Lemondrop

Writer, yoga instructor and performance artist Robyn Okrant spent 2008 "Living Oprah." She followed every bit of Winfrey's advice, blogged about it and then wrote a book about it.

Okrant was inspired to start the project when she noticed how ubiquitous Oprah was. (It doesn't hurt that Okrant lives in Chicago, the epicenter of O-mania.)

"I thought of all people in the media, Oprah is spreading this idea of how women can live their best lives," Okrant says. "I was a little bothered by it. I felt defensive for women. I thought, Well, who's putting this to the test?"

Now Okrant has published "Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk," a memoir of her experience. We talked to her about the book and her experience following Winfrey's whims and wisdom. Here's a hint: It was a lot harder than you'd think it would be. As Okrant told us, "I had no idea it was going to be 24/7 Oprah."

LD: Have there been any surprising reactions to the book?
The biggest surprise to me is that Oprah's uber-fans are not very happy with me. I mention this in the book, but a lot of people think she's above critique. I really tried to be as fair and even-handed as possible, and I even point out that I do admire her very much. I was surprised that they felt as if I was attacking, because I didn't feel that way at all. Oh well.

It seems as if some of her super-fans are almost brainwashed.
It makes me really, really sad. The interesting thing is that Oprah never says, "Follow me. Give away all your possessions and follow." She's preaching a sort of empowerment, but there's something that's not connecting entirely. The umbilical cord never gets cut, and her audience keeps coming back for more and more.

Did you ever do some kind of "Oprah detox" in the beginning of 2009, once the project was over?
I thought once the year ended, I'd flip a switch and it would be over, and I thought I'd be able to shake it all off. But, because of writing the book and doing press, it wasn't until now that I'm finally detoxing.

I'm taking some really specific steps. Oprah is so focused on women's bodies -- what size everyone is, how much weight did you lose, what label is that, who makes those -- that I became so fixated. I think I say this a lot in the book, too. I became so self-conscious that I almost couldn't stand to be in my own skin for part of the time during the year.

I have set up these little projects for myself this year. The first one I'm doing is that I'm cutting all the tags out of my clothes. I was almost a size 18/20 at one point, and I'm certainly not that anymore, but I'm obsessed with my clothing sizes. I'm going to have no designer labels, no sizes. I want a completely democratic closet, so that I can remove the ego from what I wear.

Do you still watch the show?
Today, I watched half the show. I watched it when Sarah Palin was on because I was curious, and when Whitney Houston was on. I'm watching the big shows, but I'm not watching very often.

What habits did you keep from the project?
I would say there are two big ones for me: Oprah was always talking about clarity and how we should not let fear make us put our heads in the sand about finances, health, relationships.

My biggie when the year started was financial fear. I didn't know my credit score. I had to find it out, and it was fine. The fear was one thing that kept me from knowing. The whole thing about "knowledge is power" is what I've probably owned since the project has ended.

The other thing is hands-on philanthropy. It's not so much always writing a check, but giving your time and energy to organizations you believe in. For me that's been really important, too, so I've been doing a lot of book drives. I'm very passionate about books and reading.

What tip/trick are you glad never to do again?
I'm never going to wear that white denim jacket again. [It was one of Oprah's "wardrobe must-haves."] That's the first thing to go to charity. I actually feel guilty that there could be a homeless person in this horrible white denim jacket. I feel like I owe someone a better coat.