I can't imagine my weight and what I eat being the whole world's business.

I guess it's the business of a whole lot of people here on 3FC - but everyone here wants to help. Much of the world just wants to tear celebrities down, or at least hold them to inhuman standards.

I still love Oprah.

I think most of us have a hard time passing up delicious food, no?

I think it's incredibly hard to stay thin no matter WHO you are. Not that I would know, but she's probably got seem things that would make it harder - IDK - more parties, more lavish ones at that. But in ways she's got it easier -gourmet chefs and trainers at her side.

I think regardless of your circumstances - your easier things and your harder things - losing weight and keeping it off is HARD. Period. Many of us know WHAT to do, I think Oprah even mentioned that, but of course the difficulty lies in the DOING it part - day after day after day after day. After day.

I'm still a newbie at maintaining and have many, many more decades to go, but I know for me, the only way that I have been able to maintain my weight thus far, is by keeping it CONSTANLY on the forefront of my mind. Without a doubt it is one of the very most important things in my life. Sounds dramatic, but I know that's the only way that this will *work* for me. Tippy top priority.

And I too was shocked to hear that it's been 20 years since she shlepped out the wagon of fat. I remember that episode so clearly. I was so envious of her.

I hope she finds her way back. No matter what her weight, she IS a radiant, beautiful woman. I don't think too many would disagree.

Well you can't argue with that!

That's what I wish she would focus on (and am glad she is). I remember the Biggest Loser show she did a while back and Ali was on (last season's winner) and they paraded out some the most recent contestants and it was all grand and wonderful and she did have some older contestants who had regained, but all I really saw of Ali was stars in her eyes (Understandably). Her perspective just seemed, I don't know, naive? And I guess that was sort of an epiphany for me. I think Oprah really does inspire many people to live better lives for themselves and I'm just surprised that she hasn't really tackled this issue before, she has just focused on the losing part. Although I have to admit, she's done an excellent job with making Dr. Oz a fixture. I appreciate that she's giving us a view into this aspect of her life, just as she did with her weightloss.

I've said before, losing was easy compared to maintaining. It's worth it, but it's hard and I wish the issue was confronted more in-depth by the media (and I know, that doesn't sell diet pills).

I think I'm going to go write Oprah a letter

Robin, I have been thinking a lot about this. I think for me to lose all this weight and maintain it, I will have to always be a little obsessed with it. I don't mean obsessed in a bad way, I mean in a very aware and wary way. I don't trust myself to not make it very important. I'm afraid I'll slip back into old ways if I don't.
It's pretty scary when someone with all the resources that Oprah has struggles with it. My heart goes out to her, I can't imagine having it splattered all over magazines, TV and the internet. I hope people give her a break, with all that she's had going on it's understandable she would slip on it. I wish her the best in getting healthy.

I love Oprah and think she's fantastic. I think part of the problem is that she's a "fad" kinda gal. She's always featuring the newest diets and diet aids and she follows them, loses weight and then goes back to eating "normal" and gains the weight back. Like a LOT of people.

It must be SO HARD to live your life in the eye of the media. I don't envy her that's for sure.

I've been morbidly obese, I've been obese, I've been overweight - now I am at a healthy weight and I gotta say - I really, really LOVE being a healthy weight. And that's what I want to remain - forever.

Some very wise maintainers here pointed out to me that's it's not obession - it's dedication. That's really the bottom line - I am thoroughly and completely dedicated to staying at a healthy weight. I am passionate about it. It's just THAT important to me.

So yes, it IS scary to hear about someone with all of Oprah's resources gain back the weight (but really the resources can't keep the weight off - Oprah still is the one that has to do the work), it is even SCARIER to me to gain back the weight. All I can say is that I hope to continue to remain scared. I'm using that fear to my advantage and keeping on my toes. Because I know that in a blink of an eye, one can easily put the weight back on.

