetings and support. Do they give you more of that than some of the other programs?
STEINER: Well, sort of. You get to meet with people who are also on diets. You get to, you know, talk about all your issues. And you get weighed in kind of a group setting. I don't think they weigh you in front of everyone, but there's still sort of the peer pressure.
ROMANS: And if you have cash to spend I guess that's when you do the Zone diet. It's not available everywhere, but that's the one where they ...
VELSHI: They deliver stuff to your house.
ROMANS: And it's like gourmet food and everything. I'm not quite sure I could afford that, $3500 to $5,000, they do everything for you. I guess that's the weight program for the stars. Right, Ali?
VELSHI: What do you think of that, Sheyna? I talked to people they've done it. They like it because the food is brought to you and you don't have any decisions at all.
STEINER: Right. It's really high-end. If you have the money to spend, why not have someone do all the work for you, give you fresh food. Who could go wrong with that?
ROMANS: All right. Sheyna Steiner. Bankrate.com. The cost of losing weight. Bottom line, there are a bunch of different programs out there. Take a look at all of them. And it is going to cost you some money to take off all those pounds. Ali?
VELSHI: Coming up on IN THE MONEY, see what you can learn about slimming down and keep it off when we hear from one of the CEO of one of those companies we just talked about -- Weight Watchers. ROMANS: And the guy who turned working out into a national obsession. We'll talk with Jack Lalane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITIFIELD: Hello. I'm Fredericka Whitfield at the Atlanta CNN Center in Atlanta. Now in the news ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just can't stop it. We get fire lines put in, two heads will pinch together, blow over our fire lines and we're off and running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: In the air and on the ground, fire crews attack a massive wildfire sweeping across some 160,000 acres in Utah. It's one of several blazes across western states scorched in a summer heat wave. Fires in Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona have forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes.
Nearly 180 people killed in Iraq in the past 48 hours. About 300 more injured. In the deadliest attack a truck with two tons of explosives detonated at an outdoor market.
Some 250 Palestinian prisoners may be going home soon. Israel's Cabinet approved the release to boost ties with western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
And in Pakistan, Islamic rebels kill an Army commander during a military operation to free women and children inside a mosque. At least 27 people have been killed as followers of a radical cleric seized the mosque six days ago.
And here they are. The new Seven Wonders of the World. The Great Wall of China, followed by Jordan's ancient cit of Petra, Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru's Macchu Picchu, the Chichen Itza pyramid in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome and India's Taj Mahal. They were picked by 100 million Internet voters.
More news coming up at the top of the hour in the NEWSROOM. Now back to IN THE MONEY.
VELSHI: Now, when you've been doing something successfully more than 44 years, you can't really call it a fad. Weight Watchers has stood the test of time. It's now conducting more than 48,000 weekly meetings worldwide, and it also offers food products and books and other diet items. Joining us now to talk about it is the CEO of Weight Watchers, David Kirchhoff. David, thank you for being with us.
DAVID KIRCHHOFF, PRESIDENT & CEO, WEIGHT WATCHERS: Thanks for having me.
VELSHI: Somebody was telling me that your industry survives on people not really succeeding in what you want them to do. Clearly if you've been at it for 44 years, weight is a problem we haven't solved.
KIRCHHOFF: No, and actually, in the case of our business, the only way we can succeed is if people do have success. Our business has been driven for years by word of mouth. You look great, what have you been doing, I've been going to Weight Watchers. That's ultimately what drives our business forward. So I'm fortunate where I work for a company where achieving our mission, which is helping people lose weight, is effectively what also drives the business. VELSHI: Why do you think this system works? First of all, does it measurably work compared to all the other systems that we talk about? What is it that makes Weight Watchers work?
KIRCHHOFF: Well, it does work. It's the only commercial weight loss program that has the kind of clinically proven efficacy is Weight Watchers. People that go to Weight Watchers meetings lose three times more weight than people that do it alone.
VELSHI: Do they keep it off?
KIRCHHOFF: Yeah. Actually, in a study of people who have reached lifetime membership, a very sizeable percentage of people keep it off for good. But the trick is sort of how do you get there and that's the secret to us in Weight Watchers.
