Oprah talks candidly about her weight loss journey in a new Primetime special

On Monday, March 18, 2024, Oprah Winfrey made her debut in a primetime special ABC about, you guessed it, weight loss. Recently, Winfrey has come under fire from the general public for skipping certain points of her weight loss weight loss plan. In December 2023, through the film’s world premiere on the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. she mentioned, “It’s not one thing, it’s every part. I’m going to maintain it that way,” she said, adding: “I used to be on the treadmill today.” A few weeks later, in a cover story, she revealed that she was using weight loss medications as a “care tool”.

She said: “Making fun of me has been a public sport for 25 years. I was blamed and shamed, I blamed and shamed myself.” Winfrey shared with the web site that she believes obesity is a disease, and when she accepted the science behind weight loss medications, she was in a position to free herself from shame about it. “Now I use it when I feel like I need it as a tool to avoid the yo-yo effect,” she previously said.

Winfrey continued: “The fact that there is a medically approved formula to manage my weight and stay healthy throughout my life is like a relief, a redemption, like a gift, not something to hide behind and be made fun of again. I’m tired of being shamed by other people, especially myself.”

As for her recent special, Winfrey successfully brought together people like her who suffered from and coping with chronic weight gain, providing a secure space where she could share the pain she felt on her weight loss journey , involving constant control and mock.

“I wanted to do this specifically for the over 100 million people in the United States and over a billion people around the world who suffer from obesity,” Winfrey said when introducing this system. “Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s someone you love.”

She continued: “I never dreamed in my life that we could be talking about drugs that might give hope to people like me who’ve been fighting obese or obesity for years. “I come into this conversation with the hope that we are able to begin to free ourselves from stigma, shame and judgment – ​​stop shaming other people for being obese or how they decide to lose weight or not lose weight – and, more importantly, stop shaming ourselves. “

Winfrey also shared that she considers obesity a disease and blames herself for failing to lose weight. “When I tell you how many times I blamed myself,” she told Winfrey. You think I’m smart enough to figure it out, and you then hear me fighting with my brain the entire time.

Following Winfrey’s example, she invited weight loss experts W. Scott Butsch, director of obesity medicine on the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute on the Cleveland Clinic, and Dr. Amanda Velazquez, an obesity expert at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. help viewers learn more about obesity and weight loss medications. They also addressed the potential unwanted side effects of weight loss medications and the risks that ought to be considered before taking them.

Although Winfrey uses weight-loss drugs as a part of her toolkit, she is adamant that individuals understand that she also does other things to lose weight. Despite the age of 70, she is an avid hiker and runner. He attaches great importance to his weight loss plan.

“It’s not only one thing; it’s a lot of things,” Winfrey said. At the end of the show, Winfrey highlighted people who can feel “completely satisfied and healthy” living in a larger body, individuals who exercise simply to lose weight, and people who find themselves curious about using medications to realize weight loss.

“There is room for all points of view. Let’s stop shaming and blaming. There is no room for this. There is a whole spectrum of obesity. It’s not one disease, it’s many different subtypes,” Butsch said. “It’s not a matter of willpower,” she said.