Is Oprah a Seasoned Aspirer?
Today's newspapers reports following up on yesterday's TV gossip news, which were following up on Oprah's announcement in her magazine that she had gained weight, serve as a reminder that no matter how knowledgeable, determined, and surrounded by support we are, some areas of our lives repeatedly get out of hand. In those areas, we are seasoned aspirers.
For anyone who even occasionally watches Oprah's show, her announcement that she had gained forty pounds was no suprise. While I am not the avid Oprah watcher I once was, I still tune in when she has experts like Suze Orman (financial) and Dr . Oz (health) as guests. Sometime during the summer, I noticed her weight gain. Since I've had my own ups and downs with weight, I identified.
At the beginning of the summer, I was looking good. For over a year, I had been faithful to a diet and exercise program, and I had lost weight and inches. Friends and acquaintances even remarked on how good I looked. I had been waiting and hoping for those words. Yet, once they were spoken, my health regimen took a dive.
The first to go was exercise. I blamed the shoulder injury I received while trying to keep up with eighty-year-olds in my seniors exercise class, but I didn't have to stop all exercise, just the shoulder stuff. However, when someone is in self-sabotage mode, any excuse will do. The next to go was diet. I traded in my no-fat cottage cheese and pineapple breakfast for bacon and eggs, not just occasionally, but as a regular thing. I added more bread and carbohydrates, which just made me hungrier for more, so I added some extra helpings.
Now, like Oprah, I am embarrassed. I wanted to do well and encourage others to fulfill their goals. I've turned out to be a poor role model. Oprah has thyroid problems, and I have diabetes, but I'm guessing these health challenges are not the reason for our fluctuating weight but a result of it. I'm thinking Oprah's announcement means she is once again ready to tackle her weight and whatever personal issues cause her to seek comfort in food. Me, too. That's what seasoned aspirers do.
I understand and you are not alone, Hazel. My weight has fluctuated up and down over the same 15 pounds for a year. I checked my weight chart I started with Weight Watchers on Dec. 5 last year and found I was 2 pounds lighter right now. My trouble is also with putting off exercise. And I, when I get down on myself, eat all the wrong foods. One week I remember buying some of the V8 Fusion drink because it was fruit flavored but held two complete servings of vegetables for every cup I drank. And it was good. My dedication to having some for lunch every day lasted about 10 days. I used to write every morning before my husband awoke; now I either go to Genesis to work out (about twice a week) or sit and read the paper and feel guilty. In 2009 I have made five resolutions already, one of which is to work out every morning (five days) before I do anything else. I hope that it works. My best wishes to you also.
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If I don't exercise first thing in the morning, it doesn't happen. Yesterday, I fudged a bit. (Fudge does sound good, but that's not the kind I meant). All my mother's stuff was taking up so much space, there wasn't room to do the floor exercises, so I told myself that moving books all day was a qualified weight lifitng substitute. I did get back to exercises today because I could do today's muscle groups standing, so I'm still on the program.
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