More on Oprah’s weight gain tell-all

16th December 2008

More on Oprah’s weight gain tell-all

posted in Diets, Eating Disorders, Pop Culture |

Much has been written in the Blogosphere about Oprah’s recent ‘fessing up to her obvious weight (re)gain. But Huffington Post contributor Deborah King’s take on it is perhaps the best I’ve read yet.

After struggling with an eating disorder and other addictions in the past, King now works as a health and wellness educator. I don’t know much about King beyond her website bio, but according to it she is the author of the book “Truth Heals: What You Hide Can Hurt You” and promotes alternative medical approaches to addictions. In her letter to Oprah, King reiterates what many other bloggers have insisted: Oprah doesn’t need to apologize for her weight, and regaining the weight is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about (especially when it was shed via a drastic liquid diet). What makes King’s perspective unique is her emphasis on Oprah’s personal life and the underlying reasons that make Oprah an admitted “food addict.” Writes King:

Addictions are impossible to heal when you haven’t fully addressed the original wounds that created the addiction in the first place. …As you have said in the past, “I’ve felt safer and more protected when I was heavy. Food has always been comforting.”

More nutrition and/or exercise gurus won’t help you get to the root of the problem. It’s important to remember that the power to heal the original wound that created this behavior and the power to heal the emotional pain lies only within you. …Here you are, possibly the most vocal women on the planet today, who has spoken out often about abuse and acted swiftly to fix the situation in Africa, and yet there are still things you can’t say — even to yourself.

Many people are not willing or able to look inside and see the reason they are starving or stuffing their bodies. They are trying to stave off the hurt and the pain without confronting and releasing it. Far more powerful than fitting into size 10 Calvin Klein jeans is the feeling that you don’t ever have to be ashamed of what happened to you.

King goes into more depth on the concepts of chakras and energy points in the body, but even if you don’t buy into her new-age religion, the underlying argument is indisputable: For people with disordered eating or an eating disorder, weight is but a symptom of a larger, often emotional problem. Trying to manage one’s weight without addressing the larger issues of why one overeats, restricts food, regulates intake of food, creates rules for food and consumption, etc… is like taking Aleve to treat a brain tumor.

For a quite different and highly philosophical perspective, check out the musings of Ben, the husband of Babble blogger Lindsay. And am I the only one who thinks Oprah looks radiantly beautiful and seemingly healthy at her current weight? In fact, the only thing that could make Oprah any more beautiful than she is now is if discarded that tired and ragged cloak of body hatred and instead wrapped herself within a silky sheath of pride, love and self-acceptance.

*Update: The Washington Post also has a good editorial out about Oprah. Does it strike anyone else as strange that Oprah’s weight fluctuations makes national headlines?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Diets, Eating Disorders, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On December 16th, 2008, Tiptoe said:

I’m curious has Oprah ever been in therapy to deal with her issues revolved around weight and her self-esteem? I don’t remember ever hearing about it but I could be wrong.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

2 On December 16th, 2008, Rachel said:

I’m not a regular fan of the Oprah show, Tiptoe, so I can’t say with any certainty. But, I do receive lots of news alerts whenever eating disorders makes the news and my research keeps me updated on the latest studies and reports and I’ve never heard of Oprah doing a show on either on the associations between thyroid and weight gain nor have I heard her personally discuss the psychological underpinnings for her self-described food addiction. I can understand her reluctance to talk about private mental health issues, but she’s opened the door on them in the past, so I don’t know why she wouldn’t also discuss them in relation to her weight issues.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

3 On December 16th, 2008, Cindy said:

Ah, but there’s always a sting. I went to therapy. I’m in recovery for my BED.

And I’m still fat.

I wonder if Oprah would undertake therapy as a way to get to the root of her compulsions, or as a way to silence the anti-fat critics.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

4 On December 16th, 2008, Liz said:

I’m 5′5 and weigh at 160, and I would love to look as good as ‘thin’ Oprah. I feel like I look more like ‘fat’ Oprah then anywhere close to the supposed thinner version of her.