Hey Sandi--No, I didn't mean to imply you were down on her at all. You have a very valid point and make it very nicely! I only meant to imply that I thought she still looked good and there's a ton a gals that would like to be her weight.

Well I personally felt a huge depression when I read about it. And I'm not convinced that she only weighs 200 lbs either. She loves food, I love food. I agree with those who said she goes "on a diet" and "off a diet", and never really changed in her heart and mind what she wanted to eat. I totally understand those who say if she can't do it with a personal chef, with trainers, with top of the line equipment, with being able to set her own schedule, no kids, then how can I?

This is the only site I have ever been on with people who have lost a huge amount of weight AND KEPT IT OFF - I think you are all amazing. Because the percentages of not regaining are small, but you guys have done it.

I was thinking about this Oprah thing earlier today, and about how she has a personal chef and a personal trainer and personal advisors - and how very different that is from what most of us have. It's left me wondering if the fact that she has so many people responsible for her personal stuff has meant that she doesn't have to take responsibility for it, or at least doesn't feel that responsibility as keenly as most of us do. I don't know if this is the case, but I do know that if I could abdicate all of the cooking and meal planning, I wouldn't put nearly as much thought as I do into making wise choices. I wouldn't have to put that thought in, and making wiser choices wouldn't have become second nature for me like it has.

Oprah obviously has a lot of demands on her time, and it makes sense to hire people to take care of some things for her. And while it's probably awesome in a lot of ways, I'm sort of glad I've had to do some of this the hard way. It's forced me to spend a lot of time and mental energy on figuring out why I make the choices I do/did, and I think that's been crucial to making the changes stick.

Lisa

I think there may be something to that. Also- I know that I get pretty irritated with the "diet police". So, what if you are surrounded by those people all the time?! I don't know about her, but I would be sneaking some chocolate in my room!

Lisa, you bring up a great point. I hadn't thought of it in that light. Perhaps you're on to something.

It's funny. Because I used to watch all of Oprah's weight loss shows, and especially the ones with her personal chefs and trainers and I would sit there and say to myself, "If only I had someone to plan out all my meals and cook me all those fabulous foods and have all the right stuff on hand, it would make this so much more doable". And then, hello, it finally hit me - I do have someone to plan all those meals and cook me all those fabulous foods - ME." Lord knows I was doing all the cooking in the house anyway. Waiting around for someone to do it for me was just not going to happen. I needed to take resposnibility for it. ME, ME and only ME. I had the right tools available to me the whole time. Took me a loooong time to figure that one out though.

Ultimately, we are all responsible for our own well-being. No one can take care of us, better then us. It's all up to us. And it IS an ongoing, never ending venture.

I have always loved Oprah - what she stands for and all her 'good doings' around the world.

It just goes to prove that being one of the richest people in the world can't buy weight loss. - "money can't buy weight happiness".

I am sure it's a humbling experience for her to again say - "I've put the weight back on." I can't imagine having everyone around the world watching my size all the time. I was watching Oprah one day and DH walked in the room and said - "Looks like Oprah put her weight back on." Gee, even my husband noticed.

We all know what a hard road this is. She gives our struggle a public view. I wish her well and hopes she can get her groove back again.

But the irony of course is that this is exactly why and how weight loss and change are possible. It is up to us, only us, in our hands, and no one else can stop us! We can only stop ourselves. It makes it hard, and yet simple, at the same time.

Yes!!! Thank goodness it's in OUR OWN hands. Imagine leaving that HUGE responsibility up to someone else. A common expression comes to mind, not sure if it was intended for weight loss/health, but I think it applies - "If you want something done right - do it yourself!".

Something else I want to bring up again, the fact that this IS an ongoing, never ending journey. As hard as that may be, once you accept the fact that this IS just that - a day after day on going, never ending "thing" that in and of itself makes it a bit easier. It just becomes "what you do" and "who you are". It's not an option NOT to do it. Okay. I'm rambling again.