Advertisement The Queen of Daytime TV acknowledges she is given to yo-yo dieting. And this is the woman who has her own chef, her own trainer, her own national image to maintain.
What’s to become of the rest of us who have extra pounds and follow Oprah’s diet tips and menus?
“Say ‘thank you’ to Oprah,” says Leslie Seppinni, a Los Angeles-based marriage and family therapist and doctor of clinical psychology. Seppinni also specializes in weight management.
“Say ‘thank you’ for sharing your pain, shame and guilt. You are not alone. It’s time for society to realize that weight loss and maintenance are not only physically challenging but emotionally challenging as well.”
But if Oprah can’t do it, who can? I asked Seppinni.
Is her scenario typical?
Yes. Unless you deal with your emotions, it’s very difficult to have long-term weight loss. She said she didn’t realize she was depressed but she was. She was using food as a drug.
That means a majority of Americans are depressed?
Well, close to two-thirds of the adult American population is overweight or obese. Obesity is defined as 50-plus pounds overweight. This means that 133.6 million of our nation’s adults are suffering with extra pounds. Of that group, 35 million women and 28.6 million men are obese. In addition, there are about 15 million people who are morbidly obese (100-plus pounds overweight) or super morbidly obese (200-plus pounds).
Give me a solution for all of us who carry extra pounds.
Find more balance in your life. Diets work if you stay on them, but you need balance in eating habits and lifestyle. No one can live on a diet all the time. Everybody has emotional problems. It’s how we choose to deal with them that makes the difference. Oprah obviously has not addressed the emotional issues underlying her food addiction.
Oprah may have never wished to be the poster-person of weight loss dos and don’ts. She has become living proof that there is no single diet or exercise guru in the world that can fix you. You must come to terms with yourself, the motivation behind your desire to lose weight and the necessary lifestyle changes you need to make.
How do you counsel your patients to help them achieve weight loss?
Have you hit rock bottom? Are you done? Tired? What would replace the drama in your life that you have over food? Thinking about food or how people look at your body. About your clothes. About whether you can fit into an airplane seat. What will you replace that drama with? What is your real vision and passion in your life?
Does everyone need counseling?
It is difficult to do this alone. But weight problems are one of the most underrated counseling issues in America today.
But all we need to learn to do is push the food away, right?
This is not about finding your perfect weight. It’s about finding balance in your life and finding the right weight for you. It may not be the weight on the scale. Maybe your body type is not meant to be super-skinny. Twenty percent of us have genetic weight problems.
Look at your situation realistically. What you can do is to have a healthy, comfortable body and then a healthy, comfortable life.
Reality is if you don’t deal with your emotions you will gain the weight back.
Did you ever have a weight problem?
Oh yes. I gained 70 pounds when someone cheated on me. I took it out on myself and it took me three years to learn the lesson and lose the weight.
Weight loss and weight loss maintenance are about replacing the drama in your life with the Four C’s: Courage, Conviction, Curiosity and Commitment. It is about finding your inner voice, your dreams, your spiritual energy and connecting to others and leaving perfectionism at the door.
LOCAL HEALTH CHALLENGE
The La Crosse County Health Department is sponsoring a six-week health challenge starting Jan. 19.
The “New Year, New You Challenge” will help people develop a personalized eating plan and explore food groups and dietary guidelines. Participants also will get practical tips on portion control and regular motivational e-mails. The challenge runs through Feb. 27.
Those who complete the six-week challenge will be eligible for prizes. To register, call (608) 785-9865 or e-mail deback.judy@co.la-crosse.wi.us. Deadline to register is Jan. 16.
SECRETS OF SUCCESS
A survey published in the February issue of Consumer Reports reveals the secrets of successful dieters, many of whom say they lost weight themselves, without the aid of a commercial diet program, medical treatment, book or diet pills.
Their successful do-it-yourself strategies are unveiled along with tips for healthful meals on a budget in a New Year’s do-it-yourself guide to diet and fitness at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org.
A total of 21,632 readers completed the survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.
Through statistical analyses, Consumer Reports identified six key behaviors of those who successfully lost weight or were always thin:
Watch portions: Carefully controlling portion size at each meal correlated strongly with a lower BMI (Body Mass Index).
Limit fat: Fifty-three percent of successful losers and 47 percent of the always thin restricted fat to less than one-third of daily calorie intake five days a week or more.
Eat fruits and vegetables: Forty-nine percent of successful losers and the always thin said they ate five or more servings a day at least five days a week.
Choose whole grains over refined: Successful losers and thin people consistently opted for whole-wheat breads, cereals and other grains over refined (white) grains.
Eat at home: As the numbers of days per week respondents ate restaurant or take-out meals increased, so did their weight.
Exercise, exercise, exercise: Regular vigorous exercise — the type that increases breathing and heart rate for 30 minutes or longer — was strongly linked to a lower BMI.
