As soon as Oprah announced her show was coming to an end speculation began as to who was going to take her place. Whom would they find to fill the void for the many women who tuned in diligently day after day?

When she first started out there was no shortage of daytime talk shows (thank you Maury , Sally Jesse, Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer for the variety in programming) but in recent years daytime TV has fallen off a bit.

It’s now mostly court shows, the news and soap operas. And we know now that our most beloved and longest running soap operas are coming to an end as well.

What is the world coming to???? No more All My Children or One Life to Live??

So with Oprah leaving the stage along with several soaps, how were stay at home moms, retired women and the like supposed to cope? What would women the world over do without her positive affirmations, upbeat attitude and plentiful giveaways? Sure there are other shows like Ellen and Dr. Phil but those tend to pale in comparison to the almighty O.

The View is always entertaining and lively but it’s more of a news and views format and lacks that feel good, warm fuzzy feeling that Oprah gave to so many. It was like have a soul searching chat full of belly laughs with your best friend. Every. single. day.

Suddenly, there are a new crop of shows that have crept onto the radar this past year that are slowly trying to claim the hearts of the big O’s former audience. Shows like The Talk, The Chew and most recently…. The Revolution.

All three of these shows aim to create an atmosphere of camaraderie amongst their audiences. They are trying desperately to re-create the formula that worked so well for Ms. Winfrey.

Be personable,be relatable, show positive results, give things away, be funny and most of all be a place of solace. A place where a woman wants to curl up on her couch with a cup of coffee and watch. Or fold laundry and laugh. Or feed a nursing baby and become inspired.

And I think the three of them combined are doing a swell job. But the competing time slots lets me know that one of these is not going to be around for too long.

The Talk is too similar to The View.

The Chew is funny but it lacks that magical ‘aha!’ moment Ms. Winfrey was so famous for.

The Revolution may be the closest thing to Oprah as there are a variety of  individual specialists that each bring something to the table.

But none of them are her. Not a single one can hold its own against her.  None of them give me that same zest for life that she provided.

She truly was/ is an inspiration and something of a phenomenon.

The encouragement to “live your best life” is unparalleled and somewhat forced in the shows that have since cropped up.

And I wonder will day time TV ever be the same?

You can read more of Amber’s musings here

And like so many other Americans I’m intrigued by the state of the union which I find myself compelled to watch each time. It’s very interesting to see how my generation is affected by politics in this day and age.

However, I’ve noticed a few things: there are certain people whom every time the President speaks, choose to remain stoic. No matter what he’s said. Valid point or not, they refuse to even acknowledge him as our leader. They yell out and boo ideas they don’t agree with and to me that seems a bit childish. Aren’t these representatives supposed to (at the very least) put on a unified front for the American public?

There is also a great divide within the two parties that makes it difficult to obtain the kind of reform that is so necessary for our country to survive. These types of occasions only make the dissent that much more apparent. But I still tune in every time to see what the responses and reactions will be.

Its always interesting to see on which side your friends tend to side with. The post political Facebook rants leave me particularly intrigued as you can see a direct correlation between the issues in Washington and how they have skewed the public’s view of the American president. And, as much as I hate to say it, racial divisions.

It seems our current POTUS is quite the polarizing figure. And I must say it humors me to no end. The anti-Obama slurs, speeches and rants. The “facts” about his presidency and how he single handedly has destroyed the country. It’s sad but an interesting study in today’s culture.

I’ll admit I voted for him. Not because he’s black and so am I. I voted for him because I truly believed (and still do) that he has the country’s best interest in his heart. I do not believe he is pushing his own agenda as much as past presidents and I do believe that he has done his absolute best to work within the constraints of his office and the party divisions in Washington.

I could sit here and spew facts and figures about what he’s done versus what they say he has/hasn’t but that’s not my style.

No mine is to sit back, observe and watch as it all plays out on a national level.  And to pray. Pray for our country and where we are going. For the people in charge and their daily struggles.

Pray that we, as a people, are able to see how divided we have become simply because of the color of a man’s skin, his funny sounding name, and his desire to ‘meet in the middle’.

No one person is going to encompass all of our ideals. No one man can accomplish that.

But perhaps – we,the people, can reach a middle ground and in that meeting will discover the solution to many of the issues plaguing this great nation.

But if not……then I will just pray for my children. That they will inherit a better life/country/planet and know what to do with the legacy we have left them.

You can read more of Amber’s musings here.

In a Women’s Center, body image is a topic that we tried to shine light on with unswerving regularity. Female student workers, sorority sisters, and women from the campus at large, most at an age where they are figuring out who they are and who they wish to become, are susceptible to all of the negative messages the world throws at them. To combat all the negativity, we held educational programs teaching women about the Photoshopping that happens in magazines. We reminded young women who had grown up with dolls that a real-life Barbie could never happen–because she wouldn’t survive. We offered students the opportunity to create positive-minded postcards that proclaimed what it was about themselves that they loved–instead of what they hated. We did it all.

I have heard, read, and personally disseminated counterculture messages like these for years. I also try very hard to believe them. So you can imagine my surprise when my gynocologist, in the midst of a monologue about all kinds of things that women should do to keep healthy and take care of themselves, said “And you know that women who are overweight are more likely to get breast cancer?”

I nodded in affirmation before–a good 30 seconds later–it clicked with me how smoothly she had just called me overweight.

Sometime after that (and after the Great Baby Incident of 2010), I decided I needed to take charge of my health as she suggested. We purchased a Kinect, which I began using as a regular workout platform, in addition to once- or twice-a-week Zumba classes. I started using MyFitnessPal calorie tracker to increase my awareness of the foods I was eating (in an attempt to make educated choices, rather than grabbing everything I saw in the break room). I began planning more dinner menus and reasonably decreasing meal portions.

Most importantly, I’ve stuck with it. For about 14 months now, I’ve actually been able to maintain a semi-regular workout regimen (3-5 days a week; about 45 minutes to an hour each session) and a more conscientious diet. I’ve lost about 12 pounds and dramatically increased my stamina. Where I once struggled through a few Kinect dances, I can now make it through a full-hour Zumba class with minimal increase to my breathing–and quickly return to normal when the class ends.

My clothes fit better; I feel better; and  generally I’m happier with myself. My weight loss has somewhat stabilized, which suggests that I am getting closer to where I need to be.

Yet every Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator in the world tells me I’ve still got more than 20 pounds to lose.

This topic is always a struggle. I have been making–key word here–sustainable lifestyle changes that have positively impacted my health, but I’m still way off base. Part of me–the feminist part–wants to say “Screw it. I’m perfect the way I am.”

My doctor, on the other hand, would probably disagree. And she’s right, of course. With a simple internet search, I could easily come up with millions of articles that doctors, scientists, and health nuts alike have written to equate being overweight with a myriad of health conditions. Knowing my current shape and past history, I would imagine that no matter what I did, I would never be in danger of becoming underweight, which seems to be the argument that other women, in discussion of this topic, seem to jump to in roundabout self-defense.

The fact that I can even write this post at all is pretty absurd. I mean, think about it. The mere existence of obesity in this country is appalling: People all over the world are starving to death, and we have absolutely no self-control over our overindulgence issues and latte habits. I blame part of this on the insultingly meager regulations on the restaurant industry, but that is a topic for another time.

Regardless, I’m not sure how much more I can do. I can probably step up my workout regimen and decrease fattening foods a bit more, but I don’t have any idea how I can make the kind of drastic lifestyle alterations I would need to in order to drop another 20+ pounds. I won’t buy into trendy diets or the disturbing side effects of weight-loss drugs.

And in the midst of it all, how do I keep my self-esteem in balance? Feminism or fitness? How can women balance it all?