VELSHI: All right. So how do you get there? Sound to me like it's behavior that you have to change and that's what Weight Watchers is trying to tell people.
KIRCHHOFF: It is.
VELSHI: How would you sum it up to someone who doesn't know what Weight Watchers does?
KIRCHHOFF: The first thing I'd sum up is that the weight loss in some ways is completely uncomplicated. Burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. Eat lean meats, fruits, vegetables, whole grains.
So in theory, I should just be able to say that and since this has been broadcast, all of America will become thin tomorrow.
It's not that simple because the trick is to actually adopt it to your lifestyle. So what we find is that people who can effectively come to grips and create their own lifestyle on their own terms are the ones who have long-term success.
Weight Watchers approach being based on behavior modification is sort of literally geared to sort of help you find the lifestyle that allows you to eat all those foods that I talked about in a manageable way about.
VELSHI: I've heard the analogy and I've used the analogy people have told me about Weight Watchers that it's kind of like budgeting. It's some sense of knowing what you can do and making tradeoffs. If you decided you wanted to buy something you don't have the money for means that you don't buy something else.
KIRCHHOFF: That's right. We actually, in terms of food plans, we have two. We have the points plan, which most people are familiar with, which you're doing exactly that. Every food is ascribed a points value and you eat within a range.
What you're doing when you follow that program is effectively you're learning what are good choices and what are not good choices and it also gives you a control mechanism so over time people really start to get the hang of it and they don't have to continue counting their points as much.
We have a second food plan called the core plan which what we do is we start you with a list of those healthy foods I was talking about, plus some techniques and tools that allow you to also go off the reservation from time to time and the eat that foods you still love, albeit in sort of moderate quantities.
VELSHI: Any clues for anybody? You want to give anybody big hints to get them started?
KIRCHHOFF: Absolutely. Besides the obvious, go to a meeting or go to the Web site to check out our online products, you know, what's interesting is that I was you. So I was the person who was traveling a lot, struggling on the road and I could never seem to quite get a grip.
What I realized was that you start with, if you eat one kind of breakfast and let's say you go to Starbucks and you get a crumb cake and you realize that's 16 points, you say, geez, I can't do that anymore. So maybe what I'll get instead is a yogurt parfait and that's six points.
Now all of the sudden I've solved breakfast. Then I proceed to lunch. If I was having a Big Mac and supersize fries, maybe what I'd do instead is have the salad that you referenced. So you start basically making the tradeoffs and the next thing you know, you come to this revelation that says, wow, I'm actually not on a diet, I'm just eating the way I'm supposed to eat and this is healthy and it makes me feel good and I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.
VELSHI: Thank you for sharing that with us.
KIRCHHOFF: Absolutely.
VELSHI: And we appreciate you being here. David Kirchhoff is the CEO of Weight Watchers.
Coming up next on IN THE MONEY, fitting in the exercise you need when you're short on the time and maybe the money. Stay with us on IN THE MONEY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Are you too busy to work out? Ali, you and I both complain about this, just too busy to really get out to the gym. VELSHI: At the foot of my bed sits a treadmill. I'm not even sure if it works.
ROMANS: Do you hang your laundry on the treadmill?
VELSHI: My towel is certainly on my treadmill. So we're definitely these people who are too busy or think we're too busy to work. Imagine if you could actually go to work, Christine, and still get your 30 minutes of exercise. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back. He rejoins us from Atlanta with an admonition, I suppose, and some ideas. Sanjay?
GUPTA: Yes, I'm going to get you a dust cloth, first of all, for your treadmill, Ali.
At least half of the 150 million people who go to work every day end up sitting at desks and they end up in a situation where they really can't get up and walk around.
So there's been this idea percolating out there that what if you could exercise while at work, while actually sitting at your desk? Sound a little far-fetched? It might be the idea of the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Imagine an office that's more like a gym. Dr. James Levine would like every workplace to trade monotony for movement. Levine, who's an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic believes workers can keep moving and still be productive. He created a special platform designed to fit around a treadmill. It only goes a mile an hour, but the effect is noticeable.
DR. JAMES LEVINE, MAYO CLINIC: You burn an extra 100 to 150 calories an hour.