How are readers and onlookers supposed to respect her when she can’t even display truthful/nonphotoshopped pictures of herself in her own magazine? How are we supposed to believe her rhetoric when she can’t even handle the truth about herself and her own appearance? I consider this a sadder display than her professed shamed.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pm

5 On December 16th, 2008, Rachel said:

Good point, Cindy. I think that if anyone undertakes therapy with the primary expectation that they’ll lose weight for it, therapy isn’t going to be all that effective. While some people may lose weight upon adopting a healthier relationship with food and body, it shouldn’t be a therapeutic goal in itself. Therapy isn’t a diet.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

6 On December 16th, 2008, Annitspurple said:

I grew up watching Oprah as a kid (confession time!), and I remember her in the 80’s talking extensively about the sexual and emotional abuse that she experienced from various people in her early childhood. Now I’m not sure on this part, but I DO think that I recall her linking it to her (supposed over-) eating habits. Also, didn’t Dr. Phil get his “big break” by being her therapist? Maybe there’s the problem, given his unchecked fatphobia.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

7 On December 16th, 2008, Rachel said:

Liz — I watched an Oprah episode a few weeks ago because a local woman was on discussing a tragic event that got some major press in Cincinnati. The “after” Oprah on the cover of next month’s magazine is definitely a lot slimmer than the real Oprah on television. I understand the inclination to Photoshop the thinner Oprah, but I don’t quite understand why they’d also Photoshop the “fat” Oprah, considering the nature of the story.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 5:55 pm

8 On December 16th, 2008, Jackie said:

I’d probably would be surprised if Oprah’s weight didn’t make headlines. It’s like how on The View once, the girls just started talking about their weight, how horrible it was to be at the weight they were and so on and so forth. I felt like, “Well I guess there’s absoultely no news no events going on within the entire world, so it’s a slow day, they can talk about the burden of being a fat woman” It’s beyond ridiculous, it’s grown women lowering themselves to the intellect and banter of a high school popular girl. Apperantly though, there are plenty of adult women who still buy into that high school mentality. What would they do if they couldn’t feel better about themselves, through making others miserable?

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 6:42 pm

9 On December 16th, 2008, Juliet said:

Funny, I just blogged about this myself. I suppose I should’ve realize Oprah would be big news in the ED blogosphere.

The problem I have with King’s take on it is that I refuse to consider overeating a “food addiction.” I need to eat. Addicts don’t need to shoot up. I don’t call myself an “oxygen addict.” I need oxygen, just as my body needs food. Without either, I will ultimately die.

This is why OA was such a nightmare for me. It only served to make me feel more ashamed and embarrassed by my weight and my already unhealthy relationship with food.

Oprah is living proof that no matter how rich you are and no matter how much you can spend on a personal chef, trainer, etc diets are not designed to lead to success. She has been yo-yo dieting for over 20 years in the limelight, and probably longer still in her private life. Until she gets off that dieting roller coaster, she has no hope of getting to a truly healthy weight, instead of an idealized one and maintaining that weight.

I’d like to see her use her celebrity status to stand up and say, yeah, I gained weight. SO WHAT?

It’s sad to me that with all of her success, she still feels embarrassed and ashamed of herself because she’s not “thin.”

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 8:29 pm

10 On December 16th, 2008, Rachel said:

Juliet — When people identify as “food addicts,” it’s not the food per se that they’re addicted to — it’s the self-medicating feeling they experience while eating. It’s similar to the way a bulimic feels in the midst of a binge. Food speaks the emotions of all people, but for food addicts, bulimics, and binge eaters, food takes on an entirely new and unhealthy emotional dimensional completely.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

11 On December 16th, 2008, Dee said:

I’m only 5′-4″ (Oprah is supposedly 5′-7″) and I look not unlike the picture of Oprah on the right when I weigh 185 or so. It’s all about (genetically determined) body shape and muscle percentage. Also, the angle of the photo.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

12 On December 16th, 2008, Rachel said:

Hey all — Most longtime readers know that I have hypothyroidism and have tried to raise awareness of thyroid conditions. Author Mary Shomon has a great article discussing Oprah’s weight gain in relationship to her thyroid problem. Apparently, Oprah knew she had a thyroid deficiency and yet chose not to take medication for it, believing instead in the same mind-body, new-age kind of stuff discussed by King in the article above.

This is, quite frankly, one of the most supremely stupid things I’ve ever heard. I’m all for alternative and holistic medicine, but thyroid irregularities can’t be solved by meditation and wishful thinking — you need supplemental T4 (and sometimes T3) to remedy the deficiency just as someone with type 1 diabetes needs insulin. They’re also not caused by stress, emotional constipation or repressed anger — they’re genetic. It’s difficult enough staving off unexplained weight gain when you are being treated for a thyroid condition, harder yet when you aren’t treating it at all and following a heavy soy-based diet that might even make it worse.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

13 On December 16th, 2008, Elizabeth said:

I totally agree with everything that is being said. But I would like to remind everybody that what that rude person said to you in the grocery store or at that restaurant is being said to Oprah on a national level. She is a human being with feelings. Maybe her shame comes from everybody feeling like they have the right to discuss her weight like it is a national past time. Just a thought.

posted on December 16th, 2008 at 11:34 pm

14 On December 17th, 2008, Rachel said:

Maybe her shame comes from everybody feeling like they have the right to discuss her weight like it is a national past time.

