Oprah says, “You can lose weight and eat bread.”
Thanks Oprah! If you hadn’t told me, I would never have known 🙁
NOT!
I find this fascinating — as usual, society has told us what we can and cannot eat to lose weight, and bread is on the “cannot eat” list. However, I remember about 20 years ago when any foods without fat were on the “eat all you want” list. I believed bagels were the answer to my permanent weight loss struggles.
I ended my lifetime Weight Watchers membership after 20 years of yo-yo dieting when, as I was going through menopause, I decided that I needed a new way to control myself. Using an extrinsic source of any kind wasn’t working for me anymore. So, I stopped… I am free!
Guess what I chose instead of Weight Watchers… I chose ME! I chose to control myself — what a concept!
I think all diet plans work for a while, but they never really give us the opportunity to find out what our bodies need and want. If you’ve never been in touch with your body in this way before, then going through menopause is a rude awakening. Your body doesn’t work the same way that it used to. It’s been heading in this direction for a while, but you weren’t listening because you were too preoccupied with counting your points.
Now, I’m not going to pick a fight with Oprah for gosh sakes, but YOU have always had the ability to lose weight and eat bread. This is nothing new. But when she advertises it, I can see a lot of you running over to sign up for Weight Watchers because you also want to lose weight and eat bread.
This is the sad state of our minds: we want to eat the things we think we cannot eat, whatever they may be (bread and gluten just seem to be the poison of the moment). A few years ago, Oprah was on a diet that prevented her from eating apples, and I distinctly remember hearing her say, “What I would do to eat an apple…”
What I know for sure is that if you are DEPRIVING yourself of bread, you WILL want it and, one way or another, you WILL eat it. In fact, you will probably eat more than just one serving. This response is caused by the most primitive part of your brain, and you cannot fight against your brain — it will win every time!!
My wish for you and Oprah is to feel the intrinsic connection to what your body needs and wants. More than anything else, know that you CAN eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. That YOU are able to control yourself.
If Oprah could do that, she would be writing this blog!
Peace,
Dr. Deb
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