Oprah Winfrey recently shared about her own journey with weight loss and talked about the current global weight crisis.
Winfrey hosted a panel called “The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight,” with obesity specialists Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford and Dr. Melanie Jay, psychologist Dr. Rachel Goldman and Sima Sistine, the CEO of WeightWatchers.
“You all know I’ve been on this journey for most of my life. My highest weight was 237 pounds. I don’t know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine over the years,” she said to those attending.
“You all have watched me diet and diet and diet,” she said. “A recurring thing because my body always seems to want to go back to a certain weight.”
Winfrey explained how people would treat her differently when her weight was higher.
“This is a world that has shamed people for being overweight forever,” she told the audience. “And all of us who’ve lived it know that people treat you differently, they just do.
Winfrey explained it would be when she was shopping that she’d notice the treatment.
“It’s that thing where people are like, ‘Let me show you the gloves. Would like to look at the handbags? Because we know there’s nothing in here for you,” she said. “There is a condescension. There is a stigma.”
At the talk, the topic of weight loss drugs was discussed, with Winfrey also touching on her use of the FDA-approved Ozempic.
"Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Winfrey said. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, 'I've got to do this on my own.' Because if I take the drug, that's the easy way out.’”