General Diet Plans and Questions General diet questions, support for various diet plans other than those listed below.

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Old 12-12-2008, 05:58 PM   #1  
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Default Oprah struggling with weight

WHy is it that a woman like Oprah that can afford a trainer and a great chef still can't drop a few lbs? SHe has been struggling her entire life with her weight even though she has all the tools in the world to lose weight. Does that mean the rest of us are hopeless???
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Old 12-12-2008, 06:01 PM   #2  
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WHy is it that a woman like Oprah that can afford a trainer and a great chef still can't drop a few lbs? SHe has been struggling her entire life with her weight even though she has all the tools in the world to lose weight. Does that mean the rest of us are hopeless???
yeah, that totally puzzles me too.

No, it doesn't mean the rest of us don't have hope - it just means she doesn't want it as much as we do.

~CGH~
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Old 12-12-2008, 06:23 PM   #3  
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Just because you can afford a personal trainer, doesnt mean you have the will to use them. Celebrities seem to be more about eating out than having a chef prepare each meal for them. Oprahs weight struggle shouldnt be a big deal.. she isnt using what she has for her advantage. Some people just dont have the will it takes to stay with their trainers and utilize their chefs. Even if they did.. they can spoil it other ways with snacking and etc.

I agree that she just doesnt want is as much. Overweight or not, she can achieve what she wants.
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Old 12-12-2008, 06:52 PM   #4  
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I think we shouldn't throw around words that judge how much any of us want it. The truth is weight loss is very difficult, especially if you're trying to have any kind of life while doing so. I've struggled with my weight since kindergarten, and sometimes I wanted it so badly that if I could have gotten it by killing someone I probably would have (and some of the things I did to try to lose it, could have killed me).

All of my life, the only way I was able to lose weight successfully (until very recently), was to make weight loss my top priority and nearly my sole priority - over God, over my family, over my career, my friends, any semblence of a social life.

About a year ago I discovered that eliminating sugar and most carbs makes it possible for me to lose weight without weight loss being the only thing in my life. I can have weight loss AND a life - and it's a good thing too, because I spent so much of my life giving up things in order to lose weight, that there's precious little I'm willing to sacrifice on the alter of weight loss.

There's no surprise as to why weight loss is difficult. Our environment and our bodies are at odds. Traits and tendencies that kept our ancestors alive are killing us. For millenia we had to work very hard for our food, and food was scarce, so being hungry and having a preference for fatty and sweet foods had survival value (fat and sugars being preciously rare commodities in a natural world).

We've turned the world topsy turvy where idle time actually increases the odds of weight loss, rather than weight gain. Plenty of celebrities (especially those who are not working for a living) seem to have the time (and make use of it) to do little, but work on their physical appearance. And Oprah certainly has the money to do that too, but she has other goals and projects in life too (which is certainly not a bad thing).

She's juggling, just like the rest of us. And while she's got more resources than most of us, she's also juggling more than many of us would wish to. But regardless of what you're juggling, whenever you juggle, there's always a chance of dropping the ball. And whether you're juggling all of the components of a commercial and philanthropic empire, or an every day life with a job and family, or mental or physical health issues, it's not just possible to drop a ball, it's almost inevitable.

The real test is how long it takes you to pick up the ball and keep juggling.

Last edited by kaplods; 12-12-2008 at 06:54 PM.
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Old 12-12-2008, 08:03 PM   #5  
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Amen, kaplods.

It makes me sad when people are critical of women who are having a publically hard time with weight loss (and Oprah tends to be the go-to example): who are we to judge whether she lacks the desire or she's lazy or whatever? Weight loss isn't a zero-sum game -- talking about how someone else can't do it won't help any of us succeed. What will help is looking at people who are doing it on their own (there are so many incredible examples right here on 3fc!) and taking inspiration from them.
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Old 12-12-2008, 08:23 PM   #6  
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Maybe she doesn't get all the support that we get from 3FC. She may have a lot of people/things that work against weight loss as well. Probably a lot of stress in her life as well.
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Old 12-12-2008, 08:27 PM   #7  
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I would say it's not at the top (or even the in the tops) of her priorities.

Hey and for what it's worth--I don't think 200 pounds on a person of her height and stature is all that bad.

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Old 12-12-2008, 09:17 PM   #8  
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I imagine that running her media empire, taping her show, being politically active, volunteering and working with charities, family and friends all take a huge amount of commitment, energy and time. I am amazed that she has done as well as she has, and that she continues to be open and honest about her struggle.

I for one can empathize. It has taken me almost my whole life to find the right combination of exercise, diet, and spiritual focus to lose the weight for good. And - I'm older than she is by quite a bit.

Until I have walked in another person's shoes, I could never presume to know what they are going through or how much time and effort they put into weight management.

I wish her well on her journey - hopefully she WILL find the right plan this time. She will be in my prayers.
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Old 12-12-2008, 11:36 PM   #9  
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Hey, I totally understand it. If it was just an issue of affordability only poor people would have weight problems. Everyone else would just write a check.

How many people here have "been able to afford" Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers or joining Bally's....why don't they have 100% success based on having the money to do these things?

Bottom line Oprah is a human being and struggles with comfort/stress eating and other weight-related issues as I do.

