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Oprah Winfrey Says She Uses Weight-Loss Medication

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 14, 2023.

By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 14, 2023 -- Media mogul Oprah Winfrey confirmed Wednesday that she has used a weight-loss medication to help her shed pounds and get healthy.

Winfrey has added the drug to a regimen that includes regular exercise and other lifestyle tweaks, People magazine reported.

Weight fluctuations "occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing," Winfrey told the magazine.

Her most recent weight-loss journey began after she had knee surgery in 2021.

"I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends," she said. "I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years."

But that wasn't the only change she made to her life, said Winfrey, who turns 70 in January.

"I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the Weight Watchers principles of counting points. I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way."

"I was actually recommending it to people long before I was on it myself," she noted.

After an epiphany in July during a panel conversation with weight-loss experts, she changed her mind.

"I had the biggest aha, along with many people in that audience," she recalled. "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."

"Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower -- it's about the brain," she added.

After talking with her doctor, who then prescribed a weight-loss drug, "I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing."

She declined to say what drug she is taking, People reported, but the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound have recently become wildly popular in the United States.

"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," Winfrey said. "I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."

She is now just seven pounds short of her goal weight of 160, but "it’s not about the number," she stressed. Instead, she’s building on the progress she has made during the two years since her surgery.

"It was a second shot for me to live a more vital and vibrant life," she said.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted December 2023

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