Oprah: My guilty pleasure

Oprah comes on at the craziest time here in Springfield... 10pm! Have you ever heard of it coming on so late? I love it, though. Anyway, last night was about young women with weight problems, each of them being the "fat" one in the family. This is something with which I can kind of relate.

First of all, I hate the word "fat." Hate it, hate it, hate it. If you're in my presence, please don't use it. In fact, don't use it at all. Don't call anyone fat. These girls were definitely overweight... Obese even. However, "fat" is profanity in my book.

Anyway, Oprah had some psychologist on there telling these girls that there were emotional and psychological factors contributing to their weight problem. She said that overweight people are emotionally unbalanced, and they don't overeat because of the food, but because of some external force. In one case, the girl had a dad who constantly told her she needed to lose weight. Every time he would make a comment about her eating habits, she would want to shove another Krispy Kream down her throat. Another girl had assumed the role of "victim" in her family. She became accustomed to blaming her weight on other things and it "not being her fault."

I started thinking about my body and my weight. I tried thinking of some reason why I over-eat sometimes. I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could blame this on something else?" Maybe I could blame it on my bad genes. Everyone in my family has had to deal with being overweight at some point. No. That won't work. Most of them have learned how to eat right and manage it. Maybe I could blame it on stress of school. No. That won't work. I don't get stressed very often. Hmm... that wasn't working very well. I couldn't come up with one single good excuse! Darnit.

I've always been a little bigger than my friends. I've never had tons of weight to lose, but I have always felt the need to be more in shape. College has not been good to me in that sense. I got the Freshman 15, lost it, gained it back, and then got the Sophmore 15. Booh.

This is what it comes down to- I love food. I love it so much that I sometimes lose self-control when it comes to eating. Also, I am lazy. I don't really like to work out. I know what's good and bad for me. I have nothing to blame this on but myself. Bummer.

I've gotta start thinking, "Food doesn't matter. Living healthy does." Lord, help me eat to live, and not the other way around.