Oprah Winfrey has opened up about her experience with weight loss drugs, shedding light on her newfound perspective about ‘thin people’.
Wegovy and Ozempic have become increasingly popular, with numerous celebrities admitting to using these medications to shed some weight.
Despite her longstanding struggles with weight fluctuations, Oprah has defended these drugs amidst criticism from other celebrities.
The 70-year-old disclosed that she had taken a GLP-1 medication, although she didn’t specify which one.
This class of drugs, originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes, helps suppress appetite, aiding weight loss.
Oprah shared that she lost 50 pounds and nearly achieved her target weight of 160 pounds, supporting individuals’ decisions to use these medications.
“For 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport,” she expressed on her show, referring to obesity as a ‘disease’.
She added, “I come to this conversation with the hope that we can start releasing the stigma and the shame and the judgment, to stop shaming other people for being overweight or how they choose to lose – or not lose – weight, and most importantly, to stop shaming ourselves.”
Throughout her journey, she gained insight into her assumptions about ‘thin people’.
In the latest episode of her podcast, she spoke with Dr. Ania Jastreboff about the safety of these drugs.
During the discussion, she admitted that she had held misconceptions about what thin people think, and now realizes the differences between herself and them.
She remarked, “One of the things that I realized the very first time I took a GLP-1 was that all these years I thought that thin people had more willpower.
“They ate better foods. They were able to stick to it longer. They never had a potato chip.”
However, after using the GLP-1, she discovered it wasn’t about ‘willpower’ but rather the absence of constant hunger thoughts.
Oprah revealed, ‘the very first time I took the GLP-1’, she realized that thin people don’t constantly think about food.
She explained, “They’re eating when they’re hungry and they’re stopping when they’re full.”
The talk show host also highlighted how the media has ridiculed her struggles with what she describes as a ‘disease’.
“Every week [I was] exploited by the tabloids, anytime any comedian wanted to make fun or make a joke about it, they would make a joke about it. And I accepted it because I thought I deserved it,” she shared.
Since achieving her weight goals, she continues to use the drug as needed, telling PEOPLE: “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing.”
“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.”
“I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”