'I felt sad': Oprah Winfrey recalls hurtful moment that led her to blame and shame herself over her weight

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Oprah Winfrey revealed that she has been a subject of public scrutiny regarding her weight for decades.

Speaking to People, the media mogul candidly shared her journey with body image and the transformative steps she has taken in achieving lasting health.

Oprah Winfrey says 'it was a public sport' to make fun of her for 25 years

Winfrey talked about the weight of the shame that has followed her throughout her career. "It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years," the media mogul said. "I have been blamed and shamed and I blamed and shamed myself," she added.

Recalling a moment that emotionally affected her early in her career, Winfrey said, "I was on the cover of some magazine and it said, 'Dumpy, Frumpy and Downright Lumpy,'" referring to acerbic fashion critic Mr Blackwell’s list.

"I didn’t feel angry. I felt sad. I felt hurt. I swallowed the shame. I accepted that it was my fault," she recalled.

Oprah Winfrey says she now knows how to get rid of the shame

Winfrey said she now asserts that she is breaking free from the chains of shame and has been adopting a holistic approach to maintaining a healthy weight.

The TV show host who turns 70 in January 2024 said the weight fluctuations "occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing."

Winfrey began her weight loss journey following a knee surgery in 2021. "After knee surgery, I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week," she said.

"I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends. I felt stronger, more fit, and more alive than I’d felt in years," Winfrey added.

"I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points," she said of her current routine.

"I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way. I was actually recommending it to people long before I was on it myself," Winfrey added.

She further shared that "obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it's about the brain." Oprah Winfrey uses weight-loss medication as a 'tool to manage'

Winfrey revealed she "released my own shame about" medications and consulted her doctor, who then prescribed her a weight-loss medication.

"I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing," she said, opting not to name the specific drug she takes.

"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, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for," she said.

"I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself," she added.