Thank You Oprah! Celebrity Weight Loss Show

This is the conclusion to a series sparked by the recent Oprah Winfrey Show episode on celebrities struggling with their weight, featuring Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond and Star Jones.

Thank you Oprah for the continued inspiration you provide for us to be healthy--physically and emotionally.

I applaud you for putting a spotlight on an issue that plagues many of us. Whether we struggle with 10 pounds or 100.

It is wonderful to have a pubic example of a successful person who "has it all" and yet still faces this challenge.

You allow us to be a bit gentler on ourselves while still encouraging us to take steps towards our best health.

You demonstrate for us that we can be beautiful and successful at any size. That we can love ourselves and still push to make ourselves even better.

By having guests of different sizes, following different programs you help us to remember there is not one single right answer for everyone (as much as you love Bob Greene.)

While we can learn from all of your guests, the diversity you bring to us gives us the opportunity to find someone who we resonate with and can emulate.

Let us all be loved and love ourselves, no matter our size. At the same time, let us love ourselves enough to want to be around enjoying life for many, many years to come.

With that desire and goal in mind, we can and WILL achieve our health goals.

Thanks again Oprah--we love you!

Oprah Celebrity Weight Loss: Healthy Size is Not about a Number

Part 4 of a series sparked by the recent Oprah Winfrey Show episode on celebrities struggling with their weight, featuring Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond and Star Jones.

Marie mentioned a couple of times that she is now a size 2/4. At first I rankled at that, because I knew a size 2/4 is not realistic for many women and because she mentioned it several times. Then I really listened and heard her say "that is a healthy size for me."

Did you catch that? A healthy size for her!!! She points out she has a delicate build. And frankly, in an industry where a lot of her colleagues are a size zero she is not considered skinny. OK...I am feeling better.

Another point that I caught--did you?--is that she said a size 2/4. That's not ONE size, that is a range! She said she fluctuates between the two sizes. Pretty liberating, isn't it?

Look, Marie and I are about the same height. She's 5-5" and I'm 5-6" (almost). That's about where the similarity ends.

I will never be a size 2/4. I am sure I have said that before. That is not a healthy size for me.

When I was extremely skinny (that lasted about 5 minutes in college) I did fit into a size 4 tennis dress--but my shoulder bones demanded a size 12 blouse!

So while a size 14 for Marie was what she wore at her heaviest--almost 50 pounds overweight--a size 14 for me would be a very healthy size for me!

Go for what is healthy for you. Don't aspire to be a size 2/4 if your build demands a 10 or 12 or 16!

Don't let anyone else tell you that there is some magic number on the scale or the rack that you have to fit into.

Please, let's all appreciate and love the diversity of our bodies!

Keep this in mind--Marie is a size 2/4 and weights 125lbs. My mother weighs 119lbs and is a size 10. I don't know what size Oprah was at her "skinniest" but she will tell you in photos where she is showing off her abs she was about 150lbs.

So go for and achieve healthy for YOU. It isn't about a number. It is about how you feel!

Oprah Celebrity Weight Loss: Mindset First

Third in a series based on a recent Oprah Winfrey Show featuring celebrities who have struggled publicly with weight issues.

It was great to see other women roughly my age (okay, in their 40s) successfully lose weight. So many of us have bought into the idea that once we hit 40 we won't be able to achieve a healthy weight--I applaud these women for their success and providing proof that it is indeed possible to lose weight in our middle years.

Although the three celebrities featured, Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond and Star Jones all used different tools on their journey they all had one thing in common that jumped out to me--they all said they had to change their mindset in order to have success!

You MUST become the healthy person in your mind FIRST so that you can maintain that weight. This process will continue to evolve and strengthen as you lose weight.

As Star Jones pointed our, she didn't even know what she would look like because she had been obese her entire adult life.

You don't have to see yourself as a size 2/4 ala Marie. Start by seeing yourself a size or 2 smaller than you are now. See yourself making healthy choices. See yourself happy and energetic.

This is truly where any successful, permanent weight loss program must start.

