JAKARTA - Oprah Winfrey has again stolen public attention after being open about her struggle to lose weight. During her 25 years career at The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey has long been in the public spotlight regarding her body shape.
"Making fun at me for 25 years is a public habit. I was blamed and humiliated, and I also blamed and humiliated myself." said Winfrey, quoted from the People page.
After undergoing knee surgery in 2021, Winfrey immediately returned to exercising. Winfrey took a new approach in an effort to lose weight. Weight loss started from physical therapy. Until finally, he was able to hiking for 10 miles every weekend. After undergoing surgery in 2021, Winfrey discovered a new approach to fitness.
"After the knee surgery, I started climbing and set a new distance target every week. Finally I was able to climb three to five miles every day. I felt stronger, fitter, and more alive than I had felt over the years," he said.
When attending the celebration of Al Roker's 70th birthday at the Today show, Winfrey said that the operation was a kind of call for him to live a healthy life.
"There is an awareness that time is not much longer, and I am at peace with that awareness. There is a sense of urgency in me to live better," he explained.
As the age and pain grew, Winfrey began to feel very grateful to be able to move freely again.
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"I'm getting more and more difficult to move for a long time, even getting down two steps to the car feels very painful," he said.
However, the operation opened a new chapter in his life, an era of movement and health. Although initially feeling scared, he admitted that it was the best thing he had ever done.
"I really feel given a new opportunity to live in my body in a way I haven't experienced in years, because being overweight makes my knees worse," Winfrey said.
Winfrey began to open up about the use of weight loss drugs as part of a comprehensive approach to his health. In July 2023, he guided a panel discussion with medical experts in the Oprah Daily's Life You Want series entitled The State of Weight. There, he began to question his approach to weight again.
"You all know I've been through this journey my whole life. My highest weight is 237 pounds. I don't know if there are other public figures whose struggles are about weight being exploited like me all this time," he explained.
The discussions helped him let go of his years of shame and opened himself up to the doctor's prescribed treatment.
"I realized that so far I have blamed myself for being overweight. Even though I have genetic predispositions that will not be controlled with the power of will alone," he added.
Winfrey said the drug helped her manage weight fluctuations.
"Now I use it as needed as a tool so as not to go back up and down in extreme weight," he explained.
Winfrey chose not to mention the names of the drugs he consumed, but he described them with relief.
"The fact that now there is a medical prescription that is approved to manage weight and maintain health, in my life, feels like relief, redeemation, gift, not something to hide and return to being a joke," he said.
"I'm really done with shame from other people, and most importantly myself," he added.
However, he also emphasized that the drug was not an instant solution.
"This is not just one thing, this is everything. I know a lot of people think I'm just relying on the drug, but I'm working really hard. I know if I don't exercise and aren't wary of other things, the drug won't work for me," he said.
Winfrey also talked about the criticism he experienced when he weighed more than 102 kg, especially when shopping.
"People will say, 'Let me show you gloves. You want to see a handbag? Because we know nothing fits you here'. There is a degrading tone, there is a stigma," he said.
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