My office has been a buzz about Oprah’s Weight Loss Special titled “Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution.” Oprah, who is 70 by the way, opens up and discusses her journey with her weight during this special.
Full disclosure----I have not, and likely will not watch this program. Why?
First of all, I have struggled with being called fat for as long as I can remember and developing an unhealthy relationship with food. My family is peppered with women who have everything ranging from disordered eating to full-blown eating disorders with hospitalization. I have to work every day to have a relationship with food that both nourishes my body and satisfies me. Diet culture and extreme diet talk can set back my progress and do actual harm. (If you are one of my clients reading this I would call this my “GPS Pin" dropped with that bad experience—no one wants to go back to that!)
Secondly, Oprah is proudly sharing details about her use of the weight loss drug Ozempic. My thoughts and concerns about this off-label use of prescription medicine are enough that I could fill an entire blog post about that alone (maybe another time.) Sadly, medication alone is not enough to cure issues with one’s relationship with food, weight, and body image.
The basic 4-1-1 on weight loss drugs is clearly not magic. The Novo Nordisk website openly reports the following.
1. People do lose weight. At 68 weeks (that’s a lot of $1,000 injections) people were losing an average of 2 lbs a month on the medication alone. Participants follow a diet and exercise 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week on top of using the injections.
2. Around week 60 Participants’ weight generally plateaus. In a follow-up study a year later researchers discovered 2/3 of the weight that was lost had been regained.
3. If your HBA1C (a diabetes measure) was in the normal range to start there was not a significant change in numbers while using the drug.
4. There is a HUGE pop-up warning on the webpage for thyroid cell tumor cancer risk.
5. 95% of participants in the study had some form of side effects. The most commonly reported side effects were nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, dyspepsia (upset stomach), dizziness, abdominal distention, eructation (bleaching), hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, flatulence, gastroenteritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and nasopharyngitis (inflammation of the nasal passages)
I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like the “game-changing revolution” that is being proclaimed by celebrities about this drug. This sounds like a big risk and a lot of possible misery.
A quick search of the internet or question to Chat GPT shows a long history of risky diet plans promoted by Oprah:
1. Optifast: Oprah famously lost weight in the late 1980s using the Optifast liquid diet program. She shared her weight loss journey with her audience on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." I remember her dragging out a wagon of fat onto the stage. She stood there in her Calvin’s and declared that she was going to live on broccoli and was so healthy because of this diet.
2. The Best Life Diet: Oprah reported being her heaviest in the 1990s. In 1992 at 237 lbs she started working with Bob Green. In 2006 Oprah endorsed "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene, a fitness expert who has been her personal trainer for years. The diet focuses on making gradual lifestyle changes to achieve weight loss and overall health. Much of the focus of this diet is having foods labeled as “unhealthy and healthy”
3. Veganism: in the 2000s Oprah became Vegan after reading Quantum Wellness by Kath Freston. A strict 21-day cleanse removed sugar, alcohol, caffeine, gluten, and animal products from her diet.
4. Weight Watchers: Oprah has been a spokesperson for Weight Watchers (now known as WW) since 2015. She invested in the company and has been a vocal advocate for their program, sharing her own experiences with weight loss and healthy living.
5. The 21-Day Cleanse: Oprah has also endorsed detox and cleanse programs, including the 21-Day Cleanse by Dr. Alejandro Junger. This program focuses on eliminating certain foods and toxins from the diet to improve health and well-being.
All of these extreme programs sound horrid to me. I have followed WW and did lose weight. The weekly meetings and support were key to my success. But once again, the weight returned when I stopped following the diet since I had not learned how to intuitively eat and heal my relationship with food!
While each of the diets endorsed by Oprah Winfrey has its unique approach, there are some common themes among them:
1. These diets are the newest/latest/greatest diets/programs on the market at the time they are promoted. The injections are extremely expensive as well.
2. Each diet claims they are the diet to end all diets (You will be forever changed!)
3. The words used to describe the results are over the top: unbelievable, game-changing, results like you have never had before
4. The diet or product is not like anything that’s ever been out there before and smiling endorsements say “It really works!”
5. There seem to be medical studies or research but upon a closer look, the research is selective, short-ranged, or leaves a lot of data out of the hype.
6. Celebrity Endorsement: Oprah Winfrey's endorsement lends credibility and visibility to these programs, but it's important to note that individual results may vary, and what works for one person may not work for another.
So what is this rant really about, Susan?
I'm glad you asked! I firmly believe that we need to be real here. Oprah didn’t fail with these diets. She succeeded in losing weight with every one of them. You might have a similar history of dieting. You can follow the written diets, chop, weigh, measure all of your food, and see the scale moving. But are these diets sustainable for the REST of your life?---NO WAY! I am saddened that we still judge people on the size of clothing they wear. Can’t we all agree that Oprah kicks ass? She has a backstory full of adversity and she is now a billionaire who has dominated in her industry.
Instead, Oprah has spent her entire adult life in an exhausting cycle of weight loss and weight regain. I fear that others will see her “success” (and I use that term loosely) as a reason they should try weight loss drugs. I’m more skeptical. Nothing that Oprah has ever promoted led to her everlasting weight loss.
If you are at a point in your life where you want to make lasting changes, and accept your body, but make improvements that can lead to weight loss then coming to talk with me is a great idea. I have been working with clients for several years to safely lose weight by exploring your relationship with food, mindset from our diet culture, and changing the way you think about exercise and diet.
If you have read the research, consulted with your doctor, and are deciding to use these weight loss drugs please consider having support. I do not judge anyone who uses these medications. I do, however, know that the statistics are against you for long-term change UNLESS you change how you think/feel/react to food and your body. You don’t have to be alone in this journey.
Use the Contact link to reach out and set up an appointment today!
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