Stop the Presses…Oprah Winfrey has gained weight!!! Wow, really?
Posted on 09. Dec, 2008 by Keith Scott in Articles, Fat loss, Fitness
So…Oprah Winfrey is in the news today because she is “coming out” and letting everyone know that she has eclipsed the 200 pound mark! She admits that the reason she gained weight and is up to 200 pounds is because…(are you ready for this?)…because she eats too much and doesn’t exercise as much as she should. Wow! What a revelation.
This, mind you, is big news. Oprah is coming out and going to do an entire article about her being over weight and letting everyone know why. Amazing.
I find this whole thing interesting for a number of reasons.
- The fact that she is making news (yes, I know she is a big-time celebrity) because she is fat again is amazing.
- The fact that she is coming out to tell everyone that she has gained weight is more amazing. Did she think they you couldn’t tell?
- The fact that she is blaming eating too much and not exercising enough on her weight gain (and oh, yea…her thyroid too…sigh)
Getting to the thyroid issue. I have trained and still train many people with thyroid problems. Guess what? They have all lost fat and weight and are continuing to lose. I have trained others that don’t have thyroids, and they were successful too.
Using the “I have a thyroid problem” excuse is not a good excuse as far as I am concerned. It might mean you have to work a little harder and it might mean you have to be a little more strict about your diet, but to proclaim that the thyroid is the problem is wrong.
There is another important lesson to be learned from Oprah here:
She has every single resource in at her fingertips. All the money in the world, and yet, she still has gained weight. I have heard people proclaim that ‘if they had the resources of these celebrities, they would look great too.’ I have always called “BS” on that. It has less to do with resources and much more to do with hard work and discipline. There is nothing that Oprah cannot buy…trainers, programs, nutritionists, cooks, etc… yet, her lack of discipline is the cause of her weight gain…its that simple.
John
11. Dec, 2008
Keith, I agree. If I had a dollar from every person that blamed their “thyroid”, I would be a millionaire. Put a “thyroid blamer” on Survivor island and tell me if they lose a minimal of 20 lbs. My good money says they will. Its people like Oprah and all her “celebritsm” that negatively enforces this to women everywhere. Keep up the good work.
John Izzo, NASM-CPT, PES
Keith Scott
12. Dec, 2008
John,
I have trained too many “thyroid” problems in my career to count…guess what? They all lost weight and reached their goals. Has everything to do with hard work, and discipline and less to do with their thyroid problem.
Unfortunately, Oprah’s “message” is already causing the wrong reaction out there in the training world…trainers are jumping all over this spouting off how they would get Oprah’s weight off…like she needs some special program.
Thanks for the comment.
-Keith
Super-Trainer
14. Dec, 2008
Yeah Keith,
It’s funny that someone with limited resources and the right state of mind and work ethic, will get more done than someone with seemingly all the advantages in the world who blames their problems are their conditions -
You can’t outsource or delegate exercise!
Dave
15. Dec, 2008
Indeed, blaming the thyroid seems to be en vogue at the moment. From what I understand (via my wife, a medical student), the thyroid is only the problem if you gain weight without changing ANT part of your lifestyle. Since Oprah states that she has been eating more and exercising less, it seems incredibly irresponsible to even mention her thyroid.
Oh well.
Cheers,
Dave.
JMJ
18. Dec, 2008
Great post. I love when I hear someone say “Oh if I had all that money, I could look like Jessica Biel too. I would hire a personal chef and a personal trainer, it’s so easy for celebs.” Couldn’t agree with you more, Keith! I call total BS on this. In gest, I usually will call their BS. I reply, “ok, great, I will train you for free for 6 months. I will be at your house at 5:30 a.m 5 times a week. On Sundays, we’ll prepare your meals for the week. You’ll be eating 5-6 times per day.” There is usually an awkward silence and confused look by that person. It really is more about hard work, discipline and sacrifice, and not so much the resources.