It seems like everyone has heard Oprah has fallen off her weight-maintenance waggon. It has been reported she is up to 200 pounds and mad at herself for her weight gain. Honestly, it can be a good lesson for we “mere mortals” that maintaining weight loss is a challenge. Even those with all the tools and resources to be successful can have difficulty maintaining weight loss. What is the biggest lesson to learn from Oprah’s slip? That maintaining weight loss is all about what goes on in your head – its not about the food.

Oprah had the good fortune to have a chef, trainer, etc. and a whole lot of people watching her gain and lose weight. Talk about accountability! But, if she, just like everyone else, didn’t have her head in the game of maintaining her weight, it just wasn’t going to happen. Maintaining your weight or weight loss is hard work. It is something you have to think about a vast majority of times you go to put something in your mouth – be it food or drink. There are a rare few people who have high metabolism and/or the ability to not have to think about what they eat and can seem to eat anything and everything without putting on an ounce. For the vast majority of the rest of us, it is something we have to think about all the time.

Fair? No. . . but, “fair” doesn’t matter. If you want to lose weight or maintain your weight, you have to do what your body needs to be at a healthy weight. It is irrelevant to your body what someone else’s body can or can’t do. And, you have to keep your head in the weightloss/weight maintenance game.

So, the next time you reach for that cookie, keep your head in the game and ask yourself “is this helping me reach my goal?” Then, make a decision whether to eat or drink it or not and take responsibility for the outcome of that decision.