I have been reading the latest headlines about Oprah Winfrey. Not about her money, celebrity or good deeds. But the news about her WEIGHT. She is addressing the fact that she has put a lot of it back on and now she is coming clean with her emotions about it. We all love Oprah. Most of us really connect with her struggle with her weight. Its what makes us feel like she is our girlfriend. On a personal level, I could relate to her story of childhood sexual abuse that presumably laid the foundation for her adult obesity. I had a similar history. I felt for her. I AM Oprah! The world watched her first highly publicized diet when she starved herself (her words not mine) on a liquid diet from 237 pounds to a size 10. Remember how great she looked in the skinny jeans? She rolled out the red wagon full of lard and we all admired her results. She got thin. Who cares how she did it? She was out of the fat club and thats all that mattered. Unfortunately, once she began eating food again Oprah regained most of the weight. Thats a big risk on an extremely low calorie diet. She was our plus-size girlfriend once again. Her next weight loss process involved low fat eating and exercise. After running her first marathon, Oprah proudly declared her roller coaster with her weight was finally over. I remember thinking, I hope you are right. But having been through a major weight loss myself I know that for emotional eaters its an on-going battle waged meal-to-meal, day-to-day, year-to-year. I know how optimistic she felt after training so hard and becoming fit. That is definitely one huge component she needed to add to have a healthy lifestyle. As I recall there were some fluctuations with Oprahs weight over the following years. At one point, not so long ago, she got Hollywood svelte and looked to be about a size 8. She was clearly loving life. Then, Oh no! We all began noticing the pounds were creeping back. So Oprah has gone public in her magazine admitting she fell off the wagon. She is so mad at herself for letting her weight get back up to 200 pounds. She said she is embarrassed and ashamed because she was talking the talk but not walking the walk. So what really happened? In my view it was probably a combination of fairly obvious things: MENOPAUSE, THYROID, and EMOTIONAL EATING AND LACK OF EXERCISE. She said she was afraid to exercise due to the thyroid problem. Why was no one there to tell her exercise is the cure for most diseases? That working out is one of the best ways to offset the changes in your body during change of life? I for one totally understand how Oprah feels. Although I have kept my weight off for many years, I did fall off the wagon after my mother died and regained 30 pounds. I hated myself for what I had done, never wanted to go out and every day promised to get that weight off. I get it that Oprah woke up one day and was 40 pounds heavier. I get it that you can let yourself slip and just ignore it. I get it that you want to beat yourself up and you can hate yourself for letting yourself down. Here is what got me back on my game and I would truly love to share this with Oprah because its the only thing that really works for food addicts: MENTAL SKILLS. Until you develop the techniques to work through stress and find the power within yourself to acknowledge and overcome the desire to eat to comfort yourself, all the money in the world wont be able to help you. I got rid of my weight-gain by focusing on my goals every day. I once again became fully conscious of my eating and managing my emotions. Whether you are famous or not, you can always take a deep breath and start over again. And that is what Oprah has apparently decided to do. The past is done and she needs to let go of the shame. What she can do now is even more powerful. Begin to take it one meal at a time, one day at a time and always keep her eyes on the goal of good health. We are with you, girlfriend! Debra