By Jennifer Nicole Lee,
Fitness Expert & Author
Miss Bikini America 2005, Miss Muscle and Fitness
Hello Oprah Fans! I have heard Miss Winfrey cries loud and clear! On December 10, 2008, Oprah made a personal public announcement of desperation stating "I'm mad at myself…I’m embarrassed. I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things that I know how to do, I’m still talking about my weight". She continues to vent her frustration stating "I had a dress on my vision board that I wanted to wear, but I am not sure now that it’s going to fit." Even her best friend Gayle King stating "I'm admitting that it was jarring for me to hear the words Oprah and embarrassed in the same sentence". Oprahs see saw battle of the bulge is not her first rodeo. However my question is, how many times will she lose the weight, only to hit diet relapse and gain it all back. Also what has she been doing before to allow this 60 plus pound weight gain happen. Was she misled by her leading top so called fitness gurus and top celebrity trainers? Or are they really just her paid "Yes" people who didn't get real with her? Did her diet of high tofu and soy products help in building up the bulk? Did her 21 day Diet Detox actually work against her in practically shutting down her metabolism and turning her once mature muscle mass to mush? I will reveal all in my in-depth discovery of how Oprah's great intentions got her to over 200 pounds, again. For the record, I am actually proud of Oprah, because if she did not publically come out and announce her own weight gain, all of her team of fitness experts who got too comfortable, would of not done one thing. She was the one who is stopping the madness, so I am so respectful of her for taking the first step of action: Asking for help! And I am here to offer her my fitness expertise, and my help! As you all know I myself have lost over 70 pounds. But what is most important, is that I have been able to keep it off, and have vowed to never allow diet relapse to happen to me! Read on to find out some incredible tips from how to lose weight by working out smarter not harder, and eating for optimal health with supplements and "JNL-Approved" Super Foods!
Fitness Celebrity & Weight Loss Success Story Jennifer Nicole Lee Reaches Out to Oprah Winfrey in her Recent Weight Gain Plight
As a former yo-yo dieter who has gone up and down the scale more times that a kid on a ferris wheel, who finally "cracked the code" to my fat burning potential, my personal success story was actually featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, twice. It was also that very episode that can be accredited for inspiring the then overweight actress Kirstie Alley to lose weight and come back on the show wearing a bathing suit almost exactly a year later. After the birth of my children, I lost an astounding 80 pounds and went on to become Ms. Bikini America thus allowing me to become a leading weight loss expert in the health and fitness industry. So as the saying goes "time will only tell". I too had many tell me that my own weight loss would not be permanent, and I would eventually go back to my "old" me.
And as a weight loss success story myself and knowing what it takes to lose the weight and build a new strong body for good makes the ideal candidate to work with Oprah one on one, to finally and forever unlock her fat burning potential. And I also noticed that Miss Winfrey stated in her press release that she no longer wants to be thin, or skinny, but rather strong and fit. This quote from her right there proves to me that she now has her head on straight and is ready for what it takes to build back her strong muscle tone and get back her endurance level and stamina.
In order to help Oprah in her Mission to lose the weight, we need to look at what did has done wrong in the past.
It’s in looking to the past to see what didn’t work will allow us to
Let’s Look at What Was Wrong with Oprah's Last Diet Which Made Her Gain the Weight
I have researched and read all about Oprah’s latest diet, which can be found in Diet Guru Kathy Festoon’s latest book, called "Quantum Wellness". While this book may be a fav to others, it is really on the bottom of my personal list for many reasons. It’s a "hot fad" diet which turned into a downward spiral and worked against Oprahs goals of weight loss. The principles in this book, such as no meat, all vegan, and a 21 day detox, actually worked against Oprah, not with her.
Let’s take a closer look at Kelly Frestons book Quantum Wellness and why it has so many loop holes, and in turn failed Oprah tremendously.
Strict Vegan, No Meat Diet
Quantum Wellness is a strict vegan based lifestyle program offering only recipes and food plans for a vegan. No dairy, no meat, not even fish is allowed in this diet book. Kelly spends an entire chapter on this book on animal cruelty, thus forcing the reader to be more apt to embrace an animal free diet.
Kelly directs the reader to rely on soy based products for protein. No supplements are even mentioned. Right there you can see that a diet so strict won’t work for everyone, and especially we have seen for ourselves that it didn’t work for Oprah. As a fitness expert myself, I found it hard to believe that an author would promote no other protein other than soy base protein source.
On this kind of diet, Oprah’s muscles turned to flab on the vegan low protein detox diet, thus slowing down her metabolism.
