KRISTA CAMPBELL
At this time of year, many of us make resolutions to be healthy, and get into better physical shape. We make lists, set goals and vow to run in 5k races, walk 10,000 steps a day and drink protein shakes. The popularity of these plans is shown by the masses of people who turn up at gyms and fitness clubs on Jan. 1, towels and workout gear in hand. It used to drive a friend of mine crazy. She was one of those type A people who went to the gym religiously every morning at 6 a.m., and she would dread what she called the "January rush", when everyone showed up on the 1st ready to start the new year off right. Of course, they usually only held out for a month or so. When the fitness fad wore off and everyone reverted back to their old ways, my patient friend would get her gym back again.
Recently even the smugly perfect self-made millionairess Oprah Winfrey admitted she has fallen off the wagon and slid back into old, unhealthy habits. The first week of January her television program was entirely devoted to her new health regime, and to the team who would help her pull it all off.
By the way, I am aware that for someone who does not actually watch Oprah I still manage to feature her quite often in my columns. This is either a testament to how much she and her life have infiltrated mainstream news, or perhaps reveals that I need to look at more stories than just the ones with "Entertainment" in the headline…
Many people feel that Oprah’s lack of control and subsequent weight fluctuations represent a death-knell for the rest of us commoners. To them, self-discipline is somehow equal to money and power. They feel Oprah’s wealth should somehow exclude her from the problems the rest of us struggle with, and ask desperately, "If she can’t do it, how can the rest of us?" They are referring, of course, to the legions of staff Oprah has assisting her with everything from buying toilet paper to making her travel plans. If she has an army of people standing by to whip her into shape, why isn’t she whipped, already?
It’s particularly painful for us regular folk to ponder as we struggle not only with weight and health issues but also with all the other tedious stuff Oprah doesn’t have to dirty her manicured hands with-stuff like laundry, meals, and generally living the hum-drum-life of a non-millionaire.
Her inability to keep her weight in check can be seen as a sort of universal failure, but I don’t see it that way. It’s at times like this that I actually like Oprah again. Instead of being a perfect, rich automaton whose life in unobtainable, she is like the rest of us. She cheats, she gains weight, she regrets it, and she struggles to lose it…just like we do! No matter how well things are going in her life, there are some things she just can’t control.
Though many people feel that with an army of health experts Oprah should be able to stay healthy and fit, it seems to me money and a lavish lifestyle would make it all the more difficult to keep on track. A poor New Brunswick gal like me can’t even imagine the culinary delicacies and tasty treats she is offered every day, and in every faction of her life. However, I’m pretty sure they’re more exotic than the day-old doughnuts and left-over birthday cake usually available at my workplace, and you should see me scarf those down!
No matter how many people Oprah has telling her what to do, and how to eat, she is the boss of herself, as we all are. We must be the ones who decide our fate, whether it’s making that first million, or trudging out for a walk on a frigid January day.
Oprah’s struggles are inspiring, because she is willing to put herself front and centre and tell it all. I recently embarked upon a fitness regime of my own, and for the first time in years purchased a scale to track my success. I wasn’t happy with the number that appeared on the screen the first time I stepped on and I’m certainly not going to be shouting it from the rooftops, or in the pages of the Saint Croix Courier. Oprah admitted she weighs 200 pounds, and that takes guts.
For any of us, the biggest challenge is not making the plans, but sticking to them. Oprah keeps trying, and so must the rest of us.
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