Look I love Oprah as much as the next woman: She is a powerful woman who withstood the obstacles of racial, physical and emotional boundaries in order to become the most powerful woman in America- bar none. But today, I got to see Oprah as a human. I just watched a Tivo'd (Meredith my neighbor is an angel) Oprah at 11pm- this is a totally different experience then if I were home at watching Ops at 4pm. Its faster, I don't have to be manipulated by the commercials and I can fast forward through the whiners. Today's Oprah was about losing those last 20 lbs. Oprah went to Africa for a short sojourn and due to the fact that she felt uncomfortable eating the meat, there were no fresh fruits and veggies and her "treadmill there was broken" Opsala ( as I like to call her) gained back some weight. If you are at all American- you have watched La Winfrey go up and down the scales your whole ( OK if you are 30 and below) life. So when Opsala brought her personal trainer on and I realized that they had a volatile, loving, genuine and real relationship based on the premise that Bob must get Oprah to conform- I saw Oprah's humanity- all the money in the world can't change that. Oprah is a woman who HATES exercises, and loves eating good food but has quantity issues- I fell in love with Opsala. I like exercises- I do! I can't lie- once I get past my head to get to the yoga class or the gym or the hike or the whatever- I truly love being in motion- it was something I discovered 5 yrs ago and thank whatever higher powers brought me to the movement salon on a hazy day or two after 9/11/01. People were blue and confused and I was looking for an activity to take my mind off of things. So I volunteered at this new agey co-op in the east village to get free classes and then all the sudden I was a yoga, pilates. capoira freak. Now I have a full time job and my body and mind don't get nearly as much nourishment- but my ability is still there. Anyhow....
Oprah had three people on who were leading truly healthy lives: A marathon runner who was chubby. A woman who lost over 100 lbs at three times in her life and now was stuck in her 40s trying desperately to lose those last 30 lbs. A woman who exercises 8- do you hear me?- 8 times a week and still cannot get down from 162 to 135. All of these woman were fairly tall (which I bring up because perhaps they are not aware of the number that there height affords the scale) and they were muscular. Simple logic spread through the show and here is where our personalities and our life outlooks start to show their ugly heads in the trials and tribulations of our weight loss annuls:
Opsala is an all or nothing kind of gal- when she gets it on- she's off sweating it like joiner -kersey. When she is down- she is lounging like Homer. ME TOO! If you are stubborn and want to see results immediately in life and tend to judge yourself as harshly as you do the rest of the world you are a punisher and "realist about your life- If I did not exercise today I never will, If I ate a piece a cake I might as well have a pasta dinner and so forth. But its more than that- all of us get fitful in our regiments- it takes 8 weeks to form a good habit- how many of you have exercised consistently and with a true exertion of workload that would equal weight loss? For me that would mean 5-6 times a week= elliptical 3 times, yoga 4 times meaning one day is both (Saturday). It would mean constant dieting. It would returning to a life of calculations and restrictions- its really not a big deal- but now I am too god for dieting- I am not a fat person anymore- I exercised that demon ( pun intended) Right? Nope- once a fattie always a fattie- get with the program beebs!
OK that said- we all understand that committing to something is better than nothing- REALLY- if anyone is reading this- 20 minutes makes a world of difference in the land of depression, fatigue, self confidence, digestion and fat burning. Even more importantly- while Oprah was on a her high carb retreat in Africa she said she felt ten yrs older to which Bob replied: "if you tell the body that its not moving anymore it understands the messages as shut down" Recently I have been using every fiber of my being to force my self to go exercise- not for weight loss but for depression. I have had this bout of needing more sleep than I have ever needed in my life. It feels like I am a teenager again and my body needs energy for cell respiration and puberty linked hormonal swings. But when I get myself to being the 8 week habit I start to feel as if the chronic fatigue will go away- 8 weeks!!!! Its a drop in the bucket of life!
I AM 30. My body is changing- I don't like it. Madonna is 47 and she is rocking it and I am holding on to the idea that she has not had plastic surgery yet- please g-d let that be true. Anyhow HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OPRAH REMINDED ME OF. I know how it is to exercises all day, eat a healthy- almost macro biotic like diet, drink less and eat less than all of your fashionable and skinny friends and somehow still have expanding thighs WHY-G_D? WHY? WHY DO YOU HATE US? Its incremental: its the little tiny tiny snacking that you allow yourself- its so small- its a bowl of cheerios. Its a pudding cup after 7:30, its the bread at dinner that you use to be militant about not eating. ITS THE SNACKING. For me its post dinner- I know that I have had enough food to live- but now I want a treat. I don't eat anymore than any normal healthy person. I"ll probably live a long healthy life considering the food choices I make (Kuhnahurrah) but I am not eating to lose-why cause I AM NOT HUNGRY. Its those times when you are just slightly hungry and want a little something something... that's when the body is ready to burn the fat- I forgot. I was possessed- I honestly thought the whole time that I lost a big heap of weight that I was not hungry- I may have not been- I might have been blessed and lucky for a year- I had my mind over that matter- well I don't any more now I am just your ordinary human. I have to be hungry. Hunger equals burn. I am not talking anorexia here! I am not talking bile turning your stomach in a doily! I am talking- a slight itch. 8 weeks 8 weeks 8 weeks- the itch goes- I swear!
This leads me to my next post- it'll be above and its about a different hunger- So thank you OPRAH!!! Thanks for reminding me that the time you are standing in front of your cabinet and you think - I just had a healthy dinner- I just need a little something more- Don't!!!!
Starting tomorrow I am going on a hunger strike- my own kind that is!
OK so now we understand. Good luck to all of you on whatever endeavor you are on and remember- a little starving in any demise creates a void to fill with only good stuff!
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