No ... I'm not asking if you're painfully bright, wealthy and generous. I'm referring to the Oprah Syndrome as: Having lost and regained enormous amounts of weight more times than you can count. If you've lost a bunch of weight through dieting or just plain old great fitness habits, yet at some point just broke down and regained it all back, you're suffering from Oprah Syndrome.

I've been teaching fitness for 20 years now, and I've dealt with many people suffering the same condition. It's extremely painful to watch, and it's really frustrating for both those going through it and those who love them. I call it Oprah Syndrome because Oprah has made this agonizing situation famous. She has all the means, tools and professionals around to help keep her on track but at some point, she mentally just can't take it.

Gaining five pounds back can be accidental. Gaining 60 to 80+ pounds back is oddly deliberate. She could have hit the breaks when she gained 10, 20 or 30, but she didn't. I believe her issue is emotional, and she simply won't allow herself the life and/or perks that go along with being fit and trim. I'm no psychiatrist, but after doing this about a bazillion times, it's hard not to know the trends.

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I told you the other day why I exercise. It went like this.

• It makes up for the extra calories I eat.
• It fuels my day with energy -- I'm an AM exerciser.
• It motivates me.
• It makes me feel accomplished.
• It makes me feel healthy.
• It makes me feel strong.
• It helps me maintain my weight.
• It's give me time alone.
• It allows me to role model a behavior I hope my kids will embrace.
• It keeps cancer away -- research says five hours of weekly strenuous exercise helps prevent breast cancer recurrence.
  
  

Then I asked: Why do you exercise? Here's what a few of you said.

Why do you exercise?(click thumbnails to view gallery)

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Martha Stewart is the latest in a string of celebrities to sport the milk mustache and says she's all for focusing on milk and forgoing fad diets. Milk gives her the nutrients she needs and helps her maintain a healthy weight. It's always fat-free for this craft gal who believes staying active and eating right are key in her crazy, busy world.

Stewart's favorite way to incorporate milk into her diet is to soak Irish oats in her fat-free variety and then cook to creamy perfection.

Milk has always been a staple for Stewart and her family. Same goes for the milk-mustached celebrities pictured in the gallery below.

To learn how to milk your diet, visit this whymilk.com site.

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Research shows there are at least seven reasons we eat. Hunger isn't always one of them.

• Time
• Sight
• Smell
• Variety
• Temperature
• Refined Carbs
• Alcohol
  
  

For the skinny on these seven, check out the following gallery.

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Yesterday, I published a post citing the fact that 95 percent of those who successfully lose weight somehow go on to regain the unwanted pounds within a few years. Now I've happened upon this statistic: 50 percent of people who start an exercise program quit within the first three to six months.

Hey, it happens. I know. In my combined 37 years on this planet, I've cycled in and out of exercise programs more times than I care to count. And while I seem to be doing OK right now -- I do something fitness-related every day -- there's just no telling what might throw me off my course. That's why I always try to remember why I exercise.

I exercise for energy -- even when I'm tired, I force myself to do something. Inevitably, I feel recharged when I'm done. I exercise for strength -- I want strong bones, strong muscles, arms powerful enough to hoist my littlest growing boy into the air on occasion. I exercise for a lean body -- I've seen results, and I don't want to lose them. I exercise for a healthier heart -- my low resting heart rate always tips off my doctors that I'm challenging myself aerobically. I exercise for peace of mind -- I need to escape the madness of my family unit now and then, and I always feel invigorated when I return home. I exercise to boost my mood, ease my worries, diminish my stress, refocus my thoughts, recharge my spirit, and perhaps most important: To keep breast cancer from paying me a return visit. Recent research links five weekly hours of strenuous exercise to a pretty significant cut in breast cancer risk. That's reason enough for me to keep huffing and puffing.

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Struggling to lose weight? Really want to do it but just finding it impossible? Who isn't! Of course there are the select few successful ones, and it's those people who both inspire and depress the rest of us. What are they doing differently? What do they know that the rest of us don't?

eDiets has compiled a list of 22 reasons you might be fat forever. Now before you get all frustrated and give up because they gave it that title, please read the list. It's pretty simple and straightforward, and most of the things on the list make good sense. It's actually a little inspirational, if you ask me.

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