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Oct. 2, 2024 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:26
Dr. Mark Hyman’s 3-Step Plan to Reverse Acid Reflux | Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 92 | Full Episode
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Time Text
Extinguish heartburn in less than 60 minutes.
There's a new therapy that may reverse your heartburn for good.
Without surgery or pills.
This sort of jumps past that, which is what makes it exciting.
Plus, Huda Cockney's rules for waking up energized.
I want to learn those secrets.
Her handy trick, you've got to see.
Got it.
Pull up.
There we are.
It's so much there.
Coming up next.
She got it!
We'll save lives today.
We are ready to get healthy!
Yeah!
Whoa!
That was quite the rewind.
You just got a sneak peek of what's coming up in this segment.
Here's what's going to be reversing with you today.
If you suffer from heartburn, Dr. Mark Hyman has his three-step plan to turn it around for good, plus a brand new therapy that could even wipe it out.
And starting today, I want you to stop being a people pleaser.
Find out how to reverse this habit.
It will change your life.
You can do it this year.
Finally, Hoda Kotb is here teaching us how she did a rewind to find her purpose and even love.
She says you can do it too.
At any age.
But first, we're going to reverse heartburn.
It plagues nearly half of you, and it's costing you money with acid blockers.
Think about these.
Acid blockers, they're the third highest selling medication in the country.
So who in my audience takes a medication for heartburn?
Hands up.
That's about right.
Almost half tops.
How are you?
Hi.
I'm going to ask you to join me.
You're Thea, right?
Thea.
Thea.
Come on down, Thea.
Now, I know your story a little bit.
Thank you for joining us.
Describe your heartburn to me.
Well, it seems like everything I eat gives me heartburn, especially my favorite foods, french fries.
You like french fries?
I love french fries.
At least you're honest.
But it starts as a slow boil, and it moves its way up, and it hits me in the back of the throat and takes my breath away.
It's awful.
It's uncomfortable, so you medicate for it.
Yes.
How often do you do that?
More often than I should, probably.
You can only take so much of the medicine every day, but I carry it in my purse.
I keep it next to the ments because you never know when you're going to need it.
A lot of folks think it's sort of an easy, safe thing to do, but there's some problems with it.
So I want to introduce you to Dr. Mark Hyman.
He's a member of my core team.
Hello, Mark.
When folks like Thea describe the relatively frequent use of these pills to deal with their heartburn, it angers you.
Why is that?
It's so common.
I mean, we don't really have a genetic defect that makes, you know, about 25 to 35 percent of our population have reflux, right?
It's not a genetic defect.
It's really related to what we're doing, and the meds are a big deal.
They actually cause side effects.
They can cause B12 deficiency, calcium deficiency, they lead to osteoporosis, and they cause other stomach problems, like irritable bowel, bloating, gas, diarrhea.
And the beautiful thing is that you can do something about it, and these things are not something you have to take for your whole life.
So we thought long and hard about this, and we designed a little experiment that Dr. Hyman's gonna walk us through.
So I built you your own little stomach, right?
That little red thing is your stomach, and in your stomach, the acid is like a fire.
It's supposed to be there.
There it is.
Now, Dr. Hyman.
Stand next to me, it's safer.
I'm gonna hide behind you.
All right, so Dr. Hyman, walk us through what's wrong when we take these pills or medications to deal with the acid by itself.
What happens is this fire in your stomach and it causes reflux and you can use a little bit of medication to help diminish the symptoms and slowly you feel better for a minute.
And guess what?
The embers are still burning and then the fire roars back up and you end up having more symptoms.
And you just have to keep covering it over and over again, and you never deal with the cause.
But the beautiful thing is you actually can do something about it with what you eat and your lifestyle, which we're going to talk about.
All right, have a seat with the rest of the audience.
They're all on pills.
They'll learn, too.
Listen, folks, this, right, is what heartburn feels like.
That's why Dr. Hyman has a plan to get to the root of heartburn and eliminate it for good.
But we need, we need two weeks of your time.
Step number one, acid.
We talked about it as that fire.
We have to have a way of eliminating some of those food triggers for the acid.
That's right.
The french fries were the example, but walk us through the menu.
That's right.
So food is the biggest trigger for reflux and heartburn.
And the first thing you can do is eliminate those foods for two weeks and see what happens.
So the most common things are fried foods, which we eat a lot of in this country.
Spicy foods, not that they're bad for you, but they can trigger symptoms in some people.
Yeah, these french fries are really good, by the way.
Oh, no.
Don't eat that.
And they're still crunchy, Thea.
Don't eat that.
And then, of course, there's other things which can be good for you, but in some people can trigger symptoms like tomatoes, tomato-based foods, citrus foods, caffeine's a big one, and alcohol.
Alcohol actually relaxes the top of your esophagus so the food goes back up instead of going down.
Not a good idea.
And then there's other triggers.
Food sensitivities or allergens can trigger reflux.