Soy Based Foods Raise Your Estrogen Levels, Thus Forcing Your Body to Hold Onto Fat
Bob Greene first got Oprah on soy, and then Kelly Freston really locked her onto it. It only got worse for Miss Winfrey, as the years went by. When you ingest a high soy diet, your thyroid shuts down and you also raise your estrogen levels. It’s just not healthy! Your body won’t release the fat, and hordes it.
Severe 21 Day Detox :Oprahs 21 Day Fast and Detox and Why it Hurt Her and Not Helped Her
To begin her new diet, Oprah was instructed to get onto a severe and harsh 21 day detox where she ate little to nothing. This method of severe dieting actually worked against her, and not for her for many reasons.
First of all, her body was denied of several much needed vital vitamins and minerals. Her body was forced to slow down her metabolism even more. No sugar, no alcohol, no meat product was allowed.
And what was the 1st thing that Oprah did right after her detox ended? She ordered a big bottle of champagne because she was so deprived during those 21 days that it backfired and she binged on alcohol.
And when you detox so severely, your muscle get very weak, and your body goes into starvation mode. And when your body goes into starvation mode, it doesn’t burn fat, but rather holds onto it.
The "JNL" Mental Shift:
As I wrote in my first book, "Crack the Code" health, weight loss, and fitness all starts in the mind. You see, it’s not a body or physical issue when you start your weight loss, but rather it all begins in the mind and consciously making that mental shift to choosing to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle. In my coaching consultations I urge women to start their weight loss journeys and transformations from the neck up, as then the body will fallow and fall into place. I'm willing to help Oprah make the big mental transition from being just "interested in losing weight" which is weak to making a "conscious decision and dedicated choice to become strong, healthy and super fit from now on". She needs to stop wishing and making weight loss a preference, and turn up the desire by stating with conviction that she is making all choices and decisions to make her future weight loss permanent. Bottom line is that she needs to be coached. It’s essential! She stated herself that she knows what to do, but she is not doing it! So this is where a life coach comes in, someone to "cut the invisible umbilical cords" that are subconsciously deterring her from reaching her goals, such as her fear of working out because of her thyroid, and also that a vegan diet is actually healthier than others. She needs to get real and "clean out her mental house" of what she has been told before by so many other fitness experts. I am here to take the guess work out of it, and no diet will do it. It's more of a lifestyle program that once you put into place, the only end result will be permanent weight loss through my success principles that I still practice daily. My life coaching skills will allow Oprah to make her weight loss permanent. It's about making the decision and sticking with it.
The Two Pillars of Decision Making Factors: Pain vs. Pleasure
Part of my mental coaching would be for her to start associating pleasure with taking action to achieve her permanent weight loss goals, rather than pain. also associate more pleasure to eating healthy and exercising than she does pain. "As humans we are driven by 2 distinct behavior pillars: Pain and Pleasure. Coaching Oprah to connect pleasure to her new fit lifestyle and pain to not following through will be one of my main instrumental steps in getting Mrs. Winfrey on her upward spiral and off her downward spiral of continuous yo-yo dieting. The fact that she has a long standing past of diet relapse and back peddling in her weight loss proves that she has not yet made the decision to lose weight with conviction. I will coach her not to only lose weight, but to gain energy, stamina and endurance. On a subconscious level, she wants to lose weight, but when you lose something you only go looking for it again, and thus the regain of weight. But coaching her to gain new aspects to her physical fitness such as a new found physical strength; she will only grow to be better, fitter and stronger."
How to Use 2 Pillars of Pain and Pleasure to Your Advantage:
One mental exercise that I have my clients perform, which I would also urge Oprah to do as well, is the forceful linking of pain to not working out and eating bad, while at the same time linking pleasure to working out and eating optimally. There she would be "rewiring" her internal associations and what she linked them too. This mental training tool has worked so astoundingly well, that most of my clients have NEVER gained more than 5 pounds from their desired weight. If they go above this 5 pound threshold, they automatically shift their weight loss plan into high gear, making sure they follow through and take action to get back to their desired weight. This is because they have practiced linking so much pain to their before photo, and even the mere thought of going back to their old weight scares them so much, that its painful NOT to exercise and eat healthy.
No More Dieting, as What are the First Three Letters of the Word Diet? YES! DIE!
Oprahs past celebrity trainers and so called fitness experts need to be just fired and taken off of her pay roll! They are just as guilty as she is. Actually they are more to blame than her. Oprah had all the intentions to live a super fit healthy life, and they all failed her.
First of all, no more diets for Oprah! Bob Green's Best Life Diet failed her, and also did Kelly Frestons Vegan based "Quantum Wellness Diet". As you can see, with these past poor experts she blew out her thyroid, did a 21 day detox diet that killed her metabolism, sending her into a downward spiral of rapid weight gain, FAST.
