The Naysayers: Oprah and Optifast

Almost everyone who knows me is very supportive of my Optifast journey. My husband, my family, a close colleague at work, and my doctor. But there is one naysayer out there and it happens to be my best friend. I was shocked, actually, when she balked at my decision to do the program. She knows I am obese, and she has struggled with an eating disorder, so she is no stranger to highly restrictive diets. Why all the negativity? She had only one thing to list: The Oprah Example.

Ah yes. Oprah Winfrey. She went on Optifast for four months and lost a significant amount of weight. She televised it (remember her size 10 black "skinny jeans"?) and the next day Optifast received over 1 million phone calls. And then she packed the weight back on -- and then some -- and everyone could see she had "failed." I found the following information in an article on Google:

"In 1992, only four years after her liquid Optifast diet, Winfrey reached her highest weight of 237 lbs. According to Thomas Wadden, Ph.D., in his book "Handbook of Obesity Treatment," approximately 98 percent of liquid dieters regain all of the weight they lost within five years. Wadden theorizes that liquid diets prevent dieters from undergoing the full extent of physical, emotional and psychological changes that occur as they lose weight and learn a new way of living."
 
Although I'm not quite sure about the veracity of these statistics, particularly because he groups all liquid diets together, we do know that Oprah's weight struggles continued, and all of this was played out in the public eye, due to her celebrity status.

"Winfrey continued to gain and lose large amounts of weight for several years, losing 77 lbs. several years later and appearing on the cover of her magazine weighing only 160 lbs. By 2009, Winfrey tipped the scales at over 200 lbs. again. According to Wadden, long-term weight loss success requires a lifelong change in lifestyle and eating habits. Wadden explains this requires you to lose weight slowly, at a rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week, and learn how to plan, prepare and enjoy healthy, balanced meals."


Those who do not support our decision to do Optifast will very likely tell you it is a waste of time and money on something that will inevitably fail. They will say you are "starving yourself" and doing something "unhealthy." And this will hurt, because you do so want to lose the weight, and in some cases, really need to lose the weight. Optifast is a rigid program, and when someone tries to undermine your decision to do it, it can make your journey much harder. (This is why I emphasize the importance of building up an electronic support system if you don't have a local group available.) The key word that stings is "failure." Who needs to hear this at this point and time?

What I am doing is pointing out to my friend that yes, Oprah has a weight problem. Yes, Oprah did Optifast, lost a ton of weight, and packed it back on. But then I make sure to emphasize Oprah's mistake: She did not follow Optifast's long-term maintenance plan.

"A mere two hours following the airing of her television show touting her weight loss, she was celebrating her success by indulging in food. Two days after completing her liquid diet, Winfrey could no longer fit into the size 10 jeans she was excited to wear when she finished the diet."

What the "naysayers" seem to overlook is Optifast comes in two "phases": The weight loss/Optifast product phase and the long-term maintenance phase. The period we are taking our products is actually easier. The work comes into play when we ease back on to food. So while we are spending our time now losing weight, it is important to keep in mind that, down the road, we will have things to do to keep the weight off. This is why I use the word "journey" -- because that's what it is.

As you know, my philosophy is take it one day at a time. Living in fear of a "future failure" is not something I'm going to do. Importantly, I am not Oprah Winfrey. She is following her own path and God bless her for all of the hard work. I most definitely sympathize with her. Let us remember though that we are on our own journeys and we can learn from her experience. We should remain cognizant that our work is just beginning right now and we will have more things to do in the future. We will have weight management work. Because our goal is not only to take the weight off, but successfully keep it off. But do not let those naysayers undermine your own awareness of this. Keep one foot in front of the other and the ultimate goal -- a healthy, happy you -- is yours.