And these are common and often not mentioned by most doctors, including gluten and dairy.
Listen, I know it's isn't easy for everybody.
I know Thea's not going to give up her french fries like that without thinking about it.
It's only two weeks.
Yeah, that's the point.
So we're asking you for two weeks to try something that can remove a pill from your life, maybe for the rest of your life, and get lots of other derivative benefits, because guess what?
You cut out this stuff over here, you will lose weight, too.
All right, so that's the first step to get rid of the acid or deal with it.
Next, we're going to neutralize our nighttime routine.
So I'm going to introduce you to Gina.
You've not met her before.
This is Gina tossing and turning...
Because she has heartburn while she's trying to sleep.
So our show is about rewinding things.
I'm going to rewind Gina's life from her tossing and turning self at 2 in the morning way back to earlier in the evening when...
Oh, uh-oh!
What's she doing?
She's having potato chips.
Fried potato chips.
So obviously that's a problem we just talked about.
But besides potato chips, what else do you see here?
Well, here's the thing.
She's about to go to bed, and she's stuffing herself with food.
And any food, even if it's healthy food, if you eat within three hours before going to sleep and you lie down, the food can go up.
And then you have reflux and nighttime heartburn, which is a really common problem.
Let's rewind a little more, because most of you do this, but you do something else at night that we need to neutralize.
So let's go back in time a little bit further.
To way back when she's actually eating her meal.
And notice that she's plowing that food into her mouth.
What else is she doing?
Well, you know, Mehmet, this is epidemic in this country.
Mindless eating.
We don't eat when we eat.
And when we're stressed when we eat, when we're looking at our papers, watching TV, the news, being on our phone, what happens is our body shuts down.
When you're in a stress response, you're running from a tiger, You don't want blood to go to your stomach and digest your food.
You want it to go to your heart and your muscles.
So you're running from a tiger.
You don't want to be digesting your food.
So the key is you actually have to eat in a stress-free way in order to digest your food.
Any tricks on how to do that?
I know it's challenging.
So there's some really simple things you can do.
First, when you eat, eat.
Don't do all this other stuff like watch TV. And the second is take a breath.
Because when you take a deep breath, just count to five, take a deep breath in and out and use a belly breath.
You actually activate your diaphragm, and that activates a nerve called the vagus nerve, which actually sets your digestion up for actually metabolizing your food instead of storing it and making it go back upwards.
Otherwise, if you don't do that, hours later, you're doing this.
Which you've all lived through, and you're saying, what did I do wrong that makes me toss and turn all night long?
It's often things besides that.
Okay.
Step three is an important one because it actually involves you doing something specifically that's not taking away from you, but giving you something.
We want you to protect and soothe your stomach.
There's a natural remedy Dr. Hyman recommends to his patients to help soothe and prevent their heartburn.
You think so highly of this, you actually sell it on your website.
What is it?
It's not...
It's licorice, but it's not Twizzlers.
It's actually...
A medical licorice that is a chewable tablet that you can take as you start the program.
And you want to start at the beginning with the elimination diet because it'll help you potentially taper off your medication.
Put the heartburn people over here.
Here.
Take one and pass it on.
It actually tastes good.
It kind of tastes like candy, right?
Over here.
They're scattered all over the place.
They're actually good.
You can kind of become addicted to them.
You have like two or three before you eat.
And what that does is like it's a natural Tums.
Oh, they're good.
They are good.
Aren't they?
And they coat your stomach.
It's like an emulsion.
It's like a natural Tums.
And it's really safe to take.
And it's delicious.
And it helps your symptoms.
So I encourage people to try it.
And when they want to taper off their medications, be sure they talk to their doctor first.
But it's really important to actually use something like this as you're doing your elimination diet so you can get off the meds.
All right, so they've been on this program for two weeks.
They added this to help them taper off.
Then, if heartburn's better, what else do you get to do?
You get to go brag to people in your life that you've done it so you can share the wisdom of them.
If it's not better, listen carefully.
The solution is not to go back on those pillows we just talked about.
It's actually to ask your doc if you need to get a scope to look down there or test to see if you've got bacteria in your gut.
Find the root issue, the more serious problem that's causing your symptoms.
That heartburn's a warning sign to you.
It's not the problem in itself.
Mark, pleasure as always.
Thank you very, very much.
Be right back.
Next, you've tried everything and you still can't extinguish that burning chronic reflux.
Forget surgery and pills.
A new less invasive therapy that just may reverse your heartburn for good.
Find out if this new procedure is right for you.
Coming up next.
Could you give up the internet for 30 days?
It's tough.
I fell miserably.
We have your digital detox without going cold turkey.
You gotta retrain your brain.
Plus, the new way to remove fat without surgery.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
For those of you with chronic heartburn that you just can't extinguish, surgery is no longer your only option.
There's a new therapy that may reverse your heartburn for good and it can be done in less than 60 minutes in your doctor's office.