Money and fame doesn't save you from that, or drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, sickness.....you still struggle with everything except being broke!
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Old 12-12-2008, 11:45 PM   #10  
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She has a food addiction and I can relate. It's pscychological and has more to do with having your mind set a certain way than the resources. Sure, the resources can help...a lot...but that's more in the short term. In the long term, it takes a huge effort to overcome a food addiction. I'm not sure if I put this right and I don't mean to be controversial, since things can come out in the wrong tone. It's just how I feel, that's all.
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Old 12-13-2008, 01:52 AM   #11  
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Sometimes the concept of a food addiction makes sense to me, and other times I think it's a crock. What I mean, is that food addiction makes it sound like people with weight problems have serious mental problems or at least a bit of a screw loose.

In once sense all humans are food addicted - at least food dependent. So what's wrong with us fat ones? I think for years we've been sold a bill of goods. We're told we're the crazy, malajusted ones who must have deep (or at least persistent) mental deffects or defects of character.

More and more of the USA is becoming overweight - are we getting crazier as a nation, or is it the environment rather than people who are changing?

The researchers are finding more genes linked to obesity - and I don't mean that absolves folks of personal responsibility - but it does make me thing it's not the food addicts that are the deffective ones. Rather, we may have inherited traits that would have kept our ancestors alive, and are working against us in the modern world, where food (especially high fat/sugar foods that would never occur in nature) is overly abundant, and physical exertion is less and less necessary - in fact as jobs get more sedentary, we're doing less and less. The harder you work, the less time you have to do physical work - and the more stress hormones you produce, the less sleep you get - well those might make it even worse.

I don't think we're crazy or defective, or immoral. I think we have bodies and brains that are suited for the stone age, where food is scarce and high calorie, but nutritionally empty foods are non-existant. And where sedentary means dead (either because you didn't work hard enough to obtain food, or you didn't run fast enough to avoid predators).

It takes a lot of effort to overcome the very artificial environment we've created, and I'm not sure that money is an easy answer to the problem. Part of the problem, even amongst the poorest in the US (which are wealthy by many countries' standards), is the easy access to "on demand" high calorie eating. There are many ready-to-eat options, and being wealthy, just means there are more options.

I think that as long as overweight folks are looked at as abnormal or crazy, I don't think the problem will be easily addressed. With half of the US overweight, it's time to realize we've got to start working on not just changing the people, but changing the environment also, or we could end up with a country in which being at a healthy weight is abnormal.
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Old 12-13-2008, 09:12 AM   #12  
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kaplods wrote:
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I think that as long as overweight folks are looked at as abnormal or crazy, I don't think the problem will be easily addressed. With half of the US overweight, it's time to realize we've got to start working on not just changing the people, but changing the environment also, or we could end up with a country in which being at a healthy weight is abnormal.
Overweight folks looked at as abnormal or crazy? Nah. It's practically the norm. Anyone who's struggled (and that would be a LOT of people, L-rd knows myself included) with their weight knows just how difficult a task it is.

I don't think we can count on the government or anyone else to "fix" the problem. That is something we all have to take into our own hands.
We need to create our own "environments" and not leave it up to anyone else. Leaving it up to someone else is a scary thought. Being healthy is one of the most important things there is and quite frankly, I wouldn't dream of leaving something so important up to anyone but ME. Each and every one of us has to take responsiblity for our own health, because ulitmately WE ARE responsible for us and no one can take better care of us, then - us.

We had a whole discussion about this over at the 100lb club. Come take a look:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158193

Without a doubt losing/maintaining weight has got to be one of the hardest things in the world.

But it's something that IS doable. I know for me it couldn't occur until I was ready to make it a tippy top priority and now keep it a tippy top priority. Maintaining my weight is one of the very most important things in my life and I've no doubt that I will always have to keep it extra high on my list of priorities. I need to be focused on it. I am a complusive overeater, it is my condition. Though it can never be cured, it can be controlled and managed (though difficult) and I need to be the one to control it. No one else can do it for me.

I know, as I'm sure most of us here do, just how hard it is and I sympathize with Oprah big time. But as we all know, no amount of money, having all the right tools on hand - trainers and gourmet chefs - won't keep the weight off. She may have the right tools and all, but she is the one who has to do ALL the work ALL the time.

LisaF brought up a great point in the thread that I pointed out to you. Something to the affect of - Maybe having those chefs and trainers doesn't give her ENOUGH of a responsiblity. Who knows?

Last edited by rockinrobin; 12-13-2008 at 09:13 AM.
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Old 12-13-2008, 09:41 AM   #13  
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With half of the US overweight, it's time to realize we've got to start working on not just changing the people, but changing the environment also, or we could end up with a country in which being at a healthy weight is abnormal.



Yes, absolutely. The health of many are at stake here. Obesity is more than a problem, I would say it is a crisis for the toll it is taking on the country in general. The financial costs of the problem is only the tip of the iceberg.

I just watched the movie Wall-E last evening. I have to say the scooter people hit home for many people in the U.S.

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Old 12-13-2008, 10:07 AM   #14  
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Yes, absolutely. The health of many are at stake here. Obesity is more than a problem, I would say it is a crisis for the toll it is taking on the country in general. The financial costs of the problem is only the tip of the iceberg.
.
I definitely, DEFINITELY agree that obesity in the United States is at crisis levels. In fact I read somewhere recently that more people die in the US from being overfed then underfed. Sooo frightening. And something SHOULD be done about it. But again, we can not wait for the government to do something. We have got to take matters into our hands. There is just too much at stake if we don't.
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Old 12-13-2008, 10:31 AM   #15  
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Despite her money and fame. Oprah is human, after all. I know that many of us have been on the lose, regain, lose, regain cycle .It is a struggle to lose and maintain that loss. I can't say that I am a big fan of but Oprah but I understand completely what she is going through. Been there myself and I wish her success just as I would for anyone on these forums.
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