Blogs and Stories
The Great Binge
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Oprah’s raw confession (she gained 40 pounds!) strikes a chord with a nation reeling from the consequences of overindulgence and excessive consumption.
Oprah is technically always the cover subject of her magazine, O, but rarely does she reveal anything more than a bright new twin-set. In her newest issue, however, she acknowledges what anyone watching her show has probably noticed. She’s gained a few. Well, more than a few. Forty pounds, to be exact. And in a rather raw article, she admits that when she reached her goal weight a few years ago, her cockiness about her diet led her to feel invincible.
Oprah having a muffin top is not the same as a family losing their home—but the cravings that caused her to overindulge on éclairs are not so different from the ones that led us to binge on SUVs.
Oprah's story of overindulgence strikes an eerie chord in a nation struggling with the consequences of a massive credit binge. Oprah isn’t seriously damaged by the economy of course; the O empire is probably one of the few left in this country that John McCain could have legitimately referred to as fundamentally sound. But “just like us,” as Us Weekly would say, she’s spent the last few years gorging to the detriment of her overall health. While we we’re buying Jimmy Choos and Rolexes we couldn’t really afford, Oprah was apparently chowing down on carbs and sugar she didn’t really need.
It crept up on her, Oprah explains, after a thyroid imbalance made working out more difficult. Anxious and depressed about a couple of extra pounds, she spiraled into a familiar cycle. “It seemed as if the struggle I'd had with weight my entire adult life was now officially over. I felt completely defeated. I thought, ‘I give up. I give up. Fat wins.’” And isn’t the feeling of “screw it” you get when you find you can’t stop on a can of Pringles you’ve popped pretty much the same as the “screw it” feeling you experience when you’re at the counter of Bloomingdales buying a $500 red Blahniks? You know, because you already maxed out that other credit card buying the red Chloe bag? And so, what difference does it make now? Whatevs…
Every one of us, regardless of fortune, is subject to a personal economy of guilt and pleasure, and the laws of supply and demand are not so different from the dynamic of calories in-calories out.
Oprah explains that “Falling off the wagon isn't a weight issue; it's a love issue.” The point is, that despite her money, her mansion in Maui, and the lifestyle that has made pumping gas a mystery (she admitted on her “Road Trip” special last year that she hasn’t had to do it for herself since 1983—but who’s counting?) Oprah has an emotional void. And like Americans from every walk of life, she’s learned to substitute stuff for love. While the middle class spent the last few years trying to self-soothe by buying cashmere-iPoddy things that should have been off limits, Oprah, who has all that crap, had to reach for something else.
For Oprah, the damage was ultimately forty pounds, as she now admits to feeling “like a fat cow” at over two hundred big ones. For us, the numbers went the other way, but with no less shame. Bloated debt turned into lost life savings. The results are obviously different in scale—Oprah having a muffin top is not the same as a family losing their home—but the cravings that caused her to overindulge on éclairs (I’m only guessing on that detail) are not so different from the ones that led us to binge on SUVs.
Oprah concludes that her latest chub-battle has led her to adjust her weight objective. She’s no longer striving to be thin, she says, but simply to balance health with giving herself “the love and care” she needs. So 2009 finds Oprah and the rest of the country adjusting to a new resolve. None of us, no matter what the size of our wallets, can be perfect. But when we waver from our budgets, we’ll be downsizing our indulgences. For Oprah, that might mean a cookie instead of a whole cake; for the rest of us, perhaps a movie instead of an Escalade.
Jessi Klein is a writer and comedian who has frequently appeared on Comedy Central, CNN, VH1, and the Today show. She is currently writing a screenplay for Universal Studios, as well as occasionally drawing animals for her best friend's letterpress card company. She also likes to think she has value as a human being aside from her numerous credits in the entertainment industry.
Stars Celebrate the Super Bowl
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Moving Out of Cougar Town
Jessi Klein is a writer and comedian who has frequently appeared on Comedy Central, CNN, VH1, and the Today show. She also likes to think she has value as a human being aside from her numerous credits in the entertainment industry.
TV's Funniest Frenemies
Jessi Klein is a writer and comedian who has frequently appeared on Comedy Central, CNN, VH1, and the Today show. She also likes to think she has value as a human being aside from her numerous credits in the entertainment industry.
The World's Most Dangerous Comedian
Jessi Klein is a writer and comedian who has frequently appeared on Comedy Central, CNN, VH1, and the Today show. She also likes to think she has value as a human being aside from her numerous credits in the entertainment industry.
Vlasta
I think she looks gorgeous with the additional weight, and weak and underweight in the other photo.
roomypantleg
It seems to me that Klein is using our economic crisis as a very inneffective way to talk about Oprah's weight gain. If you want to focus on Oprah's weight, just do it--don't try to link it to a social crisis. This site is struggling to define its purpose--many of us are fed up with gossip and celebrity postings. Please stop it. And by the way, Oprah is a beautiful and fabulous woman--who cares how much she weighs?
gasparutto
I think the metaphor would hold up better if, in her everyday life, O couldn't eat less than 4000 calories each day. Restrictions on income for the rest of us made us turn to credit, not for $500 shoes, but for $500 required courses for work, $500 set of tires for the van, $500 total Christmas budget for a family of 4. Seriously, we've been bingeing on being middle class. Idiot.
RawhideRex
What really gets my goat is that we ONCE AGAIN have to listen to stories about Oprah's weight gain during a time when people are losing their jobs left and right. Seems like her weight is an issue every few years or so. No...her eating habits have nothing to do with the average american and their spending habits. She isnt average...but she sure as sh*t is lazy. Simple as that.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
esthergrondahl
I am very impressed with this article. I agree with the comparisons of americans overindulging in things we can't afford to fulfill some feeling of worthiness.