GUPTA: Add that up eight hours a day, that's close to 1,000 calories. Skeptics say it's almost impossible to concentrate on a treadmill for long periods.
DENISE FEELEY, MEDSTAR RESEARCH INST: It would seem a better use of your time to actually take a break and go out and have a 20 minute walk, fast walk. You'd probably expend more calories than you would standing on -- walking on this treadmill for a couple of hours.
GUPTA: Dr. Jeff Fidler, a radiologist at the Mayo Clinic sits at his desk looking at 16,000 images a day. Accuracy is crucial as he tries to pinpoint the abnormalities. In a research study, Fidler and a colleague used the treadmill every day while studying the films. Fidler lost 25 pounds and made no mistakes.
DR. JEFF FIDLER, MAYO CLINIC: And, in fact, it improved our detection rate up to 99 percent.
GUPTA: It costs anywhere from $300 to $1,500, depending on the type of treadmill that comes with it. Levine says using the equipment for just a couple of hours a day will produce significant health benefits.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: You don't need to spend all that money. That's pretty expensive. You can do other things as well. You guys buying this, by the way? You're looking at it skeptical over there.
ROMANS: I actually am buying it. I have to get out of my chair.
VELSHI: Sanjay, can I show you what I have? Somebody told me that if I sit on green ball, just by sitting on this ball, I can make myself -- I can strengthen my core. I don't even know where my core is.
GUPTA: You need to find your core, Ali. No, you really can. Those are great exercise balls. You probably looked a little bit ridiculous, my guess, bringing is into the building. But now that it's there - strengthening your core is a great way to actually increase your strength and increase your metabolism, burn more calories at rest.
But there's a lot of interest in this, whether it's just having some weights at your desk, something, having a gym in the building would be great. Not everyone has the option.
But to actually, as Christine says, getting out of your chair and walking around for a little bit seems to make a difference.
ROMANS: I guess the theory would be you could either be distracted by this exercise while you're working or it could keep you alert as the one gentleman said he hadn't made mistakes. You know, distracted or alert, it might be different for different people.
GUPTA: That was my biggest concern as well, which is why we wanted to interview that other gentleman because I wanted to know how much of a distraction is this.
We figured a doctor who has to pay a lot of attention to films might be a good example. He said no mistakes. At least in the example of one, it seemed to work pretty well.
VELSHI: You know, I heard from a lot of people, Sanjay, that if they could ride their bike to work and have a secure place to park their bike, a lot more people would even do that. But a lot of buildings don't allow that, so that might be something companies can look at.
GUPTA: I think we need a culture change to embrace some of these things. Honestly, on an optimistic note, I think we're starting to get there. I think people are starting to welcome those things more and more.
ROMANS: But Velshi, what about your hair? If you rode the bike to work, your hair would be messed up.
VELSHI: Yes, it just messes the whole thing up.
GUPTA: I'll buy you a comb, Ali.
ROMANS: Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for joining us - Sanjay Gupta.
VELSHI: So you say you have hate the gym, you can't afford the personal trainer and working out in front of the DVD is going to drive the people in the apartment below crazy.
Well, they say you still don't have an excuse. Our next guest says simply ramping up daily activities like taking the stairs instead of the elevator can at least get you started in the right direction.
Peter Moore is the editor of "Men's Health" magazine, a magazine that I read and a magazine where the folks on the cover and I are never going to look the same.
PETER MOORE, EDITOR, MEN'S HEALTH: Ali, we'll get you on there one of these days.
VELSHI: I've been working at it for some years, but it's not working and I am one of these guys, so I know what I have to do. I've got the treadmill in my room. I don't use it. What do I do? Help me.
MOORE: Well, one thing you may want to do is buy a pedometer. It's one of the interesting phenomena that happen when people actually pay attention to how many steps they take during the day, it actually increases the amount of physical activity. People with pedometers actually walk about 3,500 steps per week more than they would otherwise.
GUPTA: Yes, Sanjay says the same thing, just it's kind of like what we were just talking about with the CEO of Weight Watchers. The idea that if you budget, if you know what you're doing, you might do more of it or less of it if it's bad for you.
