Mark my words people; you are about to see a huge shift in the “weight loss” industry.

Yesterday’s Oprah Winfrey show is going to completely change how people (mostly women) approach weight loss.

Soon, every diet book and weight loss program is going to include some form of psycho/spiritual approach to determine the hidden motivations behind your extra flab.

All because of this.

Wow, you really have to hand it to Oprah.

It takes a lot of guts (no pun intended) to get up in front of millions of people and talk about the 40+ pounds that you have packed on in the past year.

And now, we’re all going to be watching to see if her quest for balance is going to help her drop that weight and whip that soon to be 55 year old body of hers into shape.

So, What’s the Plan?

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Unlike past attempts at weight loss, Oprah isn’t simply diving into another Bob Greene approved diet and weight loss program.

Before she even begins to change her lifestyle, Oprah had to take a long, hard look at the emotions behind her weight gain.

And in her own words:

“It’s not about the food. It’s about using food—abusing food,” she says. “Too much work. Not enough play. Not enough time to come down. Not enough time to really relax.”

Over time, she discovered what she was really hungry for. “I am hungry for balance,” she says. “I’m hungry to do something other than work.”

And as the new year gets off to a fresh start, Oprah is making the commitment to have more joy and balance in 2009. “This is the year of hopefulness,” she says.

Oprah’s says her new goal isn’t to be thin.

“My goal is to be the weight that my body can hold and be healthy and strong and fit and be itself.”

Healthy and strong and fit…sounds good.

So, once again I ask, what’s the plan?

Oprah's New Plan

• Oprah is scheduling time in her schedule for “me” time. Insteading of booking back to back meetings, photo shoots, television show tapings, Oprah and her assistant are making sure to include scheduled workouts, meals and other self-care activities.
• Oprah is also scheduling her nutrition for the week. In fact, in the video, we see Oprah’s detailed weekly food schedule taped to one of the cupboards in her office kitchen.
• Her nutrition plan involves 5 daily meals based around chicken, fish and vegetables.
• Her exercise plan has been altered by reducing the amount of cardio-vascular training and replacing it with an increased amount of strength training.

And of course, Oprah wants YOU to jump on board:

But before you rush out and buy overy Bob Greene “Best Life” approved health & fitness product on the market, Oprah and Bob want you to answer 5 little questions:

1. Why are you overweight?
2. What are you really hungry for?
3. Why have you been unable to maintain weight loss in the past?
4. What in your life is not working?
5. Why do you want to lose weight?

And Oprah doesn’t want to see any obvious, surface answers like…”I am overweight because I like to eat donuts while watching re-runs of the Oprah Winfrey show.”

Dig a little deeper people…we expect some tears and some truly deep personal insights.

Click here for your official “Bob Greene’s 5 Questions” Workbook

In Conclusion

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• I think that Oprah’s massive social influence is going to cause a huge change in the weight loss industry.
• I think that for effective weight loss, most of us do need to look beyond diets and exercise and look at how our emotions and thoughts affect our eating and exercise habits.

• However, I also think that Oprah and Bob’s approach may prove to be too simplistic to be effective. To be fair, they are marketing this program to millions and millions of people. This makes it a little tough to personalize.
• I also think that Oprah gave the impression that since she has done the emotional work to discover her need for balance, she is on the path to effective weight loss and improved health. I think that she may be in for a few rude surprises along the way.
• And I think that her buddy Bob knows that. Where Oprah seemed supremely confident about her chances of success, Bob seemed a bit more circumspect about the whole affair. This earned him huuuuge points in my estimation – for what that’s worth.

In tomorrow’s post, I am going to lay out the approach that I use with my training clients to help them achieve their “Best Life” _tm.

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• Diet Book Confidential…The Oprah Winfrey / Bob Greene Edition
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• 2009 Fitness Trends

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