Oprah on Weight Watchers – The good, the bad and the reality

You all might know that I love my ‘O’.

I admire her rise in life, her influence, her realness, the positive change she’s brought to the world – and to me personally  – and I also appreciate her life long struggle with weight.

She makes a big appearance in my upcoming book ” Find Your Food Flow“, because she’s been such a big part of my journey with food and weight. (Weight Watchers is in the book too.)

Aside from the fact that Oprah owns 10% of Weight Watchers and makes millions on it succeeding…and her latest commercials paint such a lovely, wine glass clinking picture of how easy the program is…

Marketing is marketing.

And although I do admire Oprah most as an entrepreneur and influencer, I know the ins and outs of Weight Watchers very well too. I did several iterations of the points program since the early 90s and into the early 2000’s.  It works, if you work it – and by that I mean, if you commit to looking at everything you eat as ‘points’ in a caloric bank account.

Here’s what I write in the book:

The Weight Watchers approach really appealed to my vegan sensibilities and my analytical side with all the food journaling. (I was vegan in the 90s). Just count the points and track everything you eat and come in for a public weigh-in each week and watch the pounds melt away.

 

This worked too.

 

Until I stopped doing it. Even for me it was too obsessive.

 

I looked at every bit of food as “points”. And I started to value fake foods like spray margarine, Weight Watcher’s processed foods, Diet Coke and vegan soy substitutes because they were zero or lower in points.

 

Over the course of the next 10-15 years, I probably hopped in and out of Weight Watchers a dozen times. Each time it was less and less effective. Partly because it lost it’s shininess that motivated me. But the other reason why diets get less effective is their metabolic effects. Caloric restriction – particularly with nutrient deficiencies (thanks to fake foods) equate to metabolic sluggishness for many people (definitely for me).

 

Weight Watchers can be a great solution for people, but the on and off, yo-yo thing was less and less effective over time and it obviously wasn’t a sustainable way of living for me – otherwise I would’ve stayed on it.

So here’s the thing – there’s nothing magical about Weight Watchers. It’s an algorithm based on calorie restriction and balanced macronutrients. There’s also nothing really wrong with it either if you eat real food most of the time and you’re hormonally and functionally balanced.  It’s actually a pretty solid program. And I even read in the Washington Post that it’s recent redesign creates even more incentive points-wise to eat real, healthy foods (although it still vilifies saturated fats which is antiquated and scientifically invalid).

Interestingly, the rate of Oprah’s weight loss is actually quite slow (in American, quick fix, Biggest Loser terms) when you do the math: She’s lost 42 pounds in 17 months – that’s less than 2.5 pounds a month or half a pound a week on average.  Please don’t get me wrong…I think losing slow and steady and being consistent with eating will absolutely increase your odds of keeping the weight off way better than being super restrictive and losing weight fast. That’s definitely not sustainable for 90% of the population and it can really mess with your metabolism.

I think Oprah looks amazing and I like the approach of moderation – she drinks wine, eats bread – and one lady in her latest commercial even shares that she eats chips everyday.

I love that message! (I love chips!)

I’d say as long as you keep the food real, nutrient dense, enjoy counting points (like she says she does) and (most importantly) stay consistent with it for life –  the accountability and structure make Weight Watchers a somewhat flaccid thumbs up for me.

Personally, I do like counting things, but even I grew tired of it.

I don’t want food to be a number.  I want food to be an experience – a flow – meaning with natural ease – a gift I give myself.

My sis and I (who have both done WW multiple times) were talking about how Oprah is quite blessed and equipped with the freshest garden vegetables and the highest quality foods.  I doubt she’s eating Weight Watcher’s frozen lasagna. She has HUGE financial skin in the game and access to gurus, coaches, therapists, chefs and trainers, plus the WORLD is watching her weight too – but she’s had that access and scrutiny for most of her adult life. What’s different now?

Only time will tell for my once again ‘littler O’.

This I know for sure…

Once she stops counting points (or fails to connect her lifelong emotional overeating triggers and patterns to her eating behaviors), she will regain the weight. 100% for sure. We all did (and do) if we’ve been on a weight loss journey and any kind of structured diet without going deeper – I don’t care if you’re counting points, calories, carbs or steps.

Instead of counting and restricting…let’s cultivate mindfulness and connect with our food and feelings – and why we’re eating what and how we feel eating it – without needing a calculator or scale. How about using our own built in body signals? Our physiological sense of fullness and hunger? Awareness, mindful eating, connection and self compassion. Using our clothes fitting better (or feeling more snug) as a gauge that what we’re doing is working (or not). This is what I call finding your food flow and I can’t wait to share more of this simple, common sense concept with the world.

Please share your story.  What are your thoughts on the topic?  Have you tried Weight Watchers?  Multiple times like me?  What are your best strategies for maintaining a good weight for yourself? I’d love to hear more…your insight might inspire others too! And may even make it into the book…So I’d love it if you’d share below.