The Vegan Debate: To Eat Meat Or Not, This is the Weight Loss Question!
First of all, I would get Oprah off of the all vegan diet. We all know that Oprah needs a sufficient amount of lean proteins, healthy whole grain carbs, and more fruits and vegetables.
Let’s take a look at Oprah's genetic makeup and background. She is African American, and most of her ancestors, just as my Italian ones, were meat eaters. It’s in our DNA to eat meat! Eating meat actually works with your body, and your metabolism, not against it. When you deny yourself of the adequate protein that your body needs to rebuild, replenish and regrow, your body shuts down because it thinks it’s in a starvation mode. Thus your metabolism comes to a screeching halt, hoarding the fat, and not allowing it to be let go.
JNL Side Note on Meat, Fish and Poultry: Make sure you are choosing the right kind of lean protein for your food plan. For red meat, make sure it’s from organic grass fed livestock and it’s as lean as 4%. For fish, always make sure you are buying wild, not farmed. Farmed fish get little to no activity since they are confined to a small area, so they are fattier, not as lean due to the lack of movement, and they also swim in their own waste, making for a more toxic piece of fish. And make sure you get cage free eggs.
Lean Red Meat is a Super Food!
A super food is one that is nutrient dense. Lean red meat is rich in minerals and vitamins that you will never find in either fish or poultry. And a little amount packs a real nutritional punch. Vitamin B12 for energy, protein for your hair skin and nails and of course muscle tone, and iron are just 3 of many great advantages you will find to eating lean red meat. Opt for organic grass feed super lean 4% ground beef.
What's So Hot About Soy Products? NOTHING!
Oprah needs to get off the soy milk, tofu and edamame ASAP! What I know that other so called weight loss experts don't is that she (Oprah) needs to really make the mental change and emotional shift regarding food. And with a thyroid problem, all of her soy based foods did not help. Soy raises a woman's estrogen level, thus making her hoard onto fat, not allowing her body to release it with diet and exercise."
JNL's Method of Training Smarter, Not Harder for Max Benefits in Minimum Time
Oprah needs an immediate meeting with the the weight room to undo all the damage done from her low carb low protien diet. Her muscles need to be reawoken with weight training, resistance training, and also working out with body resistance exercises. I would create a specialized weight and strength training program for Oprah to follow at least 4 to 5 days a week. She needs to recharge her dormant metabolism and make it burn fat faster with weight training, good for you healthy oils like organic virgin unrefined coconut oil, and other super foods, such as lean red meat.
Oprah needs to embrace training with weights to make life long lasting changes. Weight training will be her best friend in losing the weight she gained and also helping her to keep it off for good!
Oprah Needs to Supplement!
I would put Oprah on a 6 meal food plan, with at least 2 to 3 BSN Lean Dessert Protein shakes in between meals.
A typical day for Oprah would look like this:
Take a Dose of BSN's Atro-Phex, about 15 minutes before breakfast.
Breakfast-Food Meal
workout
Post Workout Lean Dessert Protein shake mixed with water, coconut oil for her thyroid
Another Dose of Atro-phex
Lunch-Food Meal
around 3 to 4:00 O Clock another BSN Lean Dessert Protein Shake
Dinner, with no carb, only lean protein and a fibrous carb
Before Bed, another BSN Lean Dessert Protein Shake
You can see the importance of incorporating Lean Dessert Protein Shakes in between meals.
It’s essential to drink BSN Lean Dessert Protein Shakes for many reasons, but most importantly to ensure adequate protein intake for Oprah’s muscles
Oprah's Cheat Meal
Everyone needs a cheat meal! It’s only normal. On her super busy days and she has to eat not so healthy, or at a large dinner party, I would encourage Oprah to take a dose of Cheaters Relief 15 minutes before her meal, and then after her meal. This will help her in blocking the carbs and sugar from her meal while allowing her body to utilize the protein in the meal.
Oprahs Workout-Weights, Weights, and More Weights!
To get Oprahs metabolism humming again, I would prescribe 2 workouts a day for the first 2 weeks, to really jump start her metabolism.
raising her metabolism twice a day would help in waking up her dormant metabolism.
After 2 weeks, I would then shift to my www.FitnessModelProgram.com workout, where the emphasis is on weight training.
No running, and no cardio-based workouts for her, as she needs to not lose weight with the quick "band-aid approach". Yes you can lose instant weight with cardio, but it’s mostly water weight and you are only burning off muscle. So when Oprah works out with weights, she can get longer lasting results with weight training:
