Oprah Winfrey has been body-shamed for decades over her weight. As the media mogul herself puts it in a new People cover story, “it was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years.” But as bad as the tabloids were, Winfrey said the worst part was that “I blamed and shamed myself.” Now, Winfrey’s approach to her body, her health, and her weight focuses on blocking out the pressure and voices, external and internal, including the ones telling her that weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy qualify as “cheating.” In the interview, Winfrey confirms that she’s taking weight-loss medication, and her accepting and matter-of-fact approach to it has us cheering her on.
“I was actually recommending [weight-loss medications] to people long before I was on it myself,” Winfrey tells the outlet. “I had an awareness of [them], but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.”
Letting go of the stigma around the medications took some time, but Winfrey said the “aha moment” came during a panel discussion with weight loss experts and clinicians, which was posted online in September. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control,” she explained.
In realizing that, Winfrey “released my own shame” and, after talking to her doctor, was given a prescription for a weight-loss medication.
She now uses it “as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing [in weight],” Winfrey explained. It’s only one step in the holistic routine Winfrey now has, which includes hiking, using WeightWatchers, drinking “a gallon of water a day,” and eating her last meal at 4 p.m.
“I know everybody thought I was on [a weight-loss medication], but I worked so damn hard,” Winfrey emphasizes. “I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me.”
It’s a refreshing way to look at weight-loss medications, which seemingly been everywhere this year. Opinions on Ozempic, Wegovy, and other weight-loss drugs definitely vary; they come with real medical risks, and some say that their growing popularity, especially among celebrities, signals a return to the idea that thinness is the only acceptable body type. (And all the eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and food struggles that come with that idea.)
On the other hand, people choosing to use these medications for weight loss shouldn’t be shamed or judged for it. Obesity in particular, Winfrey stresses, “is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.” And it’s a disease that has an outsize impact on a person’s health, increasing your risk for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, fertility issues, mental health problems, and more, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Weight-loss drugs are still pretty new to the scene, and we’re still figuring out exactly how they’ll impact our perspectives on weight and body image, but what we do know is that taking these medications is a personal choice, one that none of us have the right to judge.
Winfrey’s take on it: one of calm acceptance and gratitude. “The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” she stated. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
Before you go, check out these inspiring quotes that will change how you think about food:
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