It's amazing how many friends I know that have been buying things they can't afford for a while. Well done. Thank you.
susumar
I agree with those saying they're sick of having to read about Oprah's weight issues once again, especially in light of everything else going on in this country. But, I must admit, that it also makes me angry the way Oprah always tries to "simplify" issues with such statements that she just has to focus on giving herself the love and care she needs. Millions of women appear to hang on Oprah's every word and life isn't that simple/easy. It would seem that Oprah has very strong pyschological issues with her weight which maybe she should be addressing on a deeper level (I'm not a doctor).
How come hardly anyone comments on this site? Because it's new? Daily Beast - you need to do something about this.
Veronicaxy
Props to this woman for all that she has accomplished and what she's worked to model to the world -- success and failures her intentions are to help improve our connections to God, ourselves, this planet and I'm glad she's around. I don't have to agree with her ('The Secret').
That said, I used to love watching Oprah until it appeared she was competing with her interviewees for smarts on a topic or dropping names in the middle of an interview to interject her power - it always diminished the attention on the other person. And every month she's got to pontificate about 'what she knows'.
Maybe, just maybe, its time to do something she knows nothing about and be a beginner again and live life rather than have to analyze and report out on how powerful and knowing she is. It's got to be tough on the soul to feel like you have to be in charge and control of so much.
mdesade
Yes- some people are genetically predsiposed to being overweight- but that is a very slim minority. The bulk of fat people are just lacking in determination to shed it- so either do something about it or accept and love yourself. If you have tried to in the past, but have regained weight- a new program or diet is not the answer, but a new and permanent mindset is.
Only in a country as affluent as ours do we spend so much time on weight issues- there is a whole industry set up on people's fears, self loathing, and lack of will power. Just beacsue we are not caught up with day to day survival that we feel the need to indulge in the decadent luxury of determining the psychology of weight gain. Those are excuses- check the calories you are ingesting and then compare it to the calories that you are expending- the answer might surprise you more than you imagine!
funkychicken
I agree with those who see this as an interesting analogy of over-indulgence -- whether it's food, vehicles, clothes, or our own opinions. And, of course, Madison Ave. happily obliges this illusion of choice and abundance. We have become a nation of self-centered infants, screaming "give me, give me, mine, mine." Ever watch an Oprah audience react to the pablum handed out on her show?
finderj
Ok, this is a matter of perspective. Women over 5'8" who weigh under 125 are NOT the norm for the human genotype. People who make over a million dollars a year who went into massive debt buying real estate and high-risk stocks and bonds are NOT the norm. The average woman is around 5'5" and weighs between 130 and 150. The average American makes between $40 and $75 a year, and supports a family on that income. Do Americans need an extravagent lifetsyle? No. But people supporting a family of four on less than $40K a year aren't extravagent. They are surviving. Barely. One cannot compare Oprah's financial position with that of the average American, nor can one compe her weight issues with those of the average woman. Apples and oranges. Ms. Winfrey has enough money to hire personal trainers, chefs, buy in-home gyms and whatever else she wants or needs to deal with her weight issues. She can afford the very best psychotherapy, vacation time, travel time - in short, anything that she wants or needs to deal with this issue. She has no concrete financial worries, like whether she will have to decide between electricty or groceries. The average woman might be able to make better nutritional choices, but in dealing with her weight issues, she has little coice but to do it all herself. The average American suffering through this financial downturn is struggling to just pay the dern bills. Please don't patronize those of us working our butts off just to pay the rent, the utilities, the phone bill, and maybe, if we are very lucky, cable television, by comparing our situation to Oprah's.
sjburris
The country's fascination with Oprah is symptomatic of something; I don't know what exactly, but her apologists are so strident in their defense, so impassioned in their responses, that I've long stopped asking questions in an attempt to understand the phenomenon.
JeepRover
"It crept up on her, Oprah explains, after a thyroid imbalance made working out more difficult" - DB
Get real-I should say the same too. We're lazy and complacent. That is what my problem is and that is what her problem is. Excuses, Excuses.
I don't so much mind the blogs on here, as the take. Don't be so serious about a woman that has constantly had a weight issue since she got in TV. When I first heard about her sudden weight gain I thought, "What's the news here? She's thin, she's fat. What year is it?" We shouldn't be making excuses for laziness. I don't, but I don't complain about it either. I can't wait for all of these self-important idiots to fall by the wayside. I think America is finally waking up from its long slumber and we are not going to be told what to believe anymore.
Toodles, Oprah.
-JP
BagofChips
The hubris here is hilarious. Sorry, Daily Beast and whoever this Jessi Klein person is, I've never maxed out my credit cards on cute shoes and handbags nor have most of the people I know. Dental work, new tires for the car and an unexpected trip to the ER (and yes, I have health insurance) are more like it. Get a clue.
lakylady
I think the analogies outlined by Jessi Klein strike a balance between commentary and entertainment. Who wants to read another story on the economy? We're all hurting and we all know why.
This isn't a gossip article and it isn't trying to solve our problems by looking to Oprah's answers. What I took this article to be was a way to glimpse inside our own minds, and for each of us to find the source of our own problems. I haven't watched Oprah in years, but I appreciate the role she plays in the country. She serves as an example to all of us that no matter where we excel or fail, we can always strive to be better. And the first step in bettering ourselves is to identify the reasons we stumble.
Additionally, I think this site tries to strike that balance between commentary and entertainment. Look at the article comparing Blogo to Tony Soprano. Or the regular articles from a former Project Runway contestant. I like the variety here, especially Ms. Klein's perspective. And for those who are looking for just the news, it's pretty easy to pick out which articles are lighter than others. Or save yourself the hassle and just read CNN.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.