Have you struggled with “Super mom”, “Super dad” syndrome?
I recently did a INC magazine interview where I talked about supermom syndrome– this 1000 lb weight that sits on our shoulders every single day.
I want to be there for the kids, my patients, my husband, our parents, my friends, etc etc. I also want to make an impact in the world, change lives and…cook healthy meals.
I know a lot of you struggle with this-seriously, I know- we have talked at dinner parties 
I remember one time when I got into a car accident but the first thing I wanted to do is run across the street to pick up my son so I wouldn’t be late!
I’m so grateful for the busy women out there who do it all, healthfully…and make it look easy.
That’s why I was so excited to talk to Lisa Oz (yes, her hubby is the famed Dr.Oz) about her amazing new book, Oz Family Kitchen and how she keeps family, marriage and whole food meals a priority no matter how busy life gets.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Me: I loved the book! I love the fact that you talk about the center salad dish so that everyone can have their own preferences for what they want. In my own household, I have a lot of people with all different diets: gluten-free, vegetarian eating, so I understand how that goes.
How does that work for you? Do you have to make different meals all the time? How do you deal with that?
Lisa: That’s why I came up with this way of eating. My daughter is gluten-free, my son is pretty much paleo, I have another daughter who is vegetarian so everybody wants something different at the table.
When we do essential bowl whether it’s a salad, or my son doesn’t want to eat so many greens, so we will do sometimes a brown rice bowl, and we have that with lots of vegetables and then we’ll do our protein add-ins which makes the bowl customizable instead of having the protein be the main course.
The essential bowl is the main course and then the protein, whether it’s chicken or tofu, sometimes beans that we can add in our own plates, everybody can enjoy the same meal but still have it at their own needs.
ABOUT EATING AS A FAMILY
Me: I know that you have a really busy family and I was on the set of the Dr. Oz show two weeks ago and saw how hard your husband works. I can’t even imagine that you guys really eat a lot of meals together.
My husband and I are both Physicians– We’re super busy –so what do you do? Do you guys have a set meal time or you have everyone do their own thing?
Lisa: Well, the time [for meals] is flexible and I think that’s true with a lot of families today.
Everybody is busy, it’s not just the father, with the family and you and your husband, and the kids are also super busy these days.
They’re into sports, after-school activities and their schedules are always changing so timing meals doesn’t work for us but what we do try to do is when we’re home we can make a time when we’re together and this is a long period of time where we sit down we eat together, we make eye contact, we’re not on our iPhones, texting someone else while we eat together.
And we don’t always have time to sit down—I don’t always have time to sit down to a huge meal so I love on the weekends when everybody is here and Daphne comes home with her husband and that we spend most of the weekends in the kitchen!
ABOUT LONG TERM HEALTH
Me: Do you have 1 to 3 tips that help people maintain health over the long haul?
Because some people are so fixated on short terms diet and quick fixes and what seems so fascinating to me about you is that you guys came to maintain a balance healthy lifestyle for long term.
Are there some tips that people could think about when they are trying to work that way rather than getting on and off the diet bandwagon?
Lisa: Well, Mehmet always said you have to make it easy to do the right thing so for me they have to be something that you enjoy if you’re not going to do it. So, we eat food you can know something that is healthy and tasty.
Some people hate kale.
They don’t make kale in a ways that taste good.
It doesn’t matter how many nutrients it’s got if it doesn’t taste good. You’re not eating it, so the nutrients aren’t getting to your body.
So make food that you enjoy that you like to taste otherwise you’re not going to eat it.
It’s funny because with vegetables people think they should boil them and eat them and that’s all they need to do but no one would ever stick a chicken in a pot of boiling water and then put it in a plate and say “oh eat dinner.” So, you know you have to dosomething.
So with vegetables a little bit of garlic and olive oil goes a long way, that with some fresh herbs and you’ve transformed any dish. So, I think that if you make good food that is good for you that happens to be delicious then it’s going to do your bodies good.
ABOUT STAYING MARRIED FOR 30 YEARS
I’ve heard that this is your 30th year of marriage. That is amazing. Congratulations!
Lisa: Thank you.
Me: I guess this is not on topic, but I’m curious, are there some secrets that you can share for long term relationships?
My husband and I are married for 10 years but I’m thinking..WOW 30 years! That’s three times longer!
That’s amazing what’s your secret?
Lisa: We’re really old!
Me: I see your pictures, post–you guys seem really close.
There must be some secret that you have that keeps it–I know nobody is perfect, obviously, but there must be something that you guys do that keeps it fresh right? This is especially true with your busy schedules!
Lisa: He always jokes that’s part of the secret of the marriage: actually, Not spending too much time together.
Me: Right!
Lisa: It’s almost like we’ve only been married for 10 years because we have to split the time we don’t see each other because he is so busy!
but we prioritize the time that we do spend together and at some point in the marriage you realize that it’s more important to be connected and to be happy than to be right.
Me: I think that’s so true!
If you think about the long run and not focus on the “right now” –that can help your mindset. In the big picture, this is a small thing.
ABOUT EXERCISE
Me: Switching gears– what’s your exercise routine like?
Lisa: It’s a little of everything. This weekend, for example, we were biking together. There’s a great pathway along the Hudson River where we live that we love to bike along, which was lots of fun. We play tennis together. So there are things that we do together and then there are things that we do separately. Mehmet likes to play basketball with the guys. I like to go to spin class. We both do yoga.
ABOUT GREENS AND JUICING
Lisa: We drink green juice all the time, love green juice! Obviously, we would also like to eat whole vegetables. You do lose all the fiber when you drink juice. I do like to do a periodic juice cleanse, maybe once or twice a year.
I’m a salty girl. Some people like sweet and some people like savory. Fruit juices don’t satisfy that salty craving at all, so when I’m doing a juice cleanse I will alternate juice with a savory broth. It’s much easier to stay on if I can have that savory flavor. But I don’t think that it’s necessary.
I do think that biologically we have evolved to be eating way more vegetables than we actually do now in this society. So, one way to get all those nutrients is to juice. If we did eat the way that we are probably designed to eat it wouldn’t be necessary to drink juice. We have juice for breakfast, it’s easy it’s quick, its way better than having a cup of coffee as far as I’m concerned.
Me: This is a technical question, do you have the Omega juicer or do you use something else?
Lisa: We use a Bravo juicer.
Me: Okay. That’s awesome too. I think they are both amazing. So is that juice cleanse something you created yourself or is that something you purchased?
Lisa: I’ve done both. I’m one of the people who is—I don’t know if it’s for the sake of marketing or its pure curiosity– but I love trying different programs.
I’m very curious about work out there so I will try whatever I see, I’ve done commercial ones, delivery, I’ve done my own—I’ve done programs etc
I have done everything so you can ask me everything I’ve tried probably.
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So what did you think?
LOVED the value bombs that the lovely Mrs. Oz threw in there !!
Just so you know- I am not an affiliate or getting paid for this- I just wanted to share with you her book and her philosophy because I think it will help you.
If you haven’t seen them, Lisa Oz has a bunch of video episodes on ZLiving. I really recommend checking them out! http://www.zliving.com/tv/lisa-oz-show-14794/
You can purchase the book here: The Oz Family Kitchen. And find some recipes on the Dr. Oz website: http://www.doctoroz.com/recipe-collection/recipes-oz-family-kitchen