MOORE: Yes, it's called the observation principle actually in science. If you observe something, it changes and just measuring how many steps you take will make you take more of them.
ROMANS: Walk the dog, take the stairs. Ali, are these things you do, too?
VELSHI: I have walked the dog in the past. I kind of find it funny. If we don't have time to exercise, you're not really think we should get a dog?
MOORE: Absolutely you should get a dog because it's a great relationship in your life. And it's actually been shown that people who walk their dogs or who own a dog actually walk twice as much during the week as they would if they didn't own a dog. So you know, you've got a best friend and you've got more exercise, so you'll weigh less.
ROMANS: What about in the office, Peter? Get away from the desk, talk to somebody. Don't just e-mail the person across -- I do this. Don't just e-mail the person across the room, try to be active in the office.
MOORE: Well you know, there's actually a study that shows that if you have sit in a desk for more than six hours a day, you have about a 70 percent chance -- higher chance of being obese. So get up and walk around. You might learn something, like that that the boss is about to be fired and you need to circulate those resumes.
VELSHI: Look at that one on the screen there. Vary your cardio workout. I guess that could be easy for me since I don't have a cardio workout.
MOORE: Well you know, it's the whole idea of interval training is what we're talking about here. And if you can actually vary the pace of your cardio workout, it's going to be a lot better for you than if you're just going at the same pace.
VELSHI: What are easy cardio workouts? Treadmill, running, stair thing or a cycle?
MOORE: One of the great things is if you're out on the street and you can just vary the pace every time you come across a telephone pole or a fire hydrant. Just doing it that simple change in your workout is going to make it a lot more powerful.
VELSHI: Peter, vacuuming your house, playing with your kids, doing some house work. There are lots of everyday things that you can burn calories.
Tell us a little bit about some of those things and how many calories you can really burn. Looks like walking the dog, 191 calories an hour -- vacuuming, 159, playing tag with your kids, 318 calories.
MOORE: What I would recommend is your viewers go out there, play with the kids and then wash the car with them and they will have burned off 600 calories over the course of that and you'll have a great time with your family, too.
VELSHI: You know what I think is interesting if you just know how long it takes to burn off the calories and you just are conscious of what the calories are in what you eat, that alone might help you make different decisions because you see some of the things, Christine, that we had on the page, that's not even burning off a Big Mac.
ROMANS: That's absolutely right.
VELSHI: So I don't want to do all that work, maybe I should not eat the Big Mac.
ROMANS: And the jumbo Snickers, yeah, I don't think there's any jumbo Snickers anywhere on there, which is my personal weakness.
So you've got to have these things, but you also have to have a weight loss and a fitness program, don't you? I mean, you can't just vacuum and think that you're going to be able to take off those extra 15 pounds.
MOORE: I think your female listeners maybe could benefit from the whole idea of vacuuming as workout because they could suggest to their husband, it's time you had a workout, hand over the vacuum cleaner and then they can put their feet up for 15 minutes.
VELSHI: You know what I've done? I've used this, Christine, on "Men's Health." You can design your own -- a lot of places have this where you can design a workout that works around your schedule, what you like doing. So really there aren't that many excuses not to do something.
MOORE: Think about it, the average American watches television for six hours a day. We can all find half an hour in there to get in a workout, then tune in CNN afterward and you'll find out what happened while you were working out.
VELSHI: Christine, we work at opposite end of the schedule, maybe we should meet in the middle and go to the gym.
ROMANS: Maybe. My current thing is I'm really into pushing the stroller, just pushing that stroller. I don't see it on any of the lists but I have a feeling it's probably right up there with playing tag. I'm not sure.
MOORE: It's 161 calories per hour, pushing the stroller, so that's a workout, too.
ROMANS: All right, now, if I put groceries in the bottom of the stroller, now I'm multitasking and I'm also doing a little weight resistance training at the same time.
VELSHI: And run behind the stroller, you'll get home from the grocery store faster.
ROMANS: All right, now I'm just exhausted talking about it. All right, thanks everybody. Thanks, Peter.
VELSHI: Peter, thanks a million, thanks for joining us. Peter Moore is the editor of "Men's Health."
