I have been emailed my Best Life Certificate of Completion. I feel oddly empty about this as the current Best Life Week seems to insinuate last year was broken because Oprah wasn't onboard. Also, the certificate is slightly suspect, as aside from my initial registration, there was no check-in to see if I was actually doing a single item on the checklist. Still, I know I did it: I committed whole-heartedly to the food/exercise advice listed on the contract for the BLC. Most importantly, I was completely consistent with these areas of my life this year. While I'm a relatively healthy eater and an active gal, in the past, I have had long periods of time where if I ever got off my couch, it could be seen to bear the deep, accurate imprint of my butt. This year? Ok, there's an imprint from having to watch so much Oprah, but there's also an imprint on my butt from my bike seat, as I spent countless hours pedaling away. I also have a very committed, more deeply challenging strength training program that I implemented because of the urging in my BLC Contract to "focus on challenging my abilities in the pursuit of elevating my physical performance." Wanna feel my bicep?Ok, so as you probably already know, today was the Dr. Oz installment on Best Life Week. There were copious lists of what we should be doing if we want to live past Thursday. Evertime Oprah said something along the lines of "write this down," I felt my hand twitch toward my pen and paper. But I figure if I did everything I was told to do last year, I really don't need to freak out and create a million new lists. It sounded like the same (good) advice and guidance and I'm already doing it, so I felt ahead of the game. Oh - I disagreed with one piece of advice about stretching immediately after getting out of bed in the morning. I have read studies that say the discs in our backs are too filled with fluid when we first wake up and we should wait an hour before we extend and flex our spines. I know it's helped me avoid a lot of the backpain I had been experiencing when I used to do yoga right after popping out of bed.
Frankly, I really wonder what I'll get out of this week since I think Oprah's experts covered everything in 2008. Although, I always like sex advice. I even signed up for Dr. Laura Berman's newsletter last year. She'll be visiting Oprah's set later this week. As we only saw her twice at the end of last year, I'm holding onto the hope that there will be more fun-inducing activities to try in 2009. Oh - except enforced kissing. Y'all know how BORING that got for me. (Sorry Jim. I love you. But let's never kiss for 10 seconds again. 9 seconds? Sure! 11 seconds? You betcha! 10? I might go Clockwork Orange on you.)
I thought it was too bad that Oprah never shared how her thyroid was "fixed." She said she's not on medication anymore. When I got my diagnosis, I was told I'd be on meds from now until pigs fly to keep my hormones sailing smoothly. I also added some alternative therapies to help with symptoms that the meds didn't put a dent in...I use yoga, for instance, and acupuncture. If she's being so transparent about her weight in order to help us know her better, sympathize with her, empathize with her, assist with our own struggles, and allow us to feel solidarity with her, why not give us these details as well?
My guess is that she isn't going to tell us the contents of her bank account during Suze Orman's financial advice, either, though.
AH! We did get what we wished for - some follow-up with people who had followed Dr. Oz's and his diminutive sidekick Dr. Roizen's advice. One thing we were sadly lacking last year was proper revisiting of guests who were given guidance by Oprah's experts. There was a tiny bit, but an absolutely unsatisfying amount for me. So, today we learned that Drs. Oz/Roizen's past victims'...er...I mean patients' weight and real age have dropped to positive levels since the first time we said "Ewwww!" when we learned about their unhealthy lifestyles. I felt really proud of them.
Hey - have you noticed a trend - all women on Oprah who adopt healthy lifestyles also get new hairstyles? I was going to poke a little fun at this, but then realized I cut my hair into a cute little style after I felt I had reached my health goals, too. So nevermind. Forget I said anything.
I'll be asking this all week - are any of you taking advice you saw on the show today? Anything you don't agree with? Has your health been impacted by Oprah's show in the past?
ON ANOTHER NOTE: Regarding the weekly assignments I'm following this year, since I've gotten emails from some of you who want to play with me: no, they're not from the Best Life series. Rather, they're issues that came up for me last year while completing the Living Oprah project. This week, I'm attempting to stop naming everything about life as either good/bad, black/white, best/worst....you get the idea. I've noticed the compulsion to do this during lunch today when I wanted to pat myself on the back for eating "good" food. Well, it was healthy, but my problem is, once I start naming food "good"...there's always a flip side of that coin and I'll beat myself up for "bad" choices. So, no more of that! It's just food! It's nutrition! It's fuel! It's satisfying! I like it! Enough said. Food rocks.
I think since I'll be writing about Oprah and discussing her shows, her mags, etc with you AND doing this concurrent detox, I'll come up with another way to layout this website so things don't get too muddy. Please be patient if everything looks all wacky every now and then as I experiment, ok?
Have a great day!
