Oprah “Embarrassed” About Weight Gain
December 9, 2008 by Kelly Turner
Filed under Fitness
Oprah, Queen of the Universe, is up to 200 pounds.
In her latest issue of O magazine, Oprah talks about, almost apologetically, her weight gain.
While she sites her thyroid as an issue, she also admits that she hasn’t been watching what she is eating and isn’t exercising as much as she should.
She says:
“I’m embarrassed. I can’t believe that 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 again?’”
I remember watching an episode of Oprah a while back where she showed her favorite favorite healthy snack, which was 3 transparently-thin slices of cheese and half a green apple. She showed her workout room, and her trainer, Bob Green, who worked her out 2 hours a day. She was not permitted any alcohol. Ever. I also remember thinking, no freaking wonder she can’t control her weight, she’s the poster child for deprivation.
No one can keep up regimine like that, let alone OPRAH, who has to be the busiest woman in the world.
I also find it so courageous that she spoke up about it, openly and honestly, with her readers, to try and help them, instead of sweeping it under the rug and pretending it wasn’t an issue to protect her image. I don’t find it hypocritcial that she devotes so many shows to healthy eating and weightloss yet she can;t keep her weight off, I think she’s just showing she’s human.
Oprah, I still love you. Even though you shout and shake your fists and ask really insensitive questions to people that are going through traumatic times.
I take this as proof that even someone with personal chefs, personal trainers, nutritionists and the entire world watching her every move can still have issues with their weight. It further shows, to me, that it has to come from inside: you can go through the motions, but if you aren;t enjoying your healthy lifestyle (even though her workout schedule/menu didn’t seem very healthy to me) you won’t keep it up.
What are you thoughts?
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While I commend Oprah for her honesty, I think that she really needs to be careful – she’s putting her body through so much with all the back-and-forth dieting and everything!
definately glad she went the honesty route, i was kind of thinking about it myself at some point when i caught her show. at least she’s human… i’m embarrased about what i’ve been putting my body through lately as well, and i can’t seem to kick it. but that’s all private. maybe it shouldn’t be. I wonder is it a call for help to have others support her??
I applaud her honesty as well, and I understand her embarrassment. I had it happen once, too. And now that I’m at my goal weight, I’ve often felt as though people are watching and waiting for me to gain it all back. And then I realized that was me. :)
As uncomfortable as I’ve been for the past 18 months, with so much focus on my body from friends and co-workers, I can’t imagine having it played out in front of a gajillion people all over the world.
Very compassionate post, which is why I like this blog. You’re real without negative attitude.
I feel for Oprah because I’ve been there a thousand times myself. Luckily, I’m on my way down instead of the other direction, but I always worry about maintaining. Oprah is also a great reminder that there is no special secret or magic pill to losing and maintaining weight — you just have to eat reasonable things most of the time and move your body every day.
I appreciate her honesty too. I have tons of respect for Oprah. She annoys me from time to time, but I think she has this amazing ability to make herself relate to “normal” women. It’s so true that money, chefs, personal trainers, etc. won’t solve all of your weight problems.
I think a lot of people will identify with her and this particular issue– and you’re right she’s only human. And I also think 100% we need to enjoy ourselves and enjoy a healthy but manageable and maintainable healthy lifestyle. I also think it comes down to having people around you who ALSO enjoy a healthy lifestyle so you aren’t trying to keep up with something like eating reasonably and exercising most days all by yourself.
I have an embarrassing amount of love for Oprah and the thing I like best about her is her honesty. I don’t know if it’s true but the woman comes across as completely guileless and so when she talks about her weight struggles it makes me feel normal too. I’m glad she’s talking about it.
I too love Oprah’s honesty, and I find no small amount of relief in the fact that a woman who has every possible resource at her disposable still can’t control everything. I understand her statement that she’s embarrassed. Having people watch your personal struggle would be embarrassing, whether that was a lifestyle you wanted or not.
I have to agree with the comments above, I love Oprah, and most of all I love that she’s real! She doesn’t pretend that she’s perfect, she is honest about her struggles. I am embarrassed that I’ve gained weight when I used to find it so easy live my depriving lifestyle, there’s only so long your body & mind can accept that state of living.
There probably aren’t many women who cannot relate to Oprah’s struggles with her weight, so she does make many people (like myself) feel normal and almost justified when I hear her talk about how hard it is for her. It just proves that the struggle with weight (I think) is just as much emotional as it is physical.
Yep – still love her. It is great that she is willing to talk about it. For someone in the entertainment industry, it is refreshing to have someone admit that they struggle with their weight.
What I do not like is how some celebrities seem to shrink overnight and then go on the camera claiming that they lost all that weight because they exercise and eat healthy. In situation like this, it makes normal people feel like we do not measure up somehow since we cannot drop 20 pounds in 2 months.
Definitely goes to show that even with personal trainers and chefs people can still have issues. Which means that we’ve gotta slug through the old trial and error to figure out what works best for us.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Kelly. Oprah is such a strong and confident woman, but it never seems like she dealt with the reasons why she gained weights. It just goes to prove that diets never work…it has to be a life change.
I don’t understand … if she has all these chefs and personal trainers and general ‘handlers’ around her all the time… why did no one mention the weight gain a while ago? I should have thought the first 20 pounds should have been a wake up call.
To me, what this proves is we all need a buddy system for support — someone we don’t have to pay who will occasionally give a reality check.
First, can I just say I’m jumping up and down and soso happy? For some reason I haven’t been able to view your blog on my computer for the last few days, and now it’s working again. So, yay.
I’m guessing that if I had Oprah’s metabolism I probably would have given in to the weight gain long, long ago. Maybe she’s embarrassed but obviously she has to work far, far harder than many of us just to maintain a normal weight. I could never do two hour daily workouts and then limit my eating, too. I don’t think she has anything to be embarrassed about except the fact that she actually cares what the people who would judge her think.
Poor Oprah. In addition, she has to go through tabloids making fun of her weight and all that jazz. Yes, this shows that she’s human, but the poor woman has to be human with the whole world watching.
This is a HOT topic today- which makes so much sense because so many of us empathize. It must be so hard on her because she lives her entire life in the public eye (case and point- all these blog posts!). She is such an extremist, saying things like ‘no alcohol ever,’ going on all liquid diets and working out for 2 hours a day with one of the busiest schedules in the nation. She’s an amazing woman.
hmph. I can’t limit my thoughts on this to a comment. I think I’m going to post about it.
tfh- im glad thats the reason. I thought you were mad at me ;)
Great post! I don’t follow Oprah so I didn’t know she gained weight again but that diet does some like deprivation and so many people deprive themselves of delicious foods when they try to lose weight – it’s just sad. I have my own issues, but I know you can lose weight without deprivation. Maybe writing that article will be a good thing for Oprah. Maybe this will inspire her to get back at it. I hope she succeeds. We all deserve to be healthy and happy! :)
Its a lifestyle. One would think she has the money to buy the time, to do something fun that she enjoys, that is also a workout. She obviously is not hiring the right people for the job. They seem to be thinking short term, not long term. Maybe she is only thinking short term, and not long term. We can’t buy a way of life… Maybe she doesn’t like to work out at all and is just trying to work out. She needs to do this on her own…No hiring anyone. She needs to make her own food choices and her own excercise choices. No one is going to care about Oprah the way she cares about Oprah. People like to be paid by Oprah though. That’s the harsh truth.