Coming up next on IN THE MONEY, the man who put the muscle in the body building business. See what Jack La Lanne can teach you. We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All of this talk about fitness and dieting, it's really nothing new to our next guest. In fact, you could say he invented it all.
Joining us now from our L.A. bureau is fitness legend Jack La Lanne. Welcome to the program, sir. You know, you have -- you opened a spa in 1936. You're in your 90s. You know all about exercise and fitness. What is your secret? JACK LA LANNE, FITNESS AND NUTRITION EXPERT: You know my secret? If man makes it, don't eat it. And if it tastes good, spit it out. The secret is believing in what you're doing. The secret to everything there is, exercise is king, nutrition's queen. Put them together, you've got a kingdom.
ROMANS: Now, so tell me, you don't believe in all these fad diets and fitness regimens. You think that you -- you got it right here, your own brain, your own hands, you can stay in good shape.
LA LANNE: Absolutely. You know, who puts the food in your mouth? Who goes to the bathroom for you? God? God helps them that help themselves.
If you're fat, if you're overweight, you're not exercising and you're overeating. Today what we've got to do -- there are more overweight fat people than there has ever been in our history, think about that, in this great country of ours.
You know, we've got to start in kindergarten. That's where these kids should be taught how to take care of their body. They have to learn two words. If you get these two words, you'll never succeed -- I mean, you'll never fail.
Pride and discipline. You've got the pride, to feel good, to do your best, to tell the truth. The discipline, to do the things you know you're supposed to do. That's what it's all about, pride and discipline.
ROMANS: Let's talk, Jack, about some of your disciplines. You don't like to eat red meat. Tell me about your food disciplines, your exercises disciplines. What is your day food and exercise like?
LA LANNE: I exercise two hours every day, seven days a week. You don't have to work out two hours, but it's an ego thing. I just want to see how long I can keep this up.
Here I'm going to be 93 and I still work out with the weights an hour and a half every day, another half hour in the pool. And I am a great believer -- I have at least ten raw vegetables every day, four or five pieces of fresh fruit.
I get all my protein from egg whites and fish and a little turkey and I never eat between meals. All the bread I eat has got to be whole wheat, got to be brown rice.
See, if man makes it, don't eat it. All this processed food. You know what we've got to do? We've got to change the lunch in these kids' schools.
Did you ever go to some of these schools and see what these kids have for lunch? It's terrible! You wouldn't feed that to your dog. And you wonder why so many kids are fat? And you've got to bring back compulsory physical education in the schools.
ROMANS: Jack, let's talk about older Americans, people who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s. Do you think that they're healthy? Do you think that they're working out enough and watching what they eat enough? What's your advice for your generation?
LA LANNE: You know what, I don't care how old you are. Exercise is king, as I told you, nutrition's queen.
You've got to -- I don't care if you're five-years-old or if you're 100-years-old. You've still got to put the right fuel in this human machine.
You've got to eat natural food in their natural state as much as possible. And you have to exercise. I can't exercise -- I'm not as strong as I was when I was 21, but I'm doing pretty dog gone good for 93. Do the best you can with what you have.
ROMANS: All right, that's some good advice from somebody who should know, 90 -- almost 93 years old. Thank you, sir.
LA LANNE: And you know what, I'm going to tell everybody. Remember, anything in life is possible if you make it happen. And, remember, god helps them that help themselves. And I hope you folks that are watching today will help the most important person on this earth, you!
ROMANS: Jack La Lanne.
LA LANNE: God bless you.
ROMANS: Thank you so much, sir. Have a wonderful day. Thank you, Jack La Lanne.
Coming up, don't have time to hit the gym? Neither does Ali. We'll show you how he manages to stay in such great shape. Trust me, you'll won't want to miss this one.
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ROMANS: You and that workout ball. I see it there. You know, many of us have very busy lives. It's a tough time making it to the gym.
VELSHI: All you've got to do is sit on this ball.
ROMANS: Strengthens your core, whatever that is.
VELSHI: Whatever my core is.
ROMANS: A couple of weeks ago you were showing us your secret for keeping fit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's not that bad. Let's try it a little bit. This is how I come to you. Oh ho, not working out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And next week on IN THE MONEY, Ali will be shirtless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right, Ali. That was a couple weeks ago. You know, you have the Shaun T hip-hop abs.
