Oprah Winfrey said that taking weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy helped her understand the reality of being “thin.” As reported by DailyMail, she explained that her experience with these drugs gave her new insights into the challenges.
According to a report in 2023, Oprah Winfrey said that she had used a GLP-1 medication, a type 2 diabetes drug that also promotes weight loss, to help her lose nearly 50 pounds after years of struggling with yo-yo dieting.
According to the report, Oprah said this during a recent episode of her podcast, in which she discussed the function and safety of these drugs with Dr. Ania Jastreboff.
Oprah noted, “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.”
Ozempic, Wegovy, and other GLP-1 medications can help reduce food cravings and slow digestion, effectively eliminating the “food noise” that often leads to overeating and weight gain. Oprah shared that when she first tried a GLP-1, she realised that thin people aren’t constantly preoccupied with food. “They’re eating when they’re hungry, and they’re stopping when they’re full,” she noted.
She also pointed out that this natural approach to eating doesn’t work for those who struggle with obesity, which she views as a disease.
During her conversation with Dr. Jastreboff, Oprah opened up about the public humiliation she faced for her weight throughout her career. She recalled how the tabloids exploited her and comedians regularly made jokes about her size, something she accepted at the time, believing she deserved it.
Winfrey told 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.”
She explained that her decision to use medical weight loss drugs came after a taped panel conversation in July 2023 with weight loss experts and clinicians, which led to what she called her “biggest aha moment.”
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.
She added that her fitness and health routine are integral to maintaining her weight loss saying: ‘It’s everything. I know everybody thought I was on it, but I worked so damn hard. I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me,’ DailyMail reported.
