Oprah Winfrey Think about it her weight loss journey, including the ups and downs which has served as fodder for tabloids and comedians for years, and how she believes it has played an important role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
The 70-year-old media mogul has teamed up with WeightWatchers for a three-hour live YouTube specialwhere she discussed moving away from diet culture with actresses Rebel Wilson, Amber Riley, Sima Sistani, CEO of WeightWatchers, as well as several doctors and other expert voices. As part of the Make the change In the conversation, Winfrey recalled how the media’s harsh spotlight on her weight led her to obsess over her appearance and go to extreme and unhealthy lengths to lose weight.
“I want to acknowledge that I am a steadfast participant in this diet culture,” she said during the live broadcast of the event. “I make a significant contribution to this through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online. I can’t tell you how many weight loss shows and makeovers I’ve done, and they’ve been a staple since I started working in television.
She continued: “I told you how this famous fat car is doing The Oprah Show is one of my biggest regrets. It conveyed the message that starving yourself on a liquid diet set a standard for viewers that neither I nor anyone else could meet. The very next day I started gaining weight again… This fat-filled moment was set in motion after years of believing my struggle with my weight was my fault, and it even took me until last week to process it The shame I felt privately when my very public yo-yo dieting moments became a national joke.
Winfrey previously spoke on her primetime special about how she was a victim of public shaming and humiliation for decades. An Oprah Special: Shame, Guilt, and the Weight Loss Revolution.
The March special featured interviews with medical experts and people who have struggled with their weight for years to combat the stigma created by the increasing use of weight loss medications.
“To combat all the shame, I starved myself for almost five months and then pulled out this wagon of fat that the internet will never let me forget,” Winfrey confessed during the special, recalling the infamous episode of her talk show. “And after I lost 67 pounds on a liquid diet, the next day y’all… The next dayI started to reclaim it.
An example of Winfrey’s public shaming was an appearance in 1985 The Tonight Show when the late Joan Rivers was Johnny Carson’s guest host. The former beauty pageant winner was 31 years old at the time and had just started hosting the pageant AMChicago morning show.
Rivers, a comedian known for upsetting people like she was for her plastic surgery, told Winfrey: “So how did you gain weight? You shouldn’t allow that. You’re very pretty. I don’t want that.” to hear it. You’re a pretty girl and you’re single. You have to lose the weight.
When Winfrey mentioned Nell Carter, Rivers said she was “still very chubby” after recently losing weight and told Winfrey, “Don’t you think you should lose more weight?” People need to help friends diet. Tell a friend the truth.” . You have to say you’re still a pig, lose more weight.
“It was on national television and I was so embarrassed,” Winfrey recalled Make the change. “All I thought was, ‘I can come back if I lose 15 pounds…’ I stopped there and gained 25 pounds. That was the start of a vicious cycle that ended in the liquid diet that I starved for months and the result was the now famous wagon full of fat moments.
“Last week someone brought it up and said, ‘Oh, you must have been so angry,’ and I’m telling you all, it never occurred to me to be angry because I thought I deserved it “, she confessed.
In the run-up to the premiere of An Oprah Special: Shame, Guilt, and the Weight Loss Revolutionsaid Winfrey with ET at the 55th NAACP Image Awards about their hopes for how viewers would receive the special.
“I’m so excited about this show I’m doing… about shame and blame and the weight loss revolution,” Winfrey said confirmed her own use of weight loss medication, divided. “I’m so happy about this because as you know, I spent years in this business being ashamed of myself. And I just want people to be set free, and I know that, for so many people in this country who suffer from this. “Overweight and obesity, it’s really not your fault – it’s your brain.
“Once you figure that out, you can get help to help you cope, no matter what you decide to do,” Winfrey added. “That’s why I want people to stop being blamed for the decisions they make about their health.”
“We had to break it down,” Winfrey told ET about medical experts’ involvement in the drug discussion. “You have been taking these medications for 20 years. I didn’t know that. They have been taking these drugs for 20 years and we are only now hearing about them.”
Watch Winfrey’s Make the change in collaboration with WeightWatchers below.
An Oprah Special: Shame, Guilt, and the Weight Loss Revolution can be streamed on Hulu.