Now think about this, the time it takes me to get this show done with you today, you can actually have your heartburn fixed.
Joining me is heartburn guru and core team expert Dr. James Ross, who knows all these things.
So explain to everybody what this cutting edge procedure is and who's it right for.
Well, this procedure is called the STRETA procedure, and it's FDA approved.
And the cool thing about it is that you can go ahead and have this done and get rid of your chronic heartburn.
Now, I advise everybody, make sure you get a thorough evaluation.
But after that, many people can have their heartburn gotten rid of forever.
And also, what can happen if you don't want to take medicines or you don't want to have invasive surgery, Dr. Oz, is one of the best things that we could do.
You know, Dr. Hyman spoke earlier about the fact that over-the-counter medications help with the symptoms, but they don't deal with the root cause of the problem.
Surgery does deal with the root cause, but who wants to have someone open their belly up, or even if it's done middle-measively?
So this sort of jumps past that, which is what makes it exciting.
You know, I call it a tweener.
It's in-between.
Oh, yes.
Medicine and surgery.
It's a tweener, right?
It's a tweener.
Alright, tweener procedures.
Now, let's start off with going over reflux and how this procedure might affect us.
So, let's take this as the average viewer today.
Alright, and go ahead and give me an example.
Put something in.
Feed him something.
Anything you want.
Yeah, we're going to go ahead and we're going to go through our meal here and let's just show you what happens during a normal meal.
Swallowing tubes, stomachs down here.
And the stomach's here.
And all of a sudden, as we go and we pour this in, I love these chemistry experiments.
We go in like this, and look, you start digesting your food in the stomach.
And then the sphincter, this red muscle, closes down.
That's the trap door, the lower esophageal sphincter.
And as Dr. Oz, you know, that's the real problem, not the acid.
Great job.
You all see the acid there, right?
You see how it cinches down?
And it's kept where it needs to be in his stomach.
And it doesn't go up.
Okay, now.
Now, let's show what happens when that sphincter or trap door is not a one-way street but a two-way street.
Now, look what we're doing.
Here comes some of our chemical magic.
We're eating.
It's coming down, it's coming down, it's coming down.
And all of a sudden, you see all the bubbling.
And look what happens, Dr. Oz.
Now it comes all the way back, and sometimes it can come all the way back to your throat, causing chronic coughing, causing chronic irritation.
Now that is an excellent example of what happens.
This valve is not working.
If you have a drink, by the way, it makes it worse.
Yeah, it does.
And when these valves fail, the medications don't fix the valve, do they?
No.
The only way to fix this is to have someone, a surgeon, come in there and do something equivalent to this.
Exactly.
Until today.
That's right.
Until today.
So, explain this procedure and how it works.
Let's go over here and go through a demonstration.
Now, what I want to do now is get your bearings, okay?
Here is the food tube.
Here is the stomach.
And here is the valve.
Now let's go, as we see the endoscopy come in, this is how you do the procedure.
A scope comes down, showing where that valve is.
Then, Dr. Oz, we have these prongs that come out to actually hook into that muscle.
We apply what we call radiofrequency energy, and then all of a sudden the muscle kind of bulks up, you know?
It's just like you're putting that muscle to bulk it up, and then now this valve is less likely to actually fail Now that we have it stronger.
What do you guys think?
Would you do that?
It makes sense.
So how many times do you have to have this procedure done?
Well, the good thing about it is that usually one time it does the trick and it's all fine.
One time and then you can have a new life and win your war against heartburn.
So, the question is, are the risks there and is it worth it?
Before I turn to one of our audience members who I know had this procedure done, what are the big risks you worry about with this?
Well, hey, let's keep it real, alright?
If there's any procedure that's done on you, there's risk and complications.
The beautiful thing about this is that it's been shown that the risks and complications are far and few in between.
So for more information, make sure you go to your doctor to get all those specific indications and contraindications for this kind of procedure.
Remember, when we talk about minimally invasive procedures, you know what that is?
It's a procedure in somebody else.
Exactly, not you.
When it's you, it's not minimally invasive.
So Jeannie's here.
She's a long-time heartburn sufferer.
She had the procedure done.
Thank you very much.
So, why did you decide to do it, and has it worked for you?
Oh my gosh, it all started about seven years ago, and I felt terrible.
I thought I was going to die.
I had chest pain, squeezing chest pain.
I had a cough.
I had mucus down the back of my throat all the time.
I went to my doctor.
He said, you know, it's time for this procedure.
It's a strata.
And I said, well, let's do it.
And the next...
I had it done on a Friday.
By Monday, I was back to work.
Weeks after that, he was weaning me off my medication.
I'm medication-free right now.
You are.
Good for you.
And I'm back to living again.
I'm very happy for you.
And folks are doing this all over the country now, right?
Yes.
Now, people are doing it all over the country.
And, you know, the big thing is that I would like to say, Dr. Oz, get yourself evaluated.
You know, you don't know what you don't know, and what you don't know can hurt you.
