"Obesity is a disease." Oprah Winfrey, who lost 18 kg, admitted that she lost excess weight with the help of drugs

Oprah Winfrey recently surprised everyone with her new appearance: at social events, the 69-year-old TV presenter showed off a noticeably slimmer figure. She previously admitted that she lost 18 kilograms, and now she gave an interview to People, in which she spoke in detail about how she managed it.

One of the most popular TV presenters in the United States admitted that she had suffered all her life because of her excess weight and the way people treated her because of it: “It was like a public competition - making fun of me for 25 years. I was blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself.” Somehow, at the beginning of her career, she was included in the anti-rating of a fashion critic. “I was on the cover of some magazine, and it said: “Stumpy, sloppy and completely awkward.” I didn't feel angry. I was sad. It hurted me. I swallowed the shame. “I accepted that it was my fault,” she said.

Oprah Winfrey, who turns 70 in January, says she now has a better understanding of how to maintain a healthy weight over the long term and has rid herself of shame once and for all. Taking a holistic approach that includes regular exercise and other lifestyle changes, Winfrey has made no secret of the fact that she has also added weight-loss drugs to her diet.

Rehabilitation from knee surgery in 2021 marked the beginning of her weight loss journey. “After knee surgery, I started walking and setting new distance goals every week. Ultimately, I was able to walk 5 to 8 kilometers every day and 16 kilometers on weekends. “I felt stronger, fitter and more alive than I had in years,” she said.

Winfrey explained why she started taking weight loss drugs: “I knew about weight loss drugs, but I felt like I had to prove that I had the willpower to do it [lose weight] on my own. Now I don't feel that way anymore. I realized that all these years I blamed myself for being overweight, but I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower can control. Obesity is a disease. It's not a matter of willpower."

Winfrey says that once she "came to terms with science," she "lost the shame about it." and consulted with her doctor, who prescribed medicine for weight loss. “Now I use it when I feel like I need it as a means of not letting myself go,” she said, but did not name the drug she was taking.

“The fact that I have a doctor-approved prescription for weight loss and health in my life feels like a relief, a redemption, a gift, and not something to hide behind and be ridiculed again. “I’m absolutely done with shame,” said the TV presenter. Winfrey is aware of the hype surrounding her weight loss, especially since the popularity of drugs such as Vegovi, Ozempic and others. and "Munjaro" for weight loss, increased sharply. But she emphasizes that for her it was not a magic cure or the only solution, and she could not have lost so much weight on drugs alone. “I know that if I don’t exercise and don’t take care of all the other things, I won’t succeed,” she assures.

For example, Oprah admitted that she took a weight-loss drug before Thanksgiving because she knew she had "two weeks of good nutrition ahead of her." And “instead of gaining 3.5 kilograms, like last year, I gained 200 grams.”

Although she's three kilograms shy of her goal weight of 72 kilograms, Winfrey says "it's not about the numbers." Instead, she enjoys the progress she has made in the two years since surgery. “It’s like I was given a second chance to live a more fulfilling life. I live on a mountain in Hawaii, and there's a big hill there - I used to look out the window every morning and say, "God, one day I can climb that mountain." Last year for Christmas I did this. It was like redemption,” she said.