Michael F. Roizen - This Is Your Do-Over: The 7 Secrets to Losing Weight, Living Longer, and Getting a Second Chance at the Life You Want

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To those who have taught so much with their Do-Overs; to my family, who have allowed me the time to learn; and to those who want a Do-Over so they can serve more

We all know that many things can heal your wounds: medication, surgery, time. Modern medicine now has the power to fix so many health problems with what seems like a flip of the switch. This dose, that procedure, this shot, that bionic body partyou got it, we can cure it. While everyone certainly knows that we cant cure everything, its absolutely true that we live in a time of unprecedented medical breakthroughs that have the power to improve and extend lives.

Weve gotten pretty good at the fixing.

But you know what? Thats no way to live. Get a problem, fix a problem. Have a wound, stitch it up. Feel an ache, pop a pill. In fact, theres something dramatically wrong with the problem-solution approach to the way that we, as individuals, treat our health. By relying on the medical advances and experts to band-aid our problems, weve relinquished our powerour power to live strong, healthy, energetic, and satisfying lives.

While Ive spent most of my career in fix-it mode (heal with steel is what we surgeons like to say), Ive made a fairly dramatic change in where I put my medical energies these days. Much of that is thanks to Michael Roizen. I have flipped my own switch, spending my time talking to people about shifting the medical equationgoing from a problem-solution paradigm to a prevent-the-problem way of thinking. Why? Because thats where the real power is: creating a healthy body to prevent health issues from developing in the first place, and having the strength and resiliency to fight back when they do come up.

Thats what Mike has spent so much of his career doing: studying data, working with patients, redefining what it means to be young and healthy. I, of course, knew Mike from his days of working on RealAge, the phenomenon that taught America that we were only as old as our bodies acted, not as old as the calendar said. But after we were introduced by a mutual friend, Craig Wynett, who had a vision for our partnership, Mike and I decided to collaborate on the YOU: The Owners Manual series of booksa series that taught folks about anatomy and biology, as well as what steps they could take to improve theirs. Through our relationship, I have learned that there is nobody nobody more passionate about helping others get well and get healthy than Dr. Michael Roizen. He walks the walk (quite literally ten thousand steps a day) and talks the talk as the Chief Wellness Officer of the Cleveland Clinic and the Enforcer on The Dr. Oz Show .

And thats one of the many reasons why Im so excited about this book, This Is Your Do-Over . Mike has taken his main messagechanging your life through changing your behaviorsto assure you that no matter what mistakes youve made in the past, you can get your body back. And I dont mean that in the bikini-by-tomorrow kind of way. I mean it in the biological live-a-long-life kind of way (though the exterior benefits will come, too, if you follow his steps).

By explaining the biology about how you have the power to control the way your genes work, Mike takes you through scientifically proven tactics to help erase your health mistakes (and maybe counteract some of your genetics) to get the body and life that you want. The best part of This Is Your Do-Over is that the plan Mike outlines is manageable: every action can be worked into your life, no matter your personality, your genes, your preferences, your lifestyle, anything. These seven Do-Over deeds, as he calls them, essentially work as the pillar strategies that will get you where you want to go. Ive seen it work on the show for people who just needed a little help, and watched Mike help those who were in great need of a second chance.

In this book, youll find insights from the medical data, as well as anecdotal evidence from Mikes patients and his own life. Together they will serve as your ammunition to fight any of your health challenges.

Above all, I hope what you take from this book is that its not too late. Its not too late to find solutions. Its not too late to make changes. Its not too late to live the way you want to. Its not too late to find the passion and purpose in your lifeand allow them to be the drivers of good health choices.

Its not too late.

Best of all? Your body already knows that.

All you have to do is help it find its way.

Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.

New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University

Medical Center heart surgeon and Emmy

Awardwinning host of The Dr. Oz Show

In just about every aspect of our lives, we acceptno, we embracethe notion of second chances. Our children learn from the mistakes they make. Our bosses dont fire employees for every screw-up (unless perhaps it involves NSFW photos on the official company Twitter account). Movie directors say Take two. Golfers get mulligans. Artists throw away canvases that dont have the right shades of blue. Politicians, celebrities, and athletes bounce back from embarrassing public faux pas. Husbands, wives, partners, and friends work their way out of the doghouse. Shoe-eating puppies can do the same. For the most part, we accept that life is imperfectly beautifuland that part of the way we grow, develop, and learn is through trials and errors, and more trials and more errors. We accept that life works like that in all areas except one: our health.

When we make mistakes in this domain, we beat ourselves up. When were not living the way we want, we crawl into a hole and set up camp for the long haul. We dont forgive ourselves. And when we find ourselves living a life that we dont want to live, we medicate ourselves with sugary treats the size of the Roman Colosseum.

And then for good measure we scarf down another colossal indulgence, in despair over the first.

We have to stop treating our health mistakes as an all-or-nothing, once-and-for-all sentence. We have to think of our health the same way that we think about most other aspects of life.

We have to stop thinking that we must live forever with the choices we once made or with the genetics we think that were stuck with. We have to stop this mentality that once weve slid down the slippery slope of cheese fondue, theres no ladder to get us back up.