Are you asking yourself the same question Oprah recently asked herself?

“How did I let this happen again?”

You may not be aware that Oprah has regained the dreaded pounds she lost in 2005.  How could this happen?  Her personal trainer, Bob Greene, motivates her in the gym. Her personal chef prepares low calorie meals.  She’s not a soccer mom, grabbing some fast food before rushing the kids to practice. She has no infants to care for in the middle of the night.

Without rationalizing or making excuses, this national role model finally realized that her issue is not about eating less and sweating more.  Her new goal is to be strong, healthy and fit—never mind the calories!

So if you emulated Oprah’s regimen of skimping on calories while puffing too much in the gym, but seeing your image in the mirror gradually grow, then it’s time to follow Oprah’s example—again!  Yes, it’s time to shift to a nutritional plan that keeps you strong, healthy and fit.

I might even suggest that Bob Greene’s low fat, low calorie menu along with too much exercise, might have contributed to Oprah’s thyroid problems. Research tells us that strenuous exercise combined with a low fat diet can create an overabundance of free radicals.  This can damage organs such as your thyroid gland.

As wealthy, talented and intelligent as she is, Oprah fell into the diet trap of low fat and low calories. She relied on “diet experts” who practice 1950s nutrition.  As a licensed nutritionist, I believe those givers of advise should get up to speed and deliver actual researched information.

The information that got Oprah in trouble was based on flawed science.  She has experienced dangerous health consequences.  We see the food industry seducing the uninformed consumers into taking the “Special K Challenge.” They fail to tell us that in two cups of that dry cereal you have downed 22 teaspoons of sugar.  Furthermore, the cereal bar version contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. That damages cells, slows metabolism and causes inflammation.

The cereal industry chooses to ignore the most compelling findings about obesity, now reaching a pandemic level in the US.  If, however, an enlightened public shuns the cereal, bread, chips, pasta and refined sugars in cakes, soft drinks and convenience foods—sales will plummet. Therefore, when a cereal company cynically advertises its highly processed cereal as a healthy weight loss product, we must step back and laugh at the marketers.

Especially damaging are the refined sugars, the worst of which is high-fructose corn syrup.  Others include white flour, pasta, breads, and cereals. Also, too much of the starchy foods are to be avoided. These include potatoes, white rice, and corn.
 
What is the basic science of these super easy-to-digest processed carbohydrates? It’s quite simple.

The digestive system breaks down those highly refined foods into large quantities of glucose. The result is a very high blood sugar level, causing the pancreas to pump out more than normal amounts of insulin. Now here is the problem:  In addition to controlling blood sugar, insulin stores some of the glucose as fat. Excess glucose and insulin creates the belly fat you may have observed in the mirror. Call it your insulin meter.

You may well ask:  How can a high-sugar breakfast cereal, void of nutrients, be considered a weight-loss product?  Well, it’s all based on the food industry’s bottom-line greed combined with obsolete, inaccurate 1950s data.

If Oprah had been aware of the 2004 Nurses Research Study, conducted by Dr. Walter Willet, Harvard School of Public Health, she never would have gone on a low-fat diet.  After conducting his study of nurses, Dr. Willet firmly stated that “an overweight person should never be put on a low-fat diet.”

It may seem logical that fat makes you fat. In truth, however, it is man made carbs that make you fat. We must look at the current research and stop practicing 1950s nutrition and not dreaming of a quick fix. If your goal for 2009, 2010, 20ll, 2012 and forever is to be strong, healthy and fit, start eating real food--real protein, real carbohydrates and real fat several times a day. 

It is the day-to-day practice of eating common sense foods that human beings are meant to ingest that will get you there.