Oprah Essay on 'Disappointing' Weight Gain to Appear in O Magazine

After Decades-Long Struggle With Weight Gain, Oprah Said She's 'Off The Wagon'

By LEE FERRAN
Dec. 9, 2008 —

Oprah Winfrey has admitted the obvious, that she has "fallen off the wagon" again in her lifelong fight against weight gain and that she has given up on being thin.

The country's most famous yo-yo dieter confesses in a brutally honest essay that she has ballooned to more than 200 pounds.

"I'm mad at myself. ... I'm embarrassed," she wrote. "I can't believe after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, 'How did I let this happen?'"

She says that instead of trying to lose weight, her goal is to be strong, healthy and fit.

More at:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6423624

quote:

Originally posted by Nbox:
Whatever her BMI, she didn't look 200 lbs in the pic.

Considering the fact that she's tall (over 5'6", I think) I thought she easily looked 200+ pounds. Plus, unlike the rest of us, she has the best, slimming wardrobes, great lighting, photo professionals and more.

I just read the whole article. I have to say that although I feel badly for her, I just can't relate much to what she says about her choices and her journey.

She's not going to limit foods or get on a disciplined exercise routine. Instead she's focusing on better self care- more meditation, more fun, more relaxation.

I can realte to needing lots of self care. I can't, however, realte to not really, really wanting to get down to a healhty weight.

I don't get why limiting food and committing to a certain amount of exericse per day/week are not the right things to do to care for one's self.

Plus, Oprah is mega rich. Her show does not "have to go on" like she said in the article. I can see where she's totally depleted and stressed and unable to eat well or care for herself, but the fact that she does not seem to be making drastic changes in her committments in order to lose weight baffles me.

I just could not relate.

BTW, the issue of the magazine that had this article also had an article by a cognitive behaviorist (like Beck) who talked about needing to just make a list of priorites and reasons why those priorites are impoartant. It seemed bizarre to see Oprah's artice next to a "set your goals and just do it" article.

I agree. I just read the article. It touches on her reasons for getting back her health, etc.

i anticiapte her magazine cover is going to help sell a lot of magazeins because her struggle is relate-able. people connect with her struggle, her humility, her honesty, etc. what they won't be able to connect with is taking a break in hawaii and being able to have your trainer with you at the drop of a hat. must be nice.

also, i would imagine, since she had invested so many years of good habits with her Trainer, that she will be able to bounce back better than those who do not invest similarly.

Whatever her BMI, she didn't look 200 lbs in the pic. So if she wants to lose weight, let it be for health reasons and not aesthetics.

The article gave a more balanced view of her goals than I first thought.

I feel bad for her.

According to the National Weight control reg... there are risk factors that can predict weight regain. She had a LOT of them.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10224727?dopt=Abstract

She maintainined less than two years.

She lost about 30% of her weight.

She was depressed.

She is a stress eater/binger.

And probably has "dietary disinibition" (which I think of as lots of "excuses" to eat... It is a party. I’ll just have one. One won’t hurt. I’ll eat less later (as in skip part of my dinner). I’ll exercise a little more tomorrow. Everyone else is eating this. I’ll get back on track on Monday. What the heck, it’s the holidays. I deserve it. I’m stressed. It isn’t that many calories. I don’t have time to exercise. I don’t have time to cook. I’ll just get fast food this once.

I've only seen her show a two or three times in the past couple of years... but even the show that Brie was on, that was about sensible weight loss... I heard Oprah say LOTS of "all or nothing" kinds of things and thought a couple of times, uh oh. That's not good.

I totally agree with Brie-- healhty weight has a wide range. I think that for my height, the range is something like 118-140. It does not have to be clinically obese or stick thin. Lots of us are in the middle groud.

During the past 4 months I have had many, many medical consults and tests. I have met with cardiologists, intern docs and more. Every simgle one of them told me that maintaining a healthy body weight is critical to good health over the long term. Being even 10-20 pounds overweight increases risk for diabetes, heart disease and more.

People who are over weight tend to have higher triglycerides that lead to diabetes and heart disease. It just is.

Plus, I have been told by 2 docs that I need to keep my own weight at the lower end of the healhty BMI scale as I am high risk for heart disease.

I am not thinking or talking about Oprah --- I don't pay much attention to her, but I think that the idea that carrying around 40 extra pounds of fat is healthy in ANY way is crazy.

Here is the O magazine article "How Did I Let This Happen Again?"

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200901_omag_oprah_weight

Yes, an AP article puts her BMI at 31.8.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-People-Oprah-Winfrey-Weight.html?_r=1

(I can't calculate it myself, because I don't know how tall she is.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheltieguy,

I believe that the entire article had Oprah's BMI at over 31. That's not just a little bit of extra weight, that is in the clinically obese category which carries lots of health risks.

I think there is a big difference between stick thin unhealthy Hollywood and healthy weight women with BMIs between 20 - 25.

If the goal is to be healthy and fit, weight loss needs to be a reality for those in the clinically obese category.

thank you for the role model comment.

there is a young girl who has been coming to my gym. she is dd's age. i ran into her a year ago. a star athlete in our town.

recently she started coming to my gym. i did not know it was the same girl. i have never seen just skin-on-bones to the degree where i can see the small tiny bones of the body because they are protuding so much. it makes me want to just break down and sob, seeing her. i do not know what is making her waste away like this, but I do know that all the media is not helpful. super thin seems to be the way to go if you want attention, power and other temporary benefits of our lovely society.

I applaud Oprah, Queen Latifah, and Tyra for breaking the mold of the typical "sickly" thin celebs. As long as one is healthy and continues to eat right and exercise, what is the harm in having a little extra body to tote around? Personally, I think women with curves (natural ones that is, not those created in a plastic surgeon's office) are much better looking and sexier than stick thin ones.

Jill

amen!

*sigh*

I feel bad for Oprah, but I agree, why continue the myth that dieting works?

It doesn't. Eating healthy portion sizes of good food is what works, getting a healthy amount of exercise works.

"She says that instead of trying to lose weight, her goal is to be strong, healthy and fit."

"Oprah isn't the only voluptuous celebrity who has given up on the idea of being slim, but is continuing to do some form of dieting."

Uhh...for some reason I'm getting conflicting messages here. Why 'diet' at all?