Toronto's Ford brothers have a celebrity backer in their weight-loss crusade.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, known to most as daytime television's Dr. Oz, offered some advice to Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, city Coun. Doug Ford, when the trio met on the weekend.

During an appearance on CP24 Breakfast on Monday morning, Oz said Toronto's mayor asked him how to shed weight as he tries to lose 50 pounds in six months.

Oz said he told the Fords to stop eating calorie-rich white foods such as white rice and white pasta and to do whatever they can to eliminate stress.

Certain types of steroids produced within the body are released during times of stress, and they turn on the fat cells in the belly, Oz said.

"It's a one-two punch," Oz said. "You've got to be smart about the biology of blubber but you've got to understand that the way you can control your life is not through the fork at the end of your arm, but things you do internally."

Oz met the Ford brothers after he spoke to an audience at the Sony Centre for Performing Arts in support of the MukiBaum Treatment Centre on Sunday night.

Mayor says weight has 'plateaued'

The Ford brothers are trying to lose weight and promote healthy living as part of their six-month Cut the Waist campaign. After three consecutive weeks of weight loss, Rob Ford weighed in Monday at 310 pounds, the same figure from a week ago.

After weighing in, Ford told reporters he has "plateaued."

Still, the mayor has shed 20 pounds since the campaign began Jan. 16.

A short time later, Doug Ford weighed in at 255 pounds, a drop of about four pounds since Feb. 6. Doug Ford began the campaign at 275 pounds.

"I feel like a champion," Doug Ford told reporters. "My endurance on the bike is twice as long."

The Ford brothers are hoping to lose even more weight after turning to Oz for advice.

Oz is best known for his daytime television gig, "The Dr. Oz Show," after being featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show about eight years ago.

Since his debut, Oz has evolved into a trusted source for lifestyle and diet advice, and has become a best-selling author while continuing to practice as a surgeon and serve as a professor of surgery at Columbia University.

Oz has been named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people

During his appearance on CP24 Breakfast, Oz revealed some of his healthy eating and lifestyles routines, answered viewers' questions about everything from season affective disorder to stress, and promoted his "transformation nation" challenge.

Oz said more than one million people have registered for the health challenge, and one of those entrants will win a $1 million prize in May.

The program, in partnership with Weight Watchers, has seven steps to encourage healthy eating and living.

In Canada, "The Dr. Oz Show" airs on CTV. CTV and CP24 are divisions of Bell Media.