Oprah Winfrey Says She Briefly Stopped Taking GLP-1 for Weight Loss, Until She Realized It's a 'Lifetime Thing'
Oprah Winfrey is opening up about her health.
The 71-year-old mogul got candid in a new interview about using a GLP-1 weight loss medication, and where she is with that today.
Keep reading to find out more…
Oprah started the drug two and a half years ago.
“I thought it was about discipline and willpower. But I stopped blaming myself. I feel more alive and more vibrant than I’ve ever been,” she said in her People cover story.
She revealed she’s stopped drinking alcohol as well.
“I was a big fan of tequila. I literally had 17 shots one night. I haven’t had a drink in years. The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing,” she said.
“I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. But she’s a happy woman.”
Oprah also reflected on the narrative surrounding her weight over the years.
“I wanted to be one of those people who could be at peace with myself being overweight. But everything in my life, in the culture, in society, in my brain, was telling me the opposite: ‘You have failed because you have not conquered this thing.’ I was not healthy at 211 lbs. A lot of people tell me they can be overweight and healthy. I was not. I was pre-diabetic, and my cholesterol numbers were high,” she admitted.
She decided to stop taking the GLP-1 drug in early 2024 and continued eating well and working out, but gained weight, resulting in her knowing now that the drugs will be “a lifetime thing.”
She refers to it as “a tool to help you manage the messages that are being sent to your brain about overeating.”
“Sometimes I can go 10 or 12 days because I still feel the effects of the week before. I had some digestion issues, so I have to drink enough water, and I have to take magnesium. You need to start slow and gradual. If you start by taking too much at one time, you have more of a chance of messing yourself up,” she notes of her own experience.
She also revealed she’s paid for it for those in her life who cannot afford it.
“If you have obesity in your gene pool, I want people to know it’s not your fault. I want people to stop blaming yourself for genes and an environment you can’t control. I want people to have the information, whatever you choose to do with it, whether you get the medications, or whether you want to keep dieting,” Oprah said.
As for if she’d change anything about her weight journey, Oprah said: “There’s a wonderful African American spiritual that Maya Angelou used to sing: ‘I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now.’ In spite of the shaming and blaming myself, I wouldn’t take nothing for the journey. Whatever was happening needed to happen to get me to this point. And I rejoice at feeling liberated from the struggle—because I had a real public struggle. And I am healthier now.”
Find out which other stars said they’ve used GLP-1s for weight loss.