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17 comments:
I enjoyed todays show well enough...but I've eaten like this since I was a kid. The only thing I don't do is take a vitamin D supplement. I feel like writing the Oprah show because I don't think taking a multi-vitamin is the best idea. Some vitamins antagonize each other...so I take vitamin C, E, and B together...not in a multi-vitamin. Minerals should probably be taken at other times of the day. You shouldn't really take iron at the sme time as some vitamins.
I am wondering about a vitamin supplement. I'm never in the sun this time of year...what sun? Actually, I was outside today for about an hour...does winter sun count?
I found yesterdays show fascinating...I must go finish reading your post about it...
I just found this blog maybe 3 months or so ago but I think you rock! Before I started reading I had Oprah so idolized in my mind, and your experiment has brought me down to earth again. Your honesty, insightfulness, humor, and writing has me really looking through some different eyes. You have made me see that you CAN'T have it all! Oprah SEEMS to have it altogether - and she gives advice to you to live YOUR 'best life' but that dosn't mean SHE does. I have just learned so much! I also appreciate you really trying. You always seemed to keep an open mind despite your skeptism! All in all, I think whether you realize it or not you taught many people some great lessons. Thank youu and I hope you keep writing and blogging. I think you are a fabulous writer.
I thought it was strange that Oprah called a professional colleague to be her health advocate when she was dealing with her health mysteries instead of someone in her personal life like Stedman or Gayle.
I am so sick of Dr. Oz, that I scarcely remember what he said today. I can't wait until he gets his own show and we don't have to see him anymore. Tomorrow is Suze Orman and I love her shows!
I love that you are going to stop naming things in black/white terms. This is terrific! I'm not totally sure if I do that all the time... I'm going to try to take note of it in my own life.
I didn't see today's show. What was suggested besides a multivitamin? Were they good health suggestions or was it same old, same old?
Hey, y'all--
There is something that nags at me every time Drs. Oz and Roizen are on Oprah together--Dr. Roizen was on Oprah's show pimping his Real Age website/book, etc... WAY before I remember Dr. Oz being a regular installment on the show. This was YEARS and YEARS ago---And I've been signed up to his Real Age newsletter ever since. I swear it was 10 years ago that I first heard of him on O. Anywhoooo...
It bugs me for some reason that Dr. Oz, while very charismatic, seems to get more notice for his shows--gets all the attention--than Dr. Roizen does on TV or than he has in general. Dr. R. is much quieter and may be kind of introverted for all I know--maybe doesn't care for the spotlight, but I still think about that every time I see the 2 docs together on the show and feel kind of bad for Dr. R. Just doesn't seem fair. But, I guess he must be on board with the whole idea...But he was still "there" (on Oprah with his book and website) first.
LO, are you going to post any kind of conclusion about your year following Oprah's commands? You said you were doing to find out if it would make you happier, etc. I know each day you posted your reactions to individual assignments, but I guess I was hoping for your overall conclusions.
I don't take any multivitamins at all. Whenever I do I seem to overdose on them. I get the jitters, tremors, inability to concentrate, nausea and some weird hot liquid feeling at the base of my skull. So yeah. No vitamins here. Only doctor-prescribed iron.
I agree with Candy Minx on taking different vitamins at different times though. I was told the iron will bind to just about anything so in order to have it bind to my blood cells and do its job it must be taken on an empty stomach.
I also was bothered when Oprah said her thyroid is cured. I believe this is the second time she has said that (the first time was Friday's episode). My endocronologist made it clear that I will always be on thryoid medicine as hypothyroidism is a chronic illness. In fact, an ultrasound revealed that my thyroid is, in my doctor's words, "fried." I don't think it's going to be coming back from that. I wonder if Oprah really had a thryoid issue. I wonder too if she still has it, but b/c she has regained control of other aspects of her life, isn't as bothered my the symptoms or no longer feels the need to blame things--especially her weight--on her thryoid. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she's doing people and herself a disservice if she continues to blame her weight gain on her thyroid.
I'm very disappointed that Dr. Oz didn't correct Oprah when she claimed her thyroid issues have been cured. And if they have been cured, I'd like to know how she did it.
Anonymous- Oprah likes to deal in absolutes. Not only does the say that she is cured of her thyroid problem, but she seems to think that our entire country is ready to get control of our weight and exercise issues. She said something to that effect on this show. I think she prefers to tackle problems as needing to be solved and then they are solved and you don't have to revisit that issue again. It is never quite that simple, unfortunately.
Most of the people that I know do not ever watch Oprah so I doubt that she will lead the cause to health and fitness for everyone everywhere..
Maybe what Oprah had was temporary, due to overall imbalance of different types of hormones in her body.
I don't think hypothyroidism can be cured. Having said that, I have to say that my hormones have been in norm for the past 7 years after treating my thyroid with hormones for 10 years. I was always on the smallest dose, in my twenties my tests showed that my thyroid is overactive, and I had to go off medication, because I had other symptoms.
I went off medication, but I still check my levels once a year, to make sure everything is the same.