And you may be one of the fortunate ones to not have to go to surgery, not stay on medicines the rest of your life.
We can have a tweeter situation with Strada that helps you win your war against heartburn.
Thanks, my friend.
All right.
You're my man.
You know that, right?
We'll be right back Next Do you say yes to everything?
Do you have a hard time saying no?
I always say yes, even if it's more than I can handle.
Those people-pleasing habits could be holding your life back.
The checklist to find out if you're a people-pleaser and how to end that today.
Next.
All season long, I've been sharing my blueprint for balance, teaching you how to live a more fulfilled life and reverse burn up.
But that can be hard to do when you take on more than you can handle.
It all comes down to saying one word a little too often.
Yes.
It is called being a people-pleaser, and today, it's going to stop.
Recovered people-pleaser herself and someone who Oprah calls the next generation thought leader, Gabrielle Bernstein, is here.
Welcome to the show, as always.
Happy New Year.
I didn't know you were a people pleaser.
Believe it or not, I was.
Yeah, for decades, I struggled with people pleasing.
It was an addiction, really.
And in many ways, I was really just avoiding dealing with my own feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty and self-doubt by helping others.
And so when we project our energy onto others, we don't have to deal with ourselves.
And that's really what was up for me.
It's an incredibly complex coping tool.
I never realized it, and I didn't think about it that way, but I see folks do it all the time.
So people, a lot of times, won't even realize they're people-pleasers, which is sort of the cool part about this.
So in order to help you out, Gabriel connected us with this checklist that I want the entire audience and everyone at home to do with me right now.
For each of the following statements, give yourself a check if it sounds like you.
I'm going to go out to you guys and to the audience.
I want to hear from you and how this applies to your lives as well.
So what is first in your checklist?
The first one is that you never say no when somebody asks you for a favor, even if it's going to put you out.
Anybody got that?
Who's got that?
Who checked this one?
Oh, here we are.
I got somebody right here.
Give me an example of how that happened to you.
When my daughter asked me for a video game last night.
Is that true?
Did you get the game?
I did, yeah.
So why did you say yes?
I don't know.
I think it's a struggle.
Sometimes, as a single parent, you want to do so much for your children, and it's really hard to say no.
She's also my only child, so sometimes you go above and beyond, I think, for your children.
You want them to have everything, and it makes you feel more successful, I think, when you're able to give your children everything they want.
Would your mom have given you the video game?
No.
Is that your mom?
That's my mom.
Oh, perfect!
Would she have gotten that game?
Yes, probably.
Probably.
So we have generations now of people pleasers.
Yes.
We're going to help all y'all together.
This is fantastic.
Gabby, what's next?
The next one is that you invest more time, energy, and money in other relationships, and you don't get that back in return.
Who's guilty of that?
I hear people in the audience say yes.
Your finances are in disarray.
Who's close to me here?
I could probably turn to you guys right now.
Oh, here we've got one down here.
I know this is true of a lot of folks.
What's the story?
Well, I had an ex-fiancee, keyword ex.
Ex-fiancee!
That's a bad way to start.
And I ended up having to pay for everything because it was kind of like I saw potential.
And it's not like I did things to get things back, but reciprocation, you know, it's awesome.
It becomes a little clear now, but I'm just going to put a little checklist there because we've got more questions to come.
But that does sort of push you in the people-pleaser direction.
Gabrielle, what else?
How else can people figure this out?
This is an interesting one I think probably comes up a lot in the office or maybe with friends, but it's you're harping on what you should have said or done after some type of situation.
So maybe I should have said it this way or I should have said it that way.
Who replays the scenario in their head?
Who's perseverating?
We got two.
Go ahead.
Let me hear this.
I always feel like, did I say the right thing?
Or did I say the wrong thing?
And I'm always second guessing everything that I say.
Always.
Because I want people to be happy with whatever I say.
But then deep down inside, I'm like, I really didn't want to do that.
But you heard what she said.
I want people to feel happy about what I said.
Gabriel, give us the last tip.
The last thing they want to be checking off to identify if they're a people pleaser.
The last one is that you don't feel good about yourself or that job well done unless people are complimenting you.
So let me see your show of hands.
If you check more than three of them, three is practically put you...
Yeah, hands up for people who check three on those lists.
Yeah.
We've got a lot of people pleasers here.
Maybe we attract people pleasers to the Dr. Oz show.
Why are you so smiley there?
Because I'm like the ultimate people pleaser.
I want to make everybody happy.
I don't like people to not like me.
I want everybody to like me.
I like to be the fun person, the life of the party.
I never say no.
I always say yes, even if it's more than I can handle.
Even if it's more than you can handle.
So when we come back, we're gonna see what happened when one people pleaser practiced saying no to everybody for a week.
Think about that.
For one week straight, had to say no to everybody.
Plus three ways to never be a people pleaser again.
Stay here.
Coming up next, do you remember the last time you actually said no?
