In an emotional conversation on Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast, Oprah Winfrey has revealed the depth of her struggles with weight loss and body image. The 70-year-old media mogul admitted that she has used medication to maintain her figure and shared how she has grappled with societal judgment and self-acceptance throughout her life.
Winfrey, who is renowned for her candid discussions on a myriad of topics, broke down while recounting her lifelong battle with weight. “I was like whoa it’s not even my fault – all these years, all those diets, all those times I tried, I came back and I tried again and I lost it. I’m climbing up the mountain I’m suffering, I’m starving,” she described, wiping away tears.
A pivotal moment came in 2023 when a doctor informed Winfrey that obesity is a disease, a revelation that shifted her perspective on her struggles. “I’m not my fault,” she said simply. This understanding helped her realize that her difficulty in losing weight was not due to a lack of willpower but rather a biological challenge.
“I’ve done hundreds of shows about weight loss and had I can’t even tell you how many conversations about it but still carry my own shame,” she admitted. “I had a big revelation on that State of Weight on Oprah Daily [in 2023] when [I had] one doctor after another doctor saying obesity is a disease – and I was like ‘I didn’t get that memo.’”
Winfrey explained that her body metabolizes fat differently than others, leading her to constantly revert to a weight that her brain believes it needs to maintain. “No matter what I do I’m always going to go back to the set point that my brain thinks it needs to hold the weight,” she said.
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One of the most extreme measures she took was in 1988 when she famously displayed a cart with 67 pounds of fat after using Optifast and not eating solid food for five months. However, the weight quickly returned. “Three days [after the show] I was five pounds heavier and a week later I was 10 pounds heavier,” she recalled, noting the embarrassment and shame that followed.
Winfrey candidly shared how she avoided social events due to rapid weight gain, feeling “too fat to go.” She recounted a particularly hurtful experience of being labeled “bumpy, lumpy and downright dumpy” on the cover of TV Guide, despite her pride in winning the Bob Hope Award.
“For 25 years, every single week in one form or another there was a tabloid story or some exploitation of my weight – making fun of my weight was a national sport for 25 years,” Winfrey said. “Comedians did it. The best comedians did it, the highest comedians did it – people with their shows did it. It was just accepted that you could make fun of me and my weight.”
Determined to shed the burden of these judgments, Winfrey decided to embrace a new chapter upon turning 70. She also addressed the pressure she faced to avoid weight loss drugs and to prove her ability to lose weight through diet and exercise alone. “I was judgmental [about people using weight loss drugs] because I have been so judged,” she admitted.
Winfrey’s candid discussion underscores the complexities and emotional toll of weight struggles, highlighting the importance of understanding and compassion in the discourse surrounding body image and obesity.
