Oprah Discovers Secret to Permanent Weight Loss

Since I Tivo just about everything I watch on television, it isn't often that I even watch a show the day that it airs. I am glad I watched yesterday because of the "humdinger follow up" on a woman named Katherine who had lost 175 pounds.

8 years ago Katherine was featured on the show and amidst all the applause she vowed she would never be fat again. Who among us who has dropped unwanted pounds has not made a similar pledge? I know I sure have.

Like me, Katherine did not keep that vow. In Katherine's case she gained almost all her weight back after keeping it off for 7 or 8 years. In my case, many years ago, I gained more weight than I had lost as I catapulted my "weigh" up higher and higher on the scale.

Katherine has once again lost a significant amount of weight--over 100 pounds. No mean feat, that. But what I found most interesting was that both she and Oprah could have been quoting from my book, Refuse to Diet: Weight Loss Success Starts with Your Mind...Not Your Mouth, as they discussed coming to peace with food and their bodies.

Oprah, Katherine, and I all realize that it is about loving yourself as you are in this very moment that matters. You may be at the beginning of your weight loss journey or nearing your goal...no matter where you are it is imperative that you love yourself now rather than deciding you will be worthy of that love only when you are slender.

I write about this in depth in my book, and give you tools to help achieve this...because for most of us, it is a big challenge to love ourselves when we neither look nor feel our best. After all, we have loads of practice hating ourselves and berating our bodies.

As Katherine said, she used to look in the mirror and say negative things about herself. "You disgust me," for example is a phrase we often say, or "I hate my hips" or thighs or (insert detested body part here.)

I loved that Katherine was able to use the example of her not-so-tiny hips...and she said, "these hips birthed my children...these hips carry me around so that I can be with the people I love."

This is an excellent example of turning our thoughts around...finding the positive aspect of that body. We must begin to learn to shower our body with loving thoughts and energy if we truly want to have weight loss success...at least if we truly want permanent results.

It starts with loving ourselves. Without that, we doom ourselves to an unhealthy body and life. Oh, some people may lose weight, and like Katherine they may even be able to keep it off for years...but without that deep self-love and acceptance we will turn to destructive behaviors. It may be eating or it may take another form, but we cannot possibly live our lives to their fullest potential when we dislike ourselves. We will create something to really not like ourselves for...and then learning to love ourselves becomes even more of a challenge.

If you truly want permanent weight loss, start with your mind and loving yourself. That is more important (and works a lot better) than any diet, counting calories/carbs/fat grams or exercise program! So declare after me, "I REFUSE to diet" and watch those pounds melt away through the power of love!