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“Oprah: Tragic Reason Her Weight Is Out of Control” – a tabloid that appeared on the cover in 1992 and featured an unflattering image of the then-rising TV icon. The following year, the same publication dubbed the talk show host a “weight loss cheat” after she rapidly lost weight.
For over three decades, Oprah Winfrey's body has been the subject of continued media fascination, in part because of her openness about her weight loss struggles and successes.
In the 1990s, she publicly embraced yo-yo dieting and the fad, and this week she revealed to People magazine that she takes prescription weight-loss medication “to avoid yo-yo dieting.” .
Winfrey, 69, said that after knee surgery in 2021, she “worked so damn hard” to control her weight through exercise and counting points on WeightWatchers. Winfrey is involved in the wellness company WW and is a member of the board.
After a panel discussion with health experts in July, she added a weight-loss drug to her holistic health and fitness program, she told People.
Winfrey said she realized then that “she had a predisposition” to gain weight “that no amount of willpower can control.”
“Obesity is a disease,” she said. “It’s not about willpower – it’s about the brain.”
Oprah hasn't named the weight-loss drugs she takes, but drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have become household names in recent years due in part to clever marketing and advertising on social media and pop culture.
Originally approved to treat diabetes, semaglutide (Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) were also effective in reducing weight in patients who took them. Wegovy, a higher dose of semaglutide, has been approved for “chronic weight control in adults with general obesity or overweight” along with diet and exercise, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Research shows that these self-administered weekly injection medications result in an average reduction in body weight of 15 to 22 percent.
Winfrey hasn't said how much weight she's lost since starting weight-loss medication, but she told People that she now weighs 167 pounds.
Oprah's diagnosis of hypothyroidism
Winfrey has documented the number of pounds she has lost and gained, writing in her O magazine in January 2009 that she weighed 237 pounds in 1992 and 160 pounds in 2005, and that her weight has fluctuated over the years.
In the article, she wrote that in 2007 she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism – a condition in which the body produces too little thyroid hormone and has a variety of symptoms, including sluggishness and weight gain.
She wrote that hypothyroidism and obesity felt “like a prison sentence.” At one point, Winfrey was taking three medications for high blood pressure, heart palpitations and hypothyroidism, but was still gaining weight.
“I felt completely defeated,” she wrote. “I thought, ‘I give up. I give up. Fat wins.'”
Diet and exercise for weight loss
Winfrey said she tried many ways to lose weight, including diet and exercise.
On her website, she said she had fallen victim to “pretty much every diet scam the woman knows – anything that was a quick fix.” She admits to having starved herself at certain points in her life and becoming addicted to food to cope with sadness.
In 1988, in a famous move she later regretted, Winfrey dragged out a red wagon filled with 67 pounds of animal fat to represent the amount of weight she had rapidly lost in preparation for her producer's wedding. She told her talk show audience that she took “a liquid protein quickly under medical supervision.” She talked about not cheating on her fast for six weeks, saying, “If I can do it, anyone can.”
Winfrey has also tried to reduce her weight through exercise. She has discussed her cardio workouts and strength training on various platforms, including her website and the Super Soul podcast.
Winfrey ran her first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, in 1994 with a time of 4 hours, 29 minutes and 15 seconds, achieving 8,210 of 12,716 goals.
But over the years her weight fluctuated and despite her personal trainers, private chefs and team of doctors, she felt “like a big fat failure”.
People magazine has a running list of celebrities — including Elon Musk, Chelsea Handler and Sharon Osborne — who have spoken both positively and negatively about the reclassified weight-loss drugs.
Winfrey is the only Black female celebrity on the list who says she also takes this type of medication.
Obesity experts say African-American women have the highest obesity rates in the nation. Although some people use these drugs for vanity reasons, according to TheGrio, there is a real medical need for these drugs, which can be life-changing and life-saving for Black Americans.
Winfrey says the prescription medications she takes today “feel like relief, like redemption, like a gift.”
She drinks a liter of water every day, hikes and, thanks to the drug, can eat in moderation without starving. She said it's part of what she uses to live a healthy lifestyle.
“I know that if I don't exercise and pay attention to all the other things, it won't work for me,” she told People.
Winfrey said she had “let go of my own shame about it.”
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