Life Coach Gabrielle shares the experiment with one woman to stop her people-pleasing behaviors.
That's three ways to never be a people-pleaser again.
And still like yourself.
Next.
Could you give up the internet for 30 days?
It's tough.
I fell miserably.
We have your digital detox without going cold turkey.
You've got to retrain your brain.
Plus, the new way to remove fat without surgery.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
Best-selling author and top life coach Gabrielle Bernstein is back.
She's sharing the three things she did to stop people-pleasing.
It'll work for you as well.
She says the first thing you need to do is, and this is important, is to start using the word no as a complete sentence.
That's a lot to ask.
Big time.
Well, we already saw from the audience reactions that no is not easy for people, and no is absolutely the most uncomfortable thing for a people-pleaser to do.
And it's really important to start to exercise that no, because when we say yes, when we mean no, we're not only resenting ourselves for saying yes, but we start resenting the other person, and it becomes a really negative cycle.
And so this practice of saying no often is the most loving response.
All right, so Mia's joining us.
She considers herself a people-pleaser.
Can't remember the last time she said the word no.
Can't even think of what happened.
Welcome to the show.
Hi.
Gabby.
So, what kinds of people-pleasing behaviors do you engage in?
I think everything I do is people-pleasing.
I want my children to be happy, my friends to be happy, my family to be happy, strangers to be happy.
I just, I like to please everybody.
I'm going to put a list here of all the different ways you please people.
You've filled this screen several times over.
I mean, these are actually, you wrote these.
I was confused for a while, then I realized you actually, one person does all this.
I do.
What do you seek?
What's the approval you need that pushes you to do all these yeses?
I think that I just enjoy making people smile, making people happy, completing tasks for other people.
On the surface, it seems so loving and helpful.
Gabrielle, please give Mia some advice here.
I know you actually gave her two very specific exercises to practice before the show.
Well, she's already doing a lot of really good work just by looking at how it came from the past and now it's showing up in the present.
And the exercise first was to really make this inventory list of all of the ways that you say yes when you mean no.
And that's probably the most important step when we try to heal any type of addictive pattern is to look at it just straight in front of us, call it by its name, say, these are all the ways that I am acting out.
And then the next step, as we can see, we've got this long list.
The next step for Mia was to start exercising your no.
How'd that go?
Not easy.
Not easy.
It really wasn't.
I just, I don't like it.
And it was hard.
I had to say no to my daughter.
I had to say no to...
Well, actually, you know what?
We joined you this week.
And so instead of having you try to recall them all, I'm going to show the audience what actually happened in your life.
What Mia went through when she started saying no this past week.
Take a look.
I have a problem.
I don't know how to say no.
I say yes to everything.
I guess I'm a people pleaser.
I'm shopping with my daughter right now and she wants these really expensive high-end designer shoes.
I don't know what to say.
I always say yes to her and I'm just...
I don't want to say yes.
I'm going to say no.
Watch this.
She's going to ask me if I can get them for her.
I know it.
- Come on, take out some possum babies.
- Can I get them?
- No, no, those are too expensive.
Galen, what do you want for dinner?
Can we please get sushi?
No, I had it two nights in a row.
I'm not in the mood.
I'd like to order something else.
Hello.
Hi Amanda, it's Aunt Mia.
Oh my god, are you ready to go out?
I can't go out.
I'm saying no.
I'm tired.
Can we do it another time?
Yeah, I guess.
Yeah, we'll do it another time.
So, Mia, what was the most uncomfortable thing you had to say no to this year, this week?
This week?
Oh, pretty much everything.
I think saying no to my niece was the most difficult because she had a babysitter, and I just kind of felt like, oh, I'm ruining her night.
But on the other hand, I said, let me have a night for myself.
Did it feel good when you did that?
No.
It didn't.
No.
I mean, I guess it felt good staying home and relaxing, but I kind of felt guilty, and that's what happens to me.
I feel guilty if I say no.
Gabrielle.
I think what you're going to hear for a lot of folks, when you start saying no more often, how do you get past that sense of guilt?
Anytime we have to change a new pattern, it's about repeating a new behavior.
And so it's obviously very uncomfortable at first, and you're in the midst of that change and that redirection, so that can be very scary.
So I honor you for that.
But it's the repetition of that new behavior that creates that long-lasting change.
And so my hope is that you can start to maybe begin to open up to receiving more.
Sometimes there's this great benefit in doing the opposite of what it is that we've been doing.
Start to receive more.
Ask for help and receive.
So I'm going to put you on a little 30-day mission.
For the next 30 days, not only you're going to keep saying no, but I also want you to start saying yes to receiving.
So something as simple as maybe somebody opening the door for you or giving you their taxi, just say yes and start to get into the practice of receiving.
And that starts to build a new muscle.
Okay.
I know you said open the door.
I'm usually like the one, I'll do everything.
I'll open the door.
I'll carry all the bags.
