When it comes to being healthy, most people know what they should be doing. The problem is actually changing long-term behaviors and habits and adopting a healthy lifestyle, said a health expert who will be in Oklahoma City at the end of the month for a wellness event.

Bob Greene, the creator of the Best Life Diet brand and personal trainer to Oprah Winfrey, will be the keynote speaker at a daylong health and wellness event March 31 at the Cox Convention Center.

Choosing Health: Wellness, Weight Loss and Keeping Fit, presented by the University of Oklahoma Outreach, will offer practical information and personal insights on such topics as overcoming obesity, effective exercise strategies and nutritional and dietary practices for a fuller, healthier life.

Greene said in a phone interview that most people come to events like this and expect to be told what to eat and what exercises to do. Instead, he said he addresses the motivations behind unhealthy behaviors.

When people know what they should be doing but instead continue in unhealthy patterns, Greene said those behaviors can be "coping mechanisms for something else in your life."

"In that way, you're using food as a drug," he said. The root problem could be an unsatisfying job, bad relationships, negative reinforcement as a child or a host of other things, he said.

"The answers are almost as numerous as there are people," he said. So his talk in Oklahoma City will focus on self-discovery, asking people to explore their motivations. He will ask questions and facilitate discovery exercises.

"Usually I hit buttons that people haven't thought of," he said.

Another presenter at the Choosing Health event also hopes to get at the reasons behind unhealthy habits. Michelle May, M.D., author of "Am I Hungry?: What to do When Diets Don't Work," will encourage her audience to eat only when they are hungry and meet other non-hunger-related needs in more productive ways.

Often people who struggle with their weight eat because they are bored or stressed or because it's a family custom, May said in a phone interview. She said she often asks people to think of someone they know who doesn't struggle with their weight and then ask how that person views food. That person usually has a child-like perspective of food, eating when they're hungry but stopping when they are full and not depriving themselves of the things they love, May said.

She will share from a personal perspective.

"I was a yo-yo dieter for close to 25 years," she said. She knew what she should be doing, but never had lasting success with any diet. She said she was actually on the way to a Weight Watchers meeting when she thought, "I can't do this again."

"For me personally, it wasn't really addressing the issues I needed to take care of," she said. She realized when she overate it was because of stress or boredom or guilt over breaking the rules of her diet.

When she realized these underlying motivations, she said she was able to deal with the root cause of her health problems.

"Once they recognize it then they have the power to change it," May said.

She said she hopes people will come away from her talk with a change in the way they view food and their motivations.

"It's really, I think, remarkable to help people turn this whole thing on its head," she said.

In addition to Greene and May, other presenters at Choosing Health include:

· Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who has garnered national attention for his "This City is Going on a Diet" challenge to the citizens of Oklahoma City to lose 1 million pounds. Cornett has set an example by shedding nearly 40 pounds.

· Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, a state advocate for children's health. In February 2009, Askins announced a plan to create the first-ever Children's Cabinet, a legislative body to streamline services and identify challenges for Oklahoma's children.

· Darryl Tonemah, Ph.D., a nationally recognized community counselor, trainer and behavior specialist who has been called "one of the new generation of Native wellness leaders." In his position as co-director of the Special Populations Unit at the OU Health Sciences Center, Tonemah works with the National Institutes of Health on diabetes prevention and lifestyle change research among Native American populations.

· Martha Burger, senior vice president for human and corporate resources at Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chesapeake's Living Well Program provides a financial incentive for employees who maintain healthy and productive lifestyles through regular exercise, education, motivation and intervention.

Before March 27, registration for Choosing Health is $49 per person; after that date, the cost is $69 per person. Every paid registrant will be eligible for a drawing to attend a small group luncheon with Greene and May.

The event is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.; doors open at 7 a.m.

To register online or to see a complete schedule of events, visit www.choosinghealthok.ou.edu. For information about available sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities or for additional information about the conference, call OU Outreach at 325-5101.

Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com