First of all, I think Oprah is great.
She’s inspired women for decades, raised millions for charities, and even made book clubs cool.
But her recent business is deeply disappointing to me.
This commercial is the worst!
As if the overweight person you are is just a shell for the actual good person inside of you.
And it reduces every woman down to her size.
There are a lot of women out there that will do anything Oprah tells them to.
It wasn’t because other women also love bread.
And that message is just sad.
That doesn’t make a good sales pitch.
But Oprah’s ad is particularly misleading.
I feel for Oprah!
That’s a much more powerful message than a stranger standing in the big pants she used to wear.
But diets rarely work.
Studies have found that only about5% of people keep weight off for good… 5%!
But you never hear about the people that gain the weight back… because they’re too ashamed.
I’m one of those people.
And after a while, it all came back and then some.
I was so ashamed.
Does that make sense?
But I never felt like I was one of 95% of people who have trouble.
I was just a failure.
And that Oprah commercial does not help.
They’re so happy, they’ve lost weight and they’re talking to Oprah!
The feeling that everyone’s losing weight except you isn’t just perpetuated by the Oprah ad.
But we never see the full story.
When people put weight back on, there’s no commercial for that.
I’ve heard it a lot.
Because it’s not so great to be on a diet plan.It’s hard.
You have to think about what you eat all the time and that’s draining.
I lost 50 pounds, and gained back 60.
I worked hard to lose weight, and I let it slip away.
That’s really hard to admit without feeling like a total failure.
But it’s the truth.
The ad proves how strong the lure is to be thin
Oprah is amazing.
But here’s Oprah, still worrying about her weight.
Why would she care?
Oprah admitted in her magazine that her weight fluctuations have always embarrassed her.
Once, at an event with Tina Turner and Cher, they asked her to come on stage.
Can I put half of my body behind Cher’s?
Well, Cher’s body is half of my body, so that’s hard.
How can I hide myself here on this stage and not have to be up here?"
This is Oprah talking!
But Oprah’s not crazy or ungrateful for all she has.
It’s just that the lure of being thin is irresistible.
But even with all that work and research,he still obsesses about his weight.
Everybody wants to be thin, but not everyone is going to be and that’s a problem.
Every female politician will have her hair, clothes and body remarked upon.
Not always negatively, but even when it’s positive,beauty is always in the conversation.
This reduces women to their beauty.
And it’s not just politicians who deal with this, but women in every field.
And it’s often not even negative coverage.
Sometimes the reporterdescribes how she’s a great role model, which is awesome.
But the topic of her weight seems to always be looming, in some form or another.
Are Seth Rogen’s looks commented on every single time he’s mentioned in the news?
What about any other shlubby actor?
Because they’re measured by their worth as comedians, or actor,s or politicians.
We’re told their looks don’t matter (at least not as much as their female counterparts).
Even though she’s had amazing success and done all kinds of good for the world, who cares?
She’s thin now, so she can finally be happy.
As I was losing weight, the more I lost, the more obsessed I became.
You’d think I’d be happy, but it was never enough.
I still looked fat.
I still wasn’t at my goal weight.
So, I’d exercise more or try more extreme diets.
I can’t even count the numerous times I cried because of the number on the scale.
It was such a waste of my energy.
Because of this, when you lose weight, your body actually fights to get the weight back.
That’s just to maintain!
I fully understand that I didn’t gain my weight back through some magical curse.
But I wasn’t just a weak fool who turned to eating whole cakes every night.
One, I knew that wasn’t sustainable, but just had to try it.
Anyway, I lost some weight for the first time in a while and I was so excited!
To me, I was still fat.All these extremes and I still just look fat, I thought.
So, that started my “who cares anymore” phase.
I didn’t gain right away, but any good eating habits slowly slipped away.
Then, the only thing that could make me happy was food.
That’s how the rest of the weight came on.
My problem wasn’t just my weight.
It was my anxiety and depression that manifested themselves through food.
Weight Watchers doesn’t do anything to address those underlying issues, which most people with weight problems face.
The focus is just on diet and exercise, even though mental health is the most important component.
But often, that’s not how it goes.
I’ve known people who’ve lost a hundred pounds and still feel fat.
“Lorrie Ariaswas one of the contestants.
Oprah makes you feel like once that thin person inside you is free, you’ll finally be happy.
But that’s not necessarily the case.
You’ll be the same person you always were, just smaller.
as she talks to women who are thrilled they can eat chips and be thin.
But that’s not true.
If you have a weight problem, you don’t get to eat like normal people.
You alwayshave to think about it.
You always have to count points.
You’ll never get to be the girl that just eats whatever she wants.
Imagine writing down everything you eat and counting up the points every day for the rest of your life.
Does that sound like you’re having it all?
But that’s the only way that Weight Watchers can really work, and it gets tedious.
On a side note, in the ad, Oprah sounds shocked that one of the girls loves chips.
“I love chips!”
Come on, Oprah.
That’s not a revelation.
But being healthy and being thin don’t necessarily always come hand-in-hand.
Don’t give up!
I’ve known people who have been successful it’s hard, but possible.
But theobsessionto be thin plagues so many of us, and it has to stop.
It’s become more about reaching a beauty ideal to being truly healthy and happy.
Not everybody can be thin.
And those things should matter so much more than how you look.
I know I’d have a much cleaner house and probably speak a few extra languages by now.
Oprah: you are good enough
Giving up an obsession with weight is hard.
Oprah is living proof.
I’m not over it, either.
You’ve accomplished more than almost anyone in history men included.
So, yea, you might be a little heavy.
That hasn’t stopped a nation from loving you and hanging onto your every word.
Now, isn’t that more impressive than losing a few pounds?