The big turnaround for me is understanding the power of no, which is probably the most important word in the English language for a lot of people to learn how to say.
So are you willing to do what's right for yourself by asking for help once in a while?
I will.
It's going to be difficult, but I will.
Be compassionate towards yourself.
You deserve it.
Gabrielle's got a book out fantastic.
It's called Miracles Now, 108 Life-Changing Tools for Less Stress, More Flow, and Finding Your True Purpose in Life.
Check it out.
You can get all my blueprints for balance plans all season long on DrOz.com.
I'll be right back.
Coming up next, today's show, Hoda Kotb opens up about her battle with cancer and her return to dating.
Who knew you could get butterflies in your 50s?
But I'm here to say you can do it.
What she did to find her true calling.
I want what you're having.
You look peaceful.
Mona Cotsby is loved by the millions of fans who watch her and her cohort, Kathy Lee Gifford, every morning on The Today Show.
They especially love how open and honest Hoda is about everything, including her battle with breast cancer, and they've been dating in her 50s, and that's why I love her too.
Hold up.
Come on out.
Oh, I love you.
You love you too.
Oh, how are you?
I'm doing very, very well.
Good.
Hi!
So much to talk about.
Yes?
Let's talk about Kathie Lee for a second.
Okay.
I haven't seen you since she lost Frank.
Yeah.
How's she doing?
She's doing well.
I mean, Kathy Lee is one of these people who is so full of faith that she has so much strength.
I mean, one of the things, she showed up for work when a lot of people would have stayed home.
And I remember when she showed up that day, I looked at her and I thought to myself, she doesn't talk about her strength, she shows it.
And I think sometimes it's showing up.
A friend of mine who also lost someone said she looked up on the TV screen, she saw Kathy Lee, and she said, if she can show up for work, I can show up for work because...
Because it was a devastating loss.
I mean, it was like part of our Today Show family, obviously.
And Kath said to me the other day, she said, I've always been a whole.
Frank and I were a whole.
And so she said, when half of you is gone, you're walking around like a half.
And I think a lot of women who've been married for a long time and lose their spouses know what it feels like.
But I've got to tell you, she is walking, talking strength.
And I'm in awe.
I gotta tell you, I'm in awe when I see her.
When you first found out that you'd lost Frank, and you knew this was all gonna come to bear, this idea of no longer being a whole, how'd you find the right words to say to her?
I was actually, he passed away on my birthday, and I was flying back from New Orleans, and I'll never forget it.
I landed, and I looked on my phone, And I saw a bunch of texts, happy birthday.
Then I saw one from Kath that said Frank had gone to the Lord.
And I said, it didn't make any sense to me.
So I called her and she said, Frank passed away.
You know, please don't come to the house, etc., etc.
And I was at the airport.
And I got in the car and I said, take me to Connecticut.
So the guy took me to Connecticut.
She said, don't come, you're going.
She said, don't come.
So I walked into her backyard and I saw her standing there and she turned around and she looked at me and she said, I'm so glad you don't listen to me.
And sometimes, you know what it is, what I realized that day?
Sometimes you just have to show up.
You just have to show up.
You don't have to have everything.
You know, who knows what you're supposed to say in those kind of circumstances.
But don't you think sometimes if you're just physically there?
And she said something to me that day.
She said, Frank's life was a triumph.
And I thought to myself, yes, that's how you have to see it.
And I mean, she says, I save the word tragedy for something like a child, not for my husband.
She's a philosopher, too.
You know what?
You know her.
She's one of the smartest people.
And she has such depth.
Because I think sometimes people see us on the air and they see laughing and scratching and drinking.
Which we like.
But that's a part of us.
But there's another part that is so much deeper and so much more spiritual and faithful and all those kind of things.
And I have to tell you, man, when I look at her, if I think to myself, I can't do that, I look at her and I think, you know what?
If she can do that, then I can do this.
Well, speaking of triumphs, let's talk about things that you do.
You're dating.
Hello!
We talk about Joel all the time on the show.
You're very transparent, which I love, and I think we all do appreciate about you.
What is it like finding love again in your late 40s, 50s, and beyond?
You know what's funny?
I met him at some event.
It was like one of those events that you don't want to go to.
It's pouring rain, your hair's a mess.
I was like, ugh.
And I look across, and there's this really handsome guy, and he walks up to me, and we start talking, and I'm thinking to myself, oh my God.
Like, you know when you feel...
And, you know, who knew you could get butterflies in your 50s?
But I'm here to say you can do it.
And it's been so much fun.
We're almost going on three years.
Good for you.
And so, what happens to poor Blake Sheldon?
Is he just tossed to the curb?
Took him off to the curb?
Can I tell you something?
When I saw that Blake was single, I was like, I have the worst timing in the history of the world.
He's my big crush.
I have, like, a weird...
I mean, I named my dog after him.
You know, I'm like a stalker.
They could have multiple meanings, yes.
I'm kind of a stalker, a little bit.
I'm borderline.
