Oprah Winfrey weight loss: Talk show host and best-selling author, Oprah Winfrey, has sparked buzz for her recent appearance at the Paris Fashion Week. As the Internet hailed her ‘unrecognisable’, there came a growing speculation about her weight loss journey. While Winfrey has been open about her fitness and lifestyle, she is often seen lifting weights and not shying away from being a fashion icon.
Not just Oprah, the ‘skinny is back’ trend has sparked major buzz on social media, as the global fashion narrative goes through a sudden makeover. However, with her latest appearance in Paris, the media mogul sparked a fresh wave of speculation about her staggering physical change.
Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss journey
Winfrey has been quite open about her decades-long weight loss struggle. From trying an extreme diet to modern medical aids, Winfrey has lost nearly 25 kg and reached 72.5 kg at the age of 72. However, she has never denied using GLP-1 medication, exercise, and major lifestyle changes. Taking the weight-loss aid Ozempic, she started displaying her fitness-forward journey on social media, too.
The billionaire’s 50-year weight loss journey dates back to 1988. She has always used her platform to remove the taboo around weight loss and women taking ownership of their lives. From ‘hating’ herself to not fitting in any of her clothes, she saw fat as a victory over her. In 1977, she went on a 1200-calorie regimen and lost 10 pounds in less than 2 weeks. But proving unsustainable, she regained 12 within 2 months.
Years later, she tried another crash diet, which was more like starving herself. Going on a liquid diet for four months, she showed off her sudden transformation during another episode, which the Internet did not let her live down. While the starvation continued, the weight started to come back on the day she left the all-liquid diet.
In 1992, Winfrey was at her heaviest at nearly 110 kg and went on a mental health journey to fix her relationship with her weight loss journey. Over the years, she accepted the journey instead of focusing on the desired result. But her health had other issues when she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, causing changes in her appetite and eventually her weight.
Winfrey sparks debate on weight-loss drugs
Ozempic and other such weight loss drugs are not primarily for the said purpose. They are appetite suppressants, originally made for managing diabetes. Addressing this debate and speculations around her highs and lows with weight loss, she started a conversation around the taboo of obesity and removed the shame around such stabilisers.
In 2023, Winfrey confirmed that she was on GLP-1 medication, but did not specify which one. “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 told People, “and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”
She started actively sharing insights into her journey, which included regular hikes, drinking gallons of water a day, and eating the last meal of her day at 4 PM. And it all came after recovering from a life-stopping injury, which also changed her perspective on weight loss.