I still don't think hypothyroidism can be cured. Even though I'm off medication, I know I should be taking something. The problem is that hormones will make my thyroid overactive, and I just need a fix for few of the symptoms.
I exercise, I do other things, but my main problem is being cold and having low blood pressure, and I refuse to treat those symptoms with a medication unless my blood pressure gets dangerously low, now it's still within norm.
I should add, that my best friend had hypothyroidism and nodules, and she's off medication as well. I'm sure her condition was different than mine, and her treatment was different. But she's been on and off medication for many years, and now she's been off for several years - all of it was done by monitoring blood, and by doctors' orders. I don't know if that's the case because we experienced nuclear plant radiation when we were kids, or if we have hypothyroidism in our genes.
I specifically, don't have any genetic diseases like Grave's or Hashimoto's (my mother and I have done blood tests, that turned out to be negative), but I know it's very likely I've inherited the condition from my mother's side. Yet doctor's can't determine exactly what it is, and what stabilized my hormones.
as I said, I still have some level of hypothyroidism, but without any medical intervention at this point, my hormones have been balanced for 7 years.
I'm just writing this because I know it seems impossible to cure thyroid disease, but it may depend on the cause of thyroidism. Maybe Oprah's hypothyroidism was caused by something totally different. I still don't think she should say it's cured, but why should we call something chronic if she had it only for a year, and it may not come back?
Detox is meaningless bullshit. It means nothing and is not measurable in any meangingful way.
Start with the awesome Ben Goldacre and work outwards (the Holfordwatch site for example).
http://www.badscience.net/2009/01/the-barefaced-cheek-of-these-characters-will-never-cease-to-amaze-and-delight-me/
http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/about/282
And of course:
http://www.jesusandmo.net/strips/2009-01-06.jpg
Oh, and as for Vitamin and mineral supplements, there's no convincing evidence they're in any way beneficial. Aside from iron *if* you're anaemic.
So save the money and buy more spinach.
Susie, I think you're right about Oprah's absolute view of health and weight loss issues. I think that may be why she surrounds herself with men to advise her about these issue, because for most men, it is pretty cut and dried. Larry King had Bob Greene and the spiritual guru with the dreadlocks on last night, and they were all talking about Oprah as if she was a bad girl. I think, like the time she trundled a cart of fat on stage, she will come to regret allowing this personal intrusion into her life.
I have many more thoughts, but just wanted to tie this episode in with yesterday's post (re: the reinforced and reiterated advice, given again or with "new life") - I think that, even though, like O clearly admits, we in our heads know the proper way to live (or the better choices to make), it's the actual understanding how those choices affect us that will change our long term habits. Though as Dr. Oz, Bob, and Oprah were talking about walking, etc. etc. I clearly thought, "Yeah, exercise? No sh-t..." (note the sarcasm). But, after both episodes were done, I also decided I needed to be positive and thought, you know what? Maybe I need to take these episodes (and the whole best life series) as reminders and signs to not forget about taking care of me. And though I know it's repackaged information that is somewhere in my brain, I'm gonna try and join O on her love yourself revolution. Why not? :)
Congrats on your best life certificate!
Black-and-white thinking is attractive because, if something is either "good" or "bad," "right" or "wrong," then we don't have to think about it. Hence the popularity of religion, despite the Bible (and I'm sure the Koran and Torah) being open to a variety of interpretations.
Oddly, science is NOT a world of absolutes. It is based on some absolutes, but in most cases, once a study is published, then scores of people test it. That is how we get all these conflicting studies about nutrition. Also, when a study is published, the media jumps on it as being definitive and absolute, so we all get the idea that such-and-such is dangerous or it is healthy to eat so-and-so. Then a few years later, a contrary report comes out.
Some studies are also based on less-than-rigorous standards, such as using small groups of subjects which can make them virtually meaningless, or not statistically adjusting for certain variables. An example is the study that found that gay men's brains differ from straight men's. First of all, these men were dead, that's how they could examine their brains, and a large percentage of them had died of AIDS. They all lived in one country and there was a small number of them (between 100-200). I think they were largely confined to one age group, as well. Yet it was widely quoted in the press as being THE truth about gays.
That is just one study that popped into my mind, but what about eggs? I'm still bitter about that! I mean, for decades, eggs were bad, bad, bad for us--now they're not. These kinds of things make me skeptical about absolutes.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!
Your comments about back pain, stretching first thing vs later first thing hit a nerve (!) with me. (I'm dealing w/ back pain from too much sitting/computer use.) I'd like to read more of what you read for myself.
Would you please give me a link or the name of the article I can google to continue my research? Many thanks!!
(BTW, the link with my name goes to my blog post re: 2009 goals. Not NY resolutions, but 3 goal words. 1st word: CORE. Muscles, health, and essential (vs peripheral).)
P.S. CONGRATS on making it through a year of Living Oprah!!
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