But look, I'm so happy that he found love with Gwen Stefani.
You know, I'm 90% happy.
The other 10 is, you never know, sometimes these things don't work out, as we say.
Folks know a lot about you, but many do not realize what a prolific writer you are.
And this is a wonderful, new inspirational book that just came out.
It's called Where We Belong, Journeys That Show Us The Way.
And you talk about some wonderful people.
And I'm just curious how you found them.
Why do you want to share their stories?
Yeah.
I think so many of us wonder if we're on the right path.
Sometimes you go to college or school because it's near your house.
You meet a guy because he lived across the street.
You find a job because they happen to have an opening and it's in your neighborhood.
And then you don't feel like you're making choices in your life.
You feel like...
Life, the choices are being made for you.
Just happened.
Yeah, it just happened.
But this is about people who have their hands on the steering wheel of their life and they make a turn so they can be where they belong.
There's a man who was on Wall Street who became a preacher.
There's a woman who came from nothing, down and out, but always wanted to be a doctor.
And everybody laughed at her, including her guidance counselor who said, it'll never happen to you.
And she made it happen.
And I think...
There's a picture of her at our Harvard graduation.
Isn't that crazy?
She went to Harvard, yeah.
And you know when you feel like you're doing the right thing?
Like, you probably feel it on this show.
I mean, sometimes, right?
You know your home.
Like, this is where I'm supposed to be.
And whether it's a place with a person or whatever.
And I think these people are inspiring.
And, you know, look, a lot of people can't quit their job tomorrow because they need insurance.
And they can't go, oh, I wish I were a painter.
But you can spend 10% of your time Toward that goal.
So you can still work your regular job.
And I think it gives you sanity.
Because you're at least where you belong on the weekends.
And let's pretend there's a way that you can turn that into a profession.
So I think, I envy, you know, when you look at someone who really feels home, you go, I want what you're having.
Like, I don't know what it is, but you look peaceful.
That's right.
So I'd like some of that.
It's orgasmic.
Yeah, right?
What?
As much as you're inspired by them, I'm inspired by you.
You're seven years free now of cancer.
Yes.
Yes.
Which is a big deal.
How did your battle with breast cancer get you on your path, get you your purpose?
When I was diagnosed, I thought I was a really healthy person.
I ran in the park and ate apples and stuff.
It's the combination.
I know, but it just never dawned on me.
Anyway, when I got sick...
And I started getting better.
I had a mastectomy and did all the stuff.
But when I was done with it, I thought to myself, you know, it was like the middle of the night, you have an epiphany.
And I got an epiphany and the words were, you can't scare me.
And I remember thinking, oh my God, like that is something.
They were starting a new hour of the Today Show around that time, the fourth hour.
So I said, you know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to do something I've never done before.
I'm going to go up, and I'm going to ask for that job.
And I went to the 52nd floor where Jeff Zucker was.
I went where all the execs were, and I walked in his office, and I said, look, there's a new hour of today.
I want that.
You know, you can't scare me, blah, blah, blah.
And, you know, I'm sure he thought I was nuts, but I did it.
Like, I would never have done that in my life.
And I have to say, if I hadn't gotten sick...
If I hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't have had the courage to ask for this job, and I wouldn't be working with Kathy Lee.
So sometimes the scariest part of your life can turn around and become one of the best parts of your life, you know, if you figure it out.
I'm so happy you're here.
So Hoda's book is called Where We Belong.
It's available right now.
It's beautifully done, as everything she does is.
She's going to stick around, because up next, she has great tips to help you wake up energized in the morning.
If she can wake up in the morning, at the crazy hours you get up, we can all do the same.
Stay with us.
with us.
Thanks, Ross.
Thank you.
Coming up next, Hoda's advice on how to reverse your morning blocks and wake up energized and happier.
Find out how she stays so positive and lively.
I almost started drowning.
This is actually vodka, you know.
Her tips to start your day off right.
Coming up next.
Could you give up the internet for 30 days?
It's tough.
I fail miserably.
We have your digital detox without going cold turkey.
You gotta retrain your brain.
Plus, the new way to remove fat without surgery.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
We're back with today's show host, Hoda Kotb, who's going to show you ways to reverse your morning blahs to wake up energized and happier each day.
And to prove she has all the secrets, I'm going to start with the basic question you have to ask every morning show host.
Yes.
What time do you get up in the morning?
I have two alarms.
I set one at 3.40 and one at 4 in the morning.
Usually I get up by the...
I'm usually up by the 4 every single morning, but I have to walk the dog.
I got a few things to do.
I have to get stuff together.
Painful times.
I know.
How much do you sleep at night, you think?
I'd love to go to bed at 8 o'clock at night, like a third grader.
But sometimes I end up going to bed later if we have events and stuff.
So I could get eight hours.
I can get four hours.
It sort of just depends.
I know.
Well, you have so much energy.
It's such a great attitude all the time, no matter what you're sleeping.
