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Ever feel like Oprah when it comes to trying to lose weight? Fat, skinny, fat, skinny, fat. Oprah, like many of us, is a true yo-yo queen.

In 1991 I lost forty pounds, mainly because I fast-walked, roller-bladed, or rode my bicycle at least four or five times a week. But the next winter, I let my exercise program slip. Over the next three years I gained back those pounds. Every time I looked at my exercise bike I shuddered and walked right past it.

In January of 1996, I heard that it takes three weeks to make a habit. So I decided to get back on that exercise bike at least three times a week for three weeks to see if I could, indeed, get back into the exercise habit. Sure enough, by the end of the third week I didn’t even have to drag myself downstairs to that bike. It became automatic. Get up. Get my youngest child off to school. Fix a cup of tea. Then downstairs to watch the news while I rode six or eight miles on the stationary bike. It was a routine I looked forward to.

As soon as the warmer weather hit I took my act on the road…fast-walking in the beautiful outdoors. But it didn’t last. I simply hadn’t done any of it every single day, long-enough to make it a true habit.

For the next dozen years I went up and down the scale in five pound increments. Winter would hit and I’d gain. Summertime I’d be more active and lose. It’s still a struggle. But you know what? I’ve stopped trying so hard. I know I have to exercise 3-5 times a week. And I do...usually six days a week. Now that I live in Florida with two swimming pools right across the street and mild enough weather to bike nearly every day all year long, there simply are no more excuses. I know I have to eat healthy foods, lots of fresh veggies especially. And I do. I know I have to eat smaller portions and stop eating so many sweets. I’m trying. But I’m not obsessing about it anymore.

I’m tired of seeing Oprah’s fat-skinny-fat-skinny photos in the magazines. I’ve decided to like myself just the way I am. Healthy, but with a few bulges here and there.

The Good Life

Imagine what it was like for me, a faint-of-pocketbook single parent, to spend four days at a famous resort spa in Arizona where the rooms cost $475 to $3200 a night. My friend Marsha, who invited me as her guest, and 65 others won the four-day vacation by filling out a sweepstakes form in the grocery store .

I never wanted to leave the 6000 square feet of pools at the spa. The minute you arrived, Greg or Dan, the pool workers, would bring a fitted terrycloth sheet, wrap it around your cushioned lounge chair and hand you a plush 5-foot-long bath towel as he deposited a glass of ice water on your table. Every 15 minutes he’d refill your glass to make sure you didn't get dehydrated in the dessert air. Later, ice-cold wet wash cloths arrived, rolled up on a silver tray for brow dabbing. Next, a silver tray of skewered fruit.

We contest people were treated to meals that must have been copied out of Gourmet Magazine and flown in special, perhaps on the Concorde. We also received five free spa treatments, each valued at $105-$195.

The funny thing about this dream world was the fact that as the entire staff served, smoothed, soothed, coddled, cooed and spoiled us rotten it became clear that they were enjoying our group of spa winners as much as we gushed thank-you's at them for everything.

On the first day, John, one of the waiters, said, "We're not supposed to talk to our guests more than 30 seconds at a time. Rich people want to be served and left alone. But we couldn't wait until your group got here."

"Why?" I asked, knowing the staff wouldn’t be receiving extravagant tips from our group.

"Because you're real people, that's why. Like us. Down to earth. We're going to have a blast."

And so we did. We ordinary, contest entering folks who visited paradise for a few short days, were grateful and humble enough to show our gratitude, not with money, but with kindness and friendship…a life lesson I was happy to relearn.