Oprah’s Admission and My Confession
As I was watching the much anticipated Oprah’s Best Life epsiode in which she discussed her 40 pound weight gain, I felt as if she was telling a part of my life’s story as well. As someone who has be overweight half of my life, I felt a sense of freedom and relief from the shame and disappointment that I have carried around with me for years.
As an O, The Oprah Magazine subscriber, I noticed that there weren’t any full body cover shots of her and never did I speculate that she was afraid for people to see a bigger image of her body at this stage in her life. Nor did I ever think I’d here her say that she was ashamed to be seen in public. I could certainly identify with her because as they say, a pictures is worth a thousand words and my pictures would tell the story of how my weight fluctuated from a size 14 to a size 18/20 and at my heaviest a size 22; which happened to be short-lived because I simply could not afford to buy a new wardrobe.
For many years New Year’s resolution used to be to lose weight and after many unsuccessful years I had pretty much given up on making resolutions at all. As an infomercial junkie, I’ve ordered enough work out DVDs and equipment to have a home gym. But what’s the use of having it if you don’t use it, right? When ordering the latest workout product I really believed that it would be the one that would turn my life around. But after a few workouts I’d soon be so over it. My treadmill was converted into an expensive clothes hanger, my DVDs collected dust on the shelf, my fitness ball became a chair for company to sit on when visiting and a toy for my nephew, niece, and young cousins to play kick ball with.
After all these years, I have learned that you can’t focused on one superficial event at a time. Losing weight, and most importantly, keeping it off is part of a total lifestyle change. I have had many weight loss goals in my life and many of them revolved around a major event such as the prom, my high school graduation, my college graduation, or attending a wedding, and after losing a bit of weight for these events, I’d be back to my old ways again.
As my ten year high school reunion approaches, I realized that I’ve been crying this same sad song for over a decade and I asked myself will I ever change. My attempts at losing weight are just plain sad and laughable because I know in my heart that I never truly have given my all. My goals have been shallow and half-ass, err, quarter-assed since I’m being honest here. My reasons for losing weight has been to find nice clothes and shoes but it recently hit me that I need to lose weight because I need a strong and healthy body. I’m putting my health on the top of my priority list and I hope that you’ll join me and do the same.
I was touched and inspired after watching this episode. Were you touched after viewing the episode? Were you inspired to make lifestyle changes of your own? Tell me about it.
Best Life Week 2009
The Best Life Series
Monday, 1/5/09 – Falling Off the Wagon - Watch Oprah as she confesses how she fell off the wagon and what she’s learned along the way. Fitness expert Bob Greene offers advice on how to get back on track.
Tuesday, 1/6/09 - Dr. Oz and The Ultimate Checklist - Dr. Oz’s wellness plan for your life.
Wednesday, 1/7/09 - Finding Your Spiritual Path - Finding deeper meaning in your everyday life.
Thursday, 1/8/09 – Your Money Plan 2009 – Suze Orman discusses how to get your money plan togerther this year. She’ll also discuss her new book, Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan and allow for FREE download on Oprah.com.
Friday, 1/9/09 – Relationships, Intimacy and Sex - How to have healthy relationships.
Check out the January 2009 issue of “O, The Oprah Magazine” to read more about Bob Greene’s simple plan, Making Weight Loss Stick, Suze Orman’s Ten Ways to Protect Your Money Now, and the one thing every happy couple does.
