Born and raised in New York State, he soon left the city life to head west and follow his passion for horses. For several decades he was chief instructor at the Arizona Cowboy College in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has trained more than 1,000 students in the physical and mental aspects of cowboy life. When he isn't busy working with students, he is also a professional horse trainer, gives clinics in Total Horsemanship and Equine & Rider Safety and trains ranch horses. He even got his 15 minutes of fame as lead instructor in the CMT hit series Coyboy U for several seasons. Rocco has been many things, but one thing never changed - he loved meat.
Until he met Dr. Oz, that is.
Dr. Oz (for those of you who don't know) was a featured health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for over five seasons before getting his own show. On September 24, Dr Oz invited Rocco to be his guest.
Dr. Oz asked the 53yr old, 265lb cowboy to define a "meat and potatoes" man. Rocco replied, "There nothing green on my plate". What was on his plate? The 2.5 POUNDS of saturated fat that he ate every week. The visual of seeing that much fat was pretty alarming. What was even more alarming were Rocco's bloodwork numbers as shown on the "Truth Tube".
Weight: 265 pounds.
Waist size: 49 inches.
Hemoglobin A1C: 9% (diabetics need to have this number less than 7),
Blood Glucose: 172 (as Dr Oz said: "You're not borderline anything, you're just a diabetic")
HDL Cholesterol: 33 (Normal is 40-50, less than 40 puts you at risk for heart disease)
BMI: 37 (Anything over 30 is considered obese)
CT Artery Scan: 97 percentile for plaque buildup. He had the heart of an 85yr old man.
The truth hurt.
Although Rocco may have felt perfectly fine, he was actually very sick. He had Type II Diabetes, was obese, and was at serious risk for developing Heart Disease - the number 1 killer in America. Rocco needed some intervention. He needed help from: The Enforcer. Otherwise known as Dr. Michael Roizen.
The solution? Rocco, the meat eating cowboy, was about to go VEGAN!
For the next 28 days, Rocco was assigned to a strict Vegan diet. No meat. No dairy. No eggs. Instead, lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and seeds.
The result? After just 28 days - here are Rocco's new numbers.
Weight: 235 pounds (a loss of 30)
Waist size: 43 inches (a loss of 6")
Hemoglobin A1C: 7.7% (not perfect - but definitely better)
Blood Glucose: 99 (wow)
HDL Cholesterol: 45 (double wow)
Rocco was able to stop taking 2 out of his 3 prescriptions!
Just after 28 days. Look closely, Rocco reversed his Type 2 Diabetes. He also cut his risk of cardiovascular disease. And he stopped taking several of his prescription, with all their side effects.
How is that possible? You can't reverse diabetes! You have to take medication for high cholesterol, and high blood sugar! My Doctor said I'd be taking it for the rest of my life! He should be taking insulin!
This is what we have always believed. But as I have said, over, and over, and over again. Most of what we have always believed to be true - usually isn't true at all.
When you start to eat healthy, giving the body what it needs. It will heal itself.
You can heal yourself. Believe it.
So how is Rocco doing now?
Rocco now walks 12,000 steps a day--keeping track with a pedometer. He quit using his ATV and truck to get around his ranch. To get in his 12,000 "steps" he now gets out of the house at 5:30 am, instead of the usual 9:00 am.
Before the diet he was on 3 different medications--but he after only 28 days he was able to come off of 2 of these, one for cholesterol, and one for his diabetes.
His blood sugar is now in the normal range--99--down from 172.
His acid-reflux is gone!
Although he was supposed to re-introduce meat in week 4, after eating some meatloaf, he didn't find it as satisfying. "I figure I will stay way from anything with a face or legs for a few more weeks at least." Dr. Roizen recommends doing it slowly, only 2-3 ounces twice a week.
"Old Rocco" used to eat meat at every meal. The "New Rocco" now eats 5-7 times a day choosing from nuts, seeds, soy protein, vegetables and fruit.
He's never hungry! He learned that when he eats the amount of food the size of his palm--he isn't hungry any more--and that he just eats again 2 to 3 hours later.
He now eats more times a day than he did as a meat-eater, but at the end of the day he's consumed less calories, and can lose weight.
The first 7 days were the hardest. "I had to retrain myself to wait for my stomach to tell my brain I was hungry. Previously, I let my brain tell my stomach when to eat."
Rocco says that changing his diet isn't anything that he couldn't have done by himself, but the fact that he had the "hands on" support and prodding from Dr. Roizen upped his odds. Besides, he had the pressure of millions of viewers counting on him, wanting to be inspired by his win!
Everything feels different, as if a huge weight has been lifted off of me. -- If I can do it, anyone can. -- You've literally kick-started my life, and I have the opportunity of a lifetime!
