Everybody listens.
We all know she’s tried every diet under the sun, and exercised herself into a sweaty heap at times. Apparently at Oprah’s heaviest she tipped the scales at 107.5kg – something I can relate to as I was 103kg at my heaviest many years ago.
As Oprah’s weight struggles played out publicly, we shared her frustrations as we battled through our own bodies of shame and pain. It was always about us failing, not understanding how we could (like Oprah) be successful at some things, but not get our weight under control. We continued believing the next diet would save us. The miracle cure. The diets of all diets. The one that stops this rollercoaster nightmare for good.
Then Oprah joined Weight Watchers, the world’s largest diet company, and lost 20kg by being “allowed” to eat from all of nature’s bounty (protein, fat AND carbs). As self-confessed bread lover she was so impressed she bought shares in the company. True to the saying, whatever she touch turns to gold, Ms. Winfrey made herself a cool $300-million since her 10% investment in the company two years ago.
Now, even for the billion dollar dieting industry, that’s a lot of money! But I grant Oprah every dollar, especially as she’s done so much to uplift her fellow sisters throughout her illustrious career.
What made me sit up and take notice, was when I read her words about WHY she decided to tackle her weight problems once more. Oprah said “to all the people who say ‘just accept yourself as you are’ well I cannot accept myself if I’m over 200 pounds (90kg)”. On a rational level I do understand her words, after all it’s years since I was at my heaviest which I definitely don’t ever want to be again.
But it’s the acceptance part .. whilst dieting and scales are portrayed as the only yardstick to whether you are “acceptable” or not, successful at weight loss or not .. it is that exact mind-set that will keep you locked in weight struggles and yo-yo dieting for good.
It is FREEDOM that you actually want. To be in that place of ACCEPTANCE where you make peace with your body and food. To be in that state of ALLOWANCE where your grateful body will follow by morphing into its healthier, slimmer self at the same time.
It is only when you stop fighting and dictating the conditional terms of accepting your body, only when you stop the madness and make a truce, only when you make peace with your body and food .. it is only then that true healing can begin, and weight struggles can end.
It starts with acceptance – the opposite of resistance.
It is a state of being, not doing.
You choose.
Gerda Bruwer
Happy. Thin. Free.
Gerda believes it’s time for a fresh take on eating disorders. That it can be underlying emotional/psychological problems, but also years of dieting, restrictive food regimes and the overconsumption of highly stimulating foods that’s to blame for some of our weight problems today. She teaches brain based reasons and survival body mechanisms why binge eating, overeating and bulimic disorder occur. She offers new perspectives on how to be free from unwanted habits by understanding how the body-mind-soul connection work to facilitate change. Using spirituality, psychology and brain science, Gerda loves teaching women how to have FREEDOM in food choices, and to be HAPPY and THIN at the same time.