The “O” Factor
December 10, 2008
There’s been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere about the controversial cover story in the new Oprah magazine, where she poses in her 200-lb body next to her former 160-lb body and refers to herself as a “fat cow.”
Steph at Back in Skinny Jeans shares her take (what she’d say to Oprah if she were Oprah’s BFF) here.
Weetabix at Elastic Waist shares her take (that Oprah needs to love herself as she is and shouldn’t think of herself as a failure) here.
Mark at Mark’s Daily Apple shares his take (that Oprah has been yo-yoing forever now and it’s clearly not about food and exercise; she’s been victimized by all her gurus, etc) here.
If you want to know my thoughts, I posted in the comments of both (as Melissa or Lissa10279) but I’m curious to hear what you think, too.
How about you? What do you think about Oprah’s cover and her desire to, once again, lose weight and get healthy?
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Body Image, Back in Skinny Jeans, elastic waist, weight gain, Oprah magazine, O, O-factor, Oprah, fat cow, mark's daily apple.
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1.
Sara Grace | December 10, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I love the article. Yes, she says she felt like a fat cow - who hasn’t felt that way before? Especially NEXT TO TINA FREAKIN’ TURNER! (Next to Tina, fat cow would be too good to describe me! She is a goddess!! We are all cockroaches next to Tina!!) Oprah is expressing her worst, darkest feelings, and we all know we have them - pretending otherwise is just putting a Potempkin Village over the problem.
And since the whole thing ultimately is about *not* dieting, just eating healthfully, taking time for herself and living in the moment, I’m surprised it’s upsetting to people. Now, will she stick to the “no diet” talk? - doubtful! But we all know it’s a fine line, constantly crossed.
2.
lissa10279 | December 10, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I liked it, too — it makes her human, as I noted in my comments on the other boards. What I like most of all, though, is she’s being real with her audience. I don’t get all the fat acceptance blogs/attitudes; yes we should love ourselves at any weight, but fat isn’t healthy (and neither is skinny, necessarily).
I love O’s magazine and always read it when it’s at the gym or a doc’s office. Good material. And she is always evolving. Weight isuses don’t go away when you lose weight (hence … my blog!)
3.
Mark Sisson | December 10, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Thanks for the link, Melissa. Keep up the great work. You have a great blog. Cheers!
4.
lissa10279 | December 10, 2008 at 1:51 pm
My pleasure, Mark. You’ve been part of my blogroll since the blog’s inception this past June
Love your work, too!
5.
Mara | December 10, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I commented on BISJ, and will go read Mark’s now… but I think that rather than using her fame to publicize fad diet after fad diet, Ms. O should be using her fame to publicize clean eating, satiety, etc… I think she should also learn to be COMFORTABLE in the skin she’s got. Thats something that will never happen until she deals with the stuff in her head.
6.
The Scale Whisperer | December 10, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Clicked on ya via Roni’s
The most important thing I take away from Oprah’s article is that all the peripherals don’t matter (personal trainers, personal chefs, this diet, that diet, pills, gizmos, etc) … what DOES matter is YOU.
She proves that dieting is so much more than just the peripherals. It’s mental. We need to battle the demons that cause us to overeat and find excuses not to workout, etc, only then will we succeed.
Or at least, that’s my humble opinion
7.
Annette | December 11, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Dear fellow commenters,
In the AP Story, Oprah identifed herself as a “food addict.” If this is so, there is no cure or diet for the condition but rather the elimination of the foods that you use as your drugs. Addiction is a disease of both the mind and the body and some of the proven solutions to the disease are Twelve Step prograqms, such as Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous or Food Addicts Anonymous. Make no mistake, obesity, and whatever fuels is, is a deadly disease that robs us of freedom, joy and full participation in life.
Annette, recovering food addict
8.
lissa10279 | December 11, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Very true, Annette.
9.
FollowMyWeigh | December 14, 2008 at 11:45 am
Hi! I remember reading this but didn’t comment b/c I hadn’t read the article. I just read it so here I am now haha. It is so refreshing to hear your take on it! I really agree with everything you said in your #2 comment.
10.
lissa10279 | December 14, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Hi Madison — thank you. I saw your blog entry about this earlier — so glad we’re all keeping the dialogue going. It seems there’s two school of thoughts surrounding it though. Glad we fall into the same camp
11. New Year’s Resoluti&hellip | December 16, 2008 at 9:48 am
[...] The underlying thing behind all of these smaller goals is being the best me I can be. That’s why I don’t think Oprah is being silly with her commitment to health and personal improvement. [...]