VELSHI: You know, let me tell you - the greatest number of calories I spent on Shaun T and his hip-hop abs that was when I pressed click and reached for my wallet to get that special code off of my credit card. I haven't really been using it. SHAUN T, HIP HOP ABS: So Ali.
VELSHI: Whoa, whoa, no way. Oh no, come on.
SHAUN T: I've heard you were doing some hip hop abs.
VELSHI: You're Shaun T?
SHAUN T: That's right.
VELSHI: No kidding? I can't believe it. Good to meet you. You look pretty buff. Christine, did you do this, organize this? Give me some hip-hop abs.
SHAUN T: You like to get busy?
VELSHI: I like to get busy.
SHAUN T: So we take our feet apart. We go back, left, right, left. We squeeze, contract and right and left. You want to go faster?
VELSHI: Yes, let's do one faster.
SHAUN T: Five, six, seven, eight. Back, back, front, front, squeeze, squeeze. Good job, man. I heard you been doing hip-hop abs.
VELSHI: I can't believe you came by. Well, thank you. I'm going to have to actually get this done now. I got the stuff and I looked at it. See that behind me, that doesn't look like me.
SHAUN T: You have been doing some hip hop abs, so you know all about the tilt, tuck and tighten.
VELSHI: Tilt, tuck and tighten.
SHAUN T: Shaun T's three T's.
ROMANS: All right, I've got a question for Shaun T. What does he think about your form? I mean, you're right out there, you have the DVD. How does he look?
VELSHI: Christine is asking how you think I look given that I've had this. Now what Christine doesn't know is as I said, I got the DVD and looked at it a little bit. I haven't really started. SHAUN T: OK, cool.
VELSHI: I'm a novice.
SHAUN T: So.
VELSHI: But you make it look fun.
SHAUN T: It's so much fun. The best thing is it's no sit-ups or crunches, which is the amazing thing about it. And it's fun. I break down the moves easy for people at home. You burn calories, lose weight and have a good time all at one time.
VELSHI: You see Christine, this is what I liked about it, burning calories, losing weight and having a good time. Does he not look like he's having fun? Do I look like a guy that needs to get up and do sit-ups?
SHAUN T: I think you guys look like twin workouts.
VELSHI: You think we look like twins.
SHAUN T: We do.
VELSHI: We've got this part going on. Wow this is -- I appreciate you coming by. This is motivation. Now I'm going to have to show you how I do it and then you're going to come back and.
SHAUN T: Would you like a quick lesson on how to use the tilt, tuck, tighten?
VELSHI: Yes, show me.
SHAUN T: It's called Shaun T's three T's.
VELSHI: Three T's.
SHAUN T: So step one, one, take your shoulders and you just press them down. Step two, take your hips and you push under. Then you exhale, feel your abs and tighten. Exhale, now feel your body around here.
VELSHI: I feel it, I've got some abs.
SHAUN T: So then you just do it, you tilt, tuck and tighten.
VELSHI: That, I'm not feeling.
SHAUN T: Yes, you can do it.
VELSHI: The best is coming up, there, see? Abs.
SHAUN T: So there you go. And it's that simple and with hip hop abs, you can go to beachbody.com and get it and it comes with a whole bunch of different work-outs. Eight work-outs and two bonus features where I actually teach you how to dance. VELSHI: Well we'll follow it closely. We'll see how well I do with this. Thank you for being with us.
SHAUN T: Thank you very much.
VELSHI: There's inspiration for you, Christine. So I'm going to go back and I've got no excuse now not to do it. So I'm going to say good-bye to you guys. Thanks for joining us for this edition of IN THE MONEY. By the way, you can catch Christine later today, 6 p.m. Eastern on "LOU DOBBS WEEKEND."
ROMANS: I hope you didn't mind our little surprise, Ali. VELSHI: That was fantastic.
ROMANS: You can see Ali every weekday morning on "AMERICAN MORNING." We'll see you back here next week.
VELSHI: Saturday at 1, Sunday at 3. See you then, keep an eye on this.
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