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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With High Voltage
Aired July 13, 2002 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Energy up, weight down, that's a tasty concept. But what are the right proportions when it comes to carbohydrates, proteins and fats?
When it comes to boosting energy, High Voltage is an expert. She is the author of "Energy Up!" and a fitness and weight loss expert for more than 20 years. And she'll give us a grounding on all that is current in this realm.
Miss. Voltage, good to have you with us.
HIGH VOLTAGE, AUTHOR, "ENERGY UP!": Well, good morning, and energy up!
O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. I just -- how many cups of coffee are you on? Two?
VOLTAGE: Oh, it's not the coffee. It's the positive energy and the healthy living that really gets my energy up, at 56 years old, I might add.
O'BRIEN: Wow! You look fantastic.
VOLTAGE: Well, I feel fantastic, but I certainly didn't feel this way always.
O'BRIEN: Well, why don't you give us a little back story then, so we understand what you're all about.
VOLTAGE: Well, back story is I come from a very obese family, a wonderful, gorgeous, happy family that I love, but as many of us with real eating issues. And eating issues because we really didn't understand what was going on.
I know that for millions of Americans, millions of people, I've worked with thousands, carbohydrates, white flour and sugar specifically, it's like a drug. One bite, you cannot stop.
When this whole fat-free thing really became such a big issue -- and, again, I've been doing this for 20 years -- I saw people getting heavier, more miserable, less energy. I felt like I was in the twilight zone.
The name high voltage, the way I behave, perhaps, at times, has been to get attention because what I've been saying is really important. We do not understand that for millions of people it's not because they're weak or they don't have willpower. They have an issue that carbohydrates, again, white flour and sugar specifically, flip a switch in their brain that they can't shut off.
O'BRIEN: All right, V.V., I want to, I'm going to unplug you for just a minute here, because you're on a roll, I know. But I want to get some of these e-mails in, get some calls in. Let's let everybody play a little bit here.
Rita has this one from Bethpage, New York: "I am a 57-year-old active woman." Note the age there. Right...
VOLTAGE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: A contemporary of you. "I work out. I weight lift. I try to eat properly. I do take hormone replacement and no matter how hard I try, I cannot lose that 10 pounds that I want to get rid of. I'm 5'1," 135 pounds. I also power walk. HELP!," in capitals, says Rita.
What should she do?
VOLTAGE: Well, this is certainly an issue that I've dealt with many times.
First of all, those last 10 pounds specifically, you must keep a food diary. When I start working with a client and I ask them, you know, well, what's going on? And their answer is well, I don't really eat that much. Well, first of all, when you really write down what you eat, you might be very, very surprised.
And, again, as I said, for millions of us, flour and sugar, cookies, bread, pasta, it's almost impossible to get those last 10 pounds down, not to mention it keeps you thinking about food all the time.
I promise you, even if just for three days you drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day. Do not eat anything processed, you know, healthy, lean protein, lots of vegetables and put a few pieces of fruit. I promise you energy goes up, weight does come down and you can kiss those 10 pounds good-bye.
O'BRIEN: All right, I'll tell you what, I want to get a caller on but I'm curious about this water thing, eight to 10 glasses.
VOLTAGE: Very, very important.
O'BRIEN: Wow. And the reason you lose weight is you're spending a lot of time going back and forth to the bathroom? Is that...
VOLTAGE: Well, you certainly have to learn where all the bathrooms are. But seriously, it's not really a weight issue. It's a health issue. Even after three days I promise you, your skin starts to even look with a glow to it. Half the time when you think you're sleepy, you're thirsty. When you think you're hungry, you're thirsty. And they have even done studies that depression, half of the time the people are totally dehydrated. Our country --
O'BRIEN: Really?
VOLTAGE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right.
VOLTAGE: Now, very smart doctors' studies, very few people would disagree that water is necessary, lots of it.
O'BRIEN: Well, it's hard -- yes, it's hard to say water is bad.
VOLTAGE: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's get Bob on the line. He's in North Carolina this morning.
Good morning, Bob.
Do you have a question for Miss. Voltage?
BOB: Yes, good morning.
I was 235 pounds about six months ago and I have lost about 35 pounds or so. I'm 200 now.
O'BRIEN: Congratulations.
BOB: Hey, thanks. Thanks.
VOLTAGE: Yes.
BOB: But the ideal weight for me is 180 pounds and this last 20 pounds, like Rita said, you know, it's hard. I mean I've been trying everything. One doctor says, you know, cut down on carbohydrates. The other says cut down on fat. I'm kind of confused. So you say if I drink a lot of water...
VOLTAGE: Yes.
BOB: ... cut down on bread and sugar. In fact, I've stopped eating sugar in the last six months. You know, I have not been eating any sugars.
VOLTAGE: You'll start to lose the taste for it after a while, I promise you. But don't just cut down on bread. You really want to get rid of those last pounds? Cut bread out entirely. Again, try this for three days. That's all I want from you. Eight to 10 glasses of water, lean protein in six ounce portions. Don't get crazy.
O'BRIEN: No bread?
VOLTAGE: No. No bread. Again, just chew it up and just glue it on whatever part of your body you don't want it, because that's where it's going. Again, I've been doing this for years. My body wants to be big. I didn't come this way naturally. I did, I broke a cycle and this is how you break a cycle. And it's like drug addiction, one bite, if you're one of those thousands of persons that has carbohydrate issues, one bite and your brain, the switch goes on and you can't shut it off.
Trust me. Give this a shot. You have energy to gain and weight to lose.
O'BRIEN: All right, High Voltage was our guest.
Unfortunately we've got to leave it at that. We have to sort of unplug from this segment.
"Earning Up!" is the book. By the way, she says you can call her V, right? V is OK?
VOLTAGE: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, V, thanks. It was fun and...
VOLTAGE: It was fun for me.
O'BRIEN: And you do look good. A good picture.
VOLTAGE: Well, when I saw that story in the "New York Times" I was like yes, finally they're really starting to look at the issue and look at the issues that need to be looked at.
O'BRIEN: All right. We appreciate it. Thanks for dropping by. Come on by any old time, all right?
VOLTAGE: My pleasure. Energy up.
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