Oprah Winfrey admits to taking weight loss drug: 'I'm absolutely done with the shaming’
Oprah Winfrey confirmed she's taking a weight loss drug, stressing that she's "absolutely done with the shaming."
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE Magazine published on Wednesday, Dec. 13, the media personality made the revelation and said she uses it as a maintenance tool in her health and fitness journey.
"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," she said.
On top of taking a weight loss drug, Oprah has made some changes to her lifestyle in the past two years. She hikes up to 10 miles each day, including weekends, and makes it a point to have a strict diet so she can stay on track with her goals.
"I eat my last meal at 4 o'clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points," she shared. "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."
Oprah said she's now feeling her best, physically and mentally.
"I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I'd felt in years. I know everybody thought I was on [Ozempic], 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," she said, adding that it was a "second shot" for her to "live a more vital and vibrant life."
The TV host, earlier this year, opened up about thinking that taking weight loss medication would be "the easy way out."
"There’s a part of me that feels, I’ve got to do it the hard way. I’ve got to keep climbing the mountains. I've got to keep suffering. I’ve got to do that because otherwise I somehow cheated myself,” she said on Oprah Daily.
Such realization turned into her "biggest aha" moment. "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," she explained to PEOPLE Magazine.
Oprah still needs to lose seven pounds to reach her goal weight of 160 lbs., but she's happy with the progress she's made. "It's not about the number," she said.