I usually detest the media musings on the weights of (female) celebrities, but in this instance, Oprah herself made her weight an issue and she’s long used her weight struggles as a way to increase ratings and make her appear more empathetic to viewers. If Oprah doesn’t want her weight discussed, she should stop putting it out there as a topic of conversation — as evidenced by the fact that Harpo sent news of this out as a press release to media outlets.

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 12:31 am

15 On December 17th, 2008, Elizabeth said:

I agree that she does discuss her weight a lot and has used it as a discussion point on her show. I want to make the point that I am not a fan of Oprah and do not watch her show, or like the many people in this country, run to the store to buy her new favorite thing. I do however believe that she is forced into discussing her weight. People discuss her weight whether she is talking about it or not.

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 1:00 am

16 On December 17th, 2008, More on Oprah’s weight gain tell-all » The-F-Word.org | theonelastthing.com said:

[...] More on Oprah’s weight gain tell-all » The-F-Word.org [...]

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 1:39 am

17 On December 17th, 2008, meerkat said:

Maybe I just don’t keep up with the gossip well enough, but I strongly suspect that Oprah doesn’t have any addiction and is just perceiving that she does because there must be something that she did wrong or she wouldn’t be “fat” again.

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 3:04 am

18 On December 17th, 2008, hera said:

The bone I have to pick with this particular viewpoint is that it assumes Oprah is fat because she’s wounded. Granted, Oprah herself has said that, but she’s not a psychiatrist. Her wound, whatever it is, may simply be her scapegoat for being a naturally large woman. I know plenty of wounded people who aren’t fat.

It bothers me because it’s part of a cultural trend toward pathologizing fat people — i.e., if you’re fat, there’s something wrong with you — you’re psychologically fucked up, or you’re ‘unhealthy’ in some other way. What if some people are perfectly healthy AND fat? What if Oprah is one of those people, and has been actively destroying her health all these years by trying to force her body to a size that it doesn’t want to go? What if her ‘wound’ is self-inflicted, through her own body hatred?

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 4:34 am

19 On December 17th, 2008, Rachel said:

That may be, Hera. Given the persistent stigma associated with eating disorders and especially binging types of disorders, I’m just inclined to take people at their word if they say they have a psychological problem that manifests itself in food consumption (or lack thereof).

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 9:00 am

20 On December 17th, 2008, Cari from ditch diets live light said:

Being an eating disorder surviver, and an ex diet aholic…. I can certainly relate to Oprah’s weight wars. As a psychologist I’ve worked in the field of eating and body for 2 decades (and written two books about this as well) and there is no doubt that our eating IS only a symptom – a type of language if you will. And the most common underlying theme is ‘not enoughness’. It’s because I don’t feel I am enough, or I have enough etc….. One the surface it seems almost absurd that ‘the most powerful woman in the world might be feeling ‘not enough’ but I’m been at the game long enough to know, that no amount of money, fame or exterior ‘havings’ can fill a hole for something intangible, like a spiritual yearning.

posted on December 17th, 2008 at 10:33 am

21 On December 22nd, 2008, Kate said:

Odd, I don’t think the “2009 Oprah” is fat at all. I guess I haven’t been brainwa–er, educated enough on the dangers of teh fatz.

Anyway, I really wish Oprah would take the “campaign for real beauty” line beyond a Dove product commercial and turn it into something more substantial, but I understand that it’s hard to get out of the internalized fat-hate mindset.

Heck, I was anorexic when I was 14, and at 24, I still have issues with food. It doesn’t end when a person with a degree declares that there is no need to continue nutritional counseling (although the lady I was seeing seemed to fit the HAES approach, I gotta hand her that).

posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 1:26 am

22 On January 23rd, 2009, Cherie said:

I’m not a regular fan of the Oprah show also, but I know how honest Oprah is about her weight and about her eating problems. I’ve seen her shows with Dr. Oz and I like how she could be so open about it. So what if she’s having trouble with self esteem and eating? Don’t we all struggle with that in some degree or another? And further more, I don’t think over-eating or weight is that big a deal, until it becomes a weigh problem. Personally, I agree with King. Dealing with self esteem, feelings of inadequacies and eating healthy is much more important than fitting into a Calvin Klein.

posted on January 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm