Oprah Winfrey has finally admitted that she used weight loss drugs to achieve her dramatic body transformation – after previously denying ever taking Ozempic or similar weight loss drugs.
The 69-year-old host, who has been dogged by rumors for years that she is using medical aids to lose weight, said she is coming to terms with it as she is “done with the embarrassment” after losing more than 40 pounds in recent months pounds lost.
The admission came after Winfrey said during a conversation with WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani that she would not take Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs because she viewed them as an “easy way out.”
She told People: “I use it now as I feel I need to, as a way to cope without yo-yoing” – but didn't name the drug she uses.
“The fact that there is a doctor-approved prescription to control my weight and stay healthier during my lifetime feels like a relief, like a redemption, like a gift and not something I hide behind and still “I have to make fun of it once.”
“I’m completely done with being shamed by other people and especially myself.”
Oprah Winfrey has finally admitted that she used weight loss drugs for her dramatic body transformation – after previously denying that she would ever take Ozempic or similar weight loss drugs (pictured left on December 6 and right in 2009).
The 69-year-old host, who has been dogged by rumors for years that she is using medical aids to lose weight, said she was putting an end to it as she was “done with the embarrassment” after losing weight in recent months Lost 40 pounds (pictured last week).
The star revealed that she took the medication before Thanksgiving because she knew she would be “eating right for two weeks,” and credits the medication with helping her gain only half a pound instead of eight pounds, adding, that it “calms the noise of food.”
Winfrey said she is now seven pounds away from her goal weight of 160 pounds, but said, “It's not about the number.”
She said knee surgery in 2021 provided the impetus for her to improve her health and live a “more vibrant and vibrant life.”
The broadcasting icon said she now eats her last meal at 4 p.m., drinks a gallon of water daily, and uses WeightWatchers principles of point-keeping in addition to regular hikes.
She said: “I had an awareness of it [weight-loss] medication, but I felt like I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. Now I don't feel that way anymore.'
Winfrey said she was encouraged to use medical medications for weight loss after July's recorded panel discussion with weight loss experts and doctors – which led to her “biggest aha moment.” The conversation was published online in September and Winfrey strenuously denied that she would ever take weight loss medication.
She said: “I realized that I had been blaming myself for being overweight all these years, and I have a disposition that no amount of willpower can control.” Obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower – it's about the brain.
During the discussion, the experts emphasized that obesity is a metabolic disease in which some bodies are “more prone to storing more fat” – also known as adipose tissue.
The star moderated a panel discussion in front of a live audience in New York City as part of Oprah Daily's “The Life You Want” series, during which she denied that she would ever take weight-loss medication
Oprah candidly stated, “For those of us who store fat, no matter how often…you've all watched me diet and diet and diet and diet, it's a recurring thing because my body keeps wanting to go back up to.” a certain weight.'
She added: “If I ate an apple pie at 11 o'clock at night, I would be two pounds heavier in the morning. 'I can't eat anything after a certain amount of time.'
The TV personality, who claimed she had “yo-yoed her whole life”, later said: “This is a world that forever shames people for being overweight and all of us who have lived through this know “that people just treat you differently.” They just do it.
“And I'm Oprah Winfrey and I know everything that comes with it and I'm treated differently when I'm 200 pounds over and under 200 pounds…
“There is a condescension. There is a stigma.'
Oprah said the key was to have friends and partners around you who offered support and “rejoiced in the victory.”
After a more detailed discussion of the weight loss drugs currently available – including Ozempic and Wegovy – the media mogul said: “Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you take on?” That should be your choice.
Throughout her decade-long weight loss journey, Oprah has never shied away from discussing her struggles publicly. Pictured in 1988 (left) and 1992 (right)
“One of the things that I was so ashamed of, and even when I first heard about the weight loss medications, I had to have knee surgery at the same time and I felt like, 'I have to do this.' Taking drugs is the easy way out.
“Part of me feels like I have to do it the hard way, I have to keep climbing the mountains, I have to keep suffering – like I think a lot of people feel after bariatric surgery,” and I have to do because otherwise I would somehow have cheated myself.'
She concluded: “As a person who has been shamed for so many years.” [about my weight]“I’m just tired of it.”
The star said after that conversation, she let go of her “own shame” and consulted her doctor, who prescribed the weight loss drug.
Her weight problems began in 1976 when she got her first “big job” at the age of 22.
The then-148-pound reporter said she found it difficult to cope with the immense pressure placed on her and began binging on things like “corn dogs,” “chocolate chip cookies” and fast food from the mall food court to suppress their emotions and “numb their negative feelings.”
Her weight soon rose to over 200 pounds and she began trying “every diet known to woman.”
Winfrey has been extremely honest with fans every step of the way, sharing even the most intimate details about her relationship with her body and her “food addiction.” Pictured in 1990
In 1988, just two years after The Oprah Winfrey Show launched, the TV legend revealed in an episode that she had lost 37 pounds in four months thanks to an all-liquid diet – and celebrated by carrying a cart full of fat the stage rolled
In 1988, just two years after The Oprah Winfrey Show launched, the TV legend revealed on an episode of her show that she had lost 67 pounds in four months thanks to an all-liquid diet.
In reality, she later revealed that she was “starved” and messed up her “metabolism,” which ultimately led to her gaining it all back and then some pretty quickly.
In the early 1990s, the self-confessed yo-yo dieter was at her heaviest at 237 pounds and felt “so ashamed” to have “joined the ranks of the perpetually overweight” that she said she could barely fit people in eyes see.
She remembered feeling like a “big, fat failure.” But after connecting with a personal trainer at a spa in Colorado, he inspired her to turn things around.
For years, Oprah's weight fluctuated. With the help of her new trainer, the weight dropped to 160 pounds by 2006, but within two years it rose back to 200 pounds.
At the time, she said that a number of health issues were to blame for the weight gain, admitting that she was once again feeling “down” and was on the verge of “giving up” and letting “the fat win.”
However, in 2015, she partnered with the company Weight Watchers and said she lost 40 pounds within a year through the program.
But she suffered another setback in late 2021 when Oprah revealed in January 2022 that she was undergoing a diet “reset” after consuming quite a bit over the holidays.