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Are People Getting Fatter Every Day? Yes
Is it Their Fault? Mostly — No
Oprah Winfrey has undertaken some of the most famous weight loss journeys in the world, losing up to 65 pounds . . . at least five times. Her impressive weight loss and fitness journey in the 1980s came from “a liquid diet” and daily 6.5 mile runs. I run and what I have to say about that is, “That’s a lot.” That’s not a sustainable lifestyle, for certain. In 2020, Oprah told Showbiz that she “hates working out so much.” And in January, she started Weight Watchers … again … after throwing out her best friend Gayle’s birthday cake, created especially for her by a celebrity chef over the 2021 holidays. Oprah owns 10% of Weight Watchers and this is her second official go-round on one of their programs.
Weight Watchers is one of the few commercial weight loss programs that has some medical evidence of long-term effectiveness. However, it doesn’t have all of the elements needed for long-term health and fitness. Weight Watchers has been around a long time, but its programs only take into consideration a couple of elements contributing to the obesity epidemic that Dr. Rami Bailony, co-founder of Enara Health, wrote about in Elemental in January 2020.
The cause of the obesity epidemic is far more complex than a calories equation. It is the result of interactions between environmental, behavioral, psychological, medical, genetic, and microbiomic factors. Proper obesity treatment is multifaceted, and diet and exercise are only a small part of the solution.
Oprah Winfrey isn’t isn’t just one of the world’s most famous people and few female billionaires. She has accomplished more than any average person could dream in her lifetime, and can afford any treatment she needs or wants. She can have the world’s freshest organic foods prepared by the world’s top chefs. Just as her Book Club launches famous bestsellers, the chefs and trainers who help her have guarantees of international fame and successful careers.
But even Oprah, who owns part of one of the biggest international weight loss businesses, has yo-yo’d up and down with her weight for her entire lifetime. In this, she’s just like the rest of us. Failed by western medicine, which has woefully failed so many of us in so many uncountable ways. From a woman’s…