From there, you can choose a healthy food and or exercise plan (including surgery) that fits your needs, your goals, your life situation, to help accelerate your progress.

No matter what plan you choose--you have to ultimately learn how to eat on your own. There is no magic pill or surgery that does that for you.

Get education and tools to help you make healthy choices. This education may be part of a food program, or it may be separate.

Again, the most important place to start and to continue to focus is your mind...by putting the emphasis there you will empower yourself and ensure you success!

I'll repeat myself a bit because it is so important--Visualize yourself healthy. See yourself doing things free from the pain or challenges that the excess pounds create. Feel in your heart the joy and energy you have in your life and the gratitude for this 'new' life!

Tomorrow we'll continue this series with a discussion on what is a healthy size for you.

Oprah Celebrity Weight Loss Show: Public Accountability

Following up on yesterday's post about the recent Oprah Winfrey Show episode on Celebrity Weight Loss Struggles...

Both Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond chose to make their weight loss very public when they chose to be spokes persons for Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem, respectively.

This public declaration has some risks to it. It did put some added pressure on them to stick with the program...and subject them to possible criticism if they didn't lose weight "fast enough" or lose "enough" weight or, Heaven forbid, they actually failed--dropped out of the program and gained weight!

It also provided them with a level of support! There were lots and lots of people really rooting for them and celebrating their success with them!

Well, you can make your own public declaration! The big advantage you have is that you get to choose who that public is!!!

You may want just one "accountability partner." Or you may prefer to announce your decision to a small (or large) group at work or in your neighborhood.

Unlike Valerie and Marie (don't you love that we are now on a first name basis?) because you get to select your 'public' you also get to tell them your goals and what support you want from them.

• Do you want people to monitor what you eat? (that doesn't work for me, but some people thrive on it)
• Do you want a cheering section?
• Do you want someone to call when you are facing a challenge?
• Do you want someone to call YOU on a regular basis to check in and see how you are doing?
• Do you want a workout buddy?

If you don't tell people the type of support you want (and do not want) then you are leaving it up to them to decide. And they will most likely decide based on what THEY would want. So you might find yourself with your own food police or National Enquirer exposes--even if that embarrasses you or sets you up for a feeding frenzy.

So make your "public" declaration, choose your support team and help them to help you by letting them know what support you want to receive!

Tomorrow I'll touch on one of the points that all three women had in common for their successful weight loss...

Oprah Celebrity Weight Loss Show

I rarely watch television live...my schedule just doesn't allow for that. So I tivo shows that interest me...like the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Recently Oprah featured three celebrities who have struggled with their weight--Marie Osmond, Valerie Bertinelli and Star Jones.

This single show has sparked several things in me and so this is the start of a series based on that one show and the stories these three women shared.

I get that this struggle about weight is tough for them because they are in the public eye. However, I really don't believe their struggles are any different than our own. Like everything else in the life of a celebrity, the scale is bigger--and I'm not talking about the one you step on Star.

Their very public struggle was precisely what gave them the opportunity to be on this show and to be a spokes person (or poster child) for a program. So while they didn't like the publicity when they were heavy, they chose to have it during this part of the journey. This may have been partly to keep them on the path (pubic accountability) and partly to help inspire others.

Whether you are in the view of the entire world, your town, your place of work, or just in view of your family and friends, the stresses of weight loss and gain are the same.

Some people will support you. Others won't believe you will make it--and if you do, they won't believe that you can keep it off. And still others will try to sabotage your efforts--either by bringing you "presents" or by pointing out your flaws--maybe 'thunder thighs' in a certain outfit--one that you were so proud to fit into. This would be our equivalent to the unflattering photos in the National Enquirer!

The bottom line is that you have to be the one who determines IF you will lose weight.

Someone else may help give you a wake up call, but you have to do it for yourself. Marie Osmond's kids may have told her that they want her to be around for her grandkids, but she had to want to make the change for herself in order for her to persevere and succeed.

Tomorrow we'll talk more about this public accountability and choosing your support group!