I want to learn those secrets.
You're going to give three of us today.
The first secret, she says, is to start your day with water, which...
I suspect is this much water?
This is a huge...
I don't know if I can drink all of this, but in the morning, I feel like when I wake up, I feel totally dehydrated.
I feel like your body hasn't had anything in it for, whatever, eight hours.
So I take a bottle, not this huge.
Well, just before you say that, you know, we've had a bunch of celebs come on.
And actually, you might not know this, but Cameron Diaz chugged that on the show.
What do you mean?
The whole thing?
Yeah, put it down.
I'm pointing it out.
I mean, if you think she's better than you, then you don't have to...
Cameron Diaz?
Cameron who?
Oh, God.
All right.
Hold on.
We'll start the clock timing.
Oh, you don't have to do the whole thing.
Oh, no!
Oh, no!
No!
Cameron is going to be so mad at you!
So...
I almost started drowning, okay?
This is actually vodka, you know.
There's no water in here.
I made that up on my camera, by the way.
Did you?
Only partly.
She chugged, but it was a smaller jug than this.
That's a lot.
That was a liter.
How much did I have?
More than a liter.
I drank about a half of that.
All right.
All right.
Well, you know, what you drank was more than a liter.
I did?
Yes, that was pretty good.
All right.
All right, second tip.
You start your day with gratitude.
Yeah.
Every morning I wake up and I scribble in my journal and I write...
Sorry.
Is that lipstick?
You look like a third grade or two.
No.
Sorry.
There's water coming out of your nose.
It's attractive.
Even on you it's attractive.
I write down three things I'm grateful for.
This is actually a journal.
Yeah, be careful.
Be careful what you show.
I'm gonna see if I'm in here.
Three things I'm grateful for, and then I write one great thing that happened in the last 24 hours.
Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee.
Is that KLG? KLG. Yeah, there's a lot of KLGs in there.
Yeah, there's some KLGs in there for sure.
And the next thing, the last thing I do is, I love music.
I figure a couple of things can change your mood.
Wine.
And music.
I mean, instantly.
Like, you play it, and you're instantly, everything changes.
So sometimes I play it in the gym.
Woo!
All right.
Hunter's gonna stick around.
I'll be right back with even more good tips.
What happens when we die?
People who came back from the dead reveal what they saw.
Plus, can you really communicate with the dead?
All new Oz.
How do we know if someone's trying to talk to us from the other side?
That's coming up on Tuesday.
Jargon think AA would be a good spot for us.
We'll talk about that later.
So one of those rituals is having a glass of wine with Kathleen every single morning.
And what happens in the world when you can't find a corkscrew is you have to get into some hacks.
We've got some desperate hacks today.
Ways of getting around the crisis when you don't have a corkscrew.
One of them is, of course, to take a toothbrush.
And what do you do with it?
Yeah, I actually push the cork in, but that gets messy.
I don't like that.
Okay.
And there are hacks with knives and with hammers, with nails hammered in like this, and people working this out.
But the one I like the most, and we're going to try it today for the first time to see if it works, is with a screw.
All right.
You sort of already have an idea.
All right, so it's like its own little corkscrew.
Put a screw there and you start twisting it in like this.
Okay.
That takes a little while with your hands.
And if you're a surgeon like me, you like to use instruments.
So let's see how you can get with a screwdriver.
Okay.
Throw this head screwdriver there and just don't cut yourself.
There we are.
Keep going, keep going, keep going.
Now, once the screw is all the way in, then we're going to take a fork and lever it out.
Again, you're in a hotel room, you're by yourself.
You have a screwdriver with you?
You have a screwdriver.
You can ask for a maintenance for that.
We just saw you chug a liter worth of water.
You can do it with wine, too, by the way.
Oh, are you kidding?
All right, is this good enough or all the way in?
No, let's do it right.
If we can give it a chance, get it all the way down.
All right, there we are.
All right, so now what do you do?
With the fork?
You take the fork, you put it under there, you crowbar it in there, and then...
Oh, my gosh!
Almost have it out.
You got it.
You got it.
You hold it.
Oh, come on.
All right.
You pull up.
I'll hold this.
Okay.
Pull up.
No, please both hands.
It almost worked.
Let's go in there.
There we are!
It's so much there!
All right, well...
Oh!
She got it!
She got it!
All right, now...
What?
Jennifer Aniston chugged this on the show.
She did not!
Listen, I love having you here.
I'll pour some wine for you, but I know you've got to run.
So instead of having to drink out of this glass here, I got you a little gift.
What is it?
We have the little travel wine sippy cups.
I'll give one to Kat.
For you and Kat Lee.
We'll love that.
And as I give you a gift...
You will very kindly give you a gift to everyone in the audience, because you're all a talent homework where we belong.
Read this, it'll change your life.
Cheers to the hood up.
Love you.
Thank you.
Love you too, Ross.
Thank you.
Remember, happy and healthy starts at home.
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