You can tell that talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has lost some weight. She’s been making appearances at plenty of events this month and is said to be trying to shed pounds in time for Obama’s inauguration ball at the end of January. Now that Oprah is getting fit again and moving toward her goal she wants to share her struggles with her audience. She discusses it in the upcoming issue of O Magazine and is said to be planning a show which will cover her weight battle to air early next year:
As the media mogul, 54, writes in the January issue of her O magazine hitting newsstands Tuesday (and provided in advance to the Associated Press by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions): “I’m embarrassed … I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I’m still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, ‘How did I let this happen again?’ ”
For starters, the fact that her thyroid was out-of-balance gave her “a fear of working out,” she says. “I was so frustrated I started eating whatever I wanted – and that’s never good.”
Having slimmed down to 160 in 2006, she admits, “Yes, you’re adding correctly. That means the dreaded 2-0-0…”
Choosing a gown for the Barack Obama inauguration coming up in January, however, made Winfrey realize her self-image was no longer jibed with the person standing on the scales – though the real low point occurred last April.
“I felt like a fat cow,” Winfrey writes of the occasion when she sought to skip out on a Las Vegas show taping with Cher and Tina Turner. “I wanted to disappear.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Winfrey’s weight and height rank her as obese, with a body mass index of 31.8 – putting her at “at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol,” says the CDC.
Winfrey intends to address the issue on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which will kick off “Best Life Week” Jan. 5.
[From People]
If weight problems can affect one of the most wealthy, self assured and presumably self-actualized women in the world, a woman who many people consider an expert and look to for advice in all matters, then they can affect anyone. Oprah doesn’t even have kids to complicate things by adding stress and convincing her to stock the refrigerator with junk food. I’m not a fan of Oprah and generally consider her to be full of crap, but good for her for speaking out about this. She doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of. We all have issues and for some people one of them happens to be food.
Oprah Winfrey is shown at the Annual Women In Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast at the Beverly Hills Hotel on 12/5/08. Credit: WENN
Although, I do love Oprah, I am surprised she weighs just 200 pounds. She does look heavier.
You know what, ya gotta wonder what’s up with Oprah. She’s got all that money and she has people like Bob Greene and Dr. Oz at her beck and call, and yet she has weight problems. Go figure. What hope is there for the rest of us “common folk”? 😯
I am sooooooo bored with successful, wealthy, celebrity females constantly treating us to chapter and verse of their weight issues. And Oprah is one of the worst offenders with all her fad dieting and diet band-wagon jumping. Eat less, exercise more. The end.
She can conquer the media world but she still can’t manage, with all the tools at her disposal – personal chefs and nutritionists, fitness instructers, private gyms – to reach and maintain a healthy weight. Give me a break. 🙄
I don’t understand having a thyroid that’s out of balance creating a fear of working out.
Um, 200 pounds is really not so much, it’s all in how you carry it and dress it. And, since she’s at least 5″61/2″, she carries it pretty well. When she was all skinny skinny, she looked like death…
Sounds like Gina has a “little” grudge against Oprah…ANGRY MUCH???!!!
Anyway, I love Oprah and I think she can/could/and DID endorse whoever she wants. Yes, I have to admit, sometimes she took it to another level (with the excitement) but she was excited for the “colored” man. Yes, I fine offense in this because he’s Black…POINT BLANK!
Oprah jumps on the bandwagon, trumpeting the latest, bestest, newest trend in everything from weight loss to politics.
She sure is a great talker.
Sounds to me like Gina doesn’t have a “little” anything, Roni. I can totally relate to Oprah’s issue (although my swing is more 10-20 lbs vs. 40-50 lbs) and how frustrating it is to fall off the wagon again after vowing I would NEVER be above a certain weight again (except during pregnancy). It’s disappointing and I can’t seem to find my resolve again. It makes me feel better to see that Oprah is going through it too, so I commend her for addressing it head on.
I don’t know what to say about her words or actions during the election… who cares, really? The best person for the job won! If Oprah or anyone else saw something more out of that, then so be it! Her recent actions and her new cover both point to one thing: She’s imperfect – just like the rest of us.
Not a fan of Oprah’s for years, but she is only human, gains and loses weight like the rest of us.
I have met her at her shows and she is tall, she seems to carry the weight differently than someone of my height, 5’2″.
She should remember her phrase that sustained me during my weight loss after my last child;
Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. 😉
She’s not respectful toward herself is she?
No wonder she’s a patronizing jerk to the rest of us.
That’s NOT 200lbs.
Whoa, Gina, that’s going a little far.
I am a person who deals with weight issues every day. I go up and down and work out. When i work out 5 days a week I look good but not thin or skinny. It’s a battle. And the worst part is…I love to eat. Food is great! And I think that is what Oprah’s problem really is.
Okay, Gina I do agree with some of what you wrote, I do not like this woman at all.
But Syko is right, the ‘native dance’ comment is way over the line. Your ignorant racism is showing.
That is some highly…high…disturbing cleavage going on in the photo of her in the purple top. Your ya-yas should not start at your collarbone.
Gina, you need a 12 step group for rampant racism. Stop it.
That being said, I’m not a huge fan of Oprah’s either (mostly because she interrupts all her guests all the time and is overhyped), but she carries herself really well.
I weigh 200 pounds and I’m 5’7″. I don’t look like a blimp or anything (I have a medium frame) and sure, I’d love to get down to 160 again, but I’m also trying to just accept who I am and not be so down on myself. It’s tiring and depressing to be that way. So I’m trying to take on the attitude of Queen Latifah and other beautiful women who seem to just own who they are.
If BO is half black and half white, why is he only considered black?
Plenty of black racists out there.
I think it’s time we got over what color or size everyone is and try to judge them by what’s inside.
RE:Gina,
If you are a REAL Black woman there is NO WAY IN THE WORLD that your would be calling ANOTHER BLACK WOMAN a MONKEY! I’m black and I take GREAT OFFENSE to your blantant racism and I don’t care IF you are black too…there is a thing of being racist against your own! I would NEVER go and call another black woman a monkey! Did your mom NOT teach you…I don’t want to hear a black person being called a monkey from outside my race LET ALONE A WOMAN OF THE SAME DAMN COLOR! What the hell is wrong with you???? YOU HAVE STEPPED OVER THE LINE, GINA!
BFD so she’s fat… is she healthy? Look, here’s the truth of the matter kids…the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m 5’11 and when I weighed 200 pounds in high school it was because I was doing massive amounts of speed and so subsisting on coffee and cigarettes, and the occasional cheeto, and I looked ill. I *was* ill. Today as an adult, I’m nearly 300 pounds and I’m in perfect health. I am just built big, and so is she…that’s why she looks so weird when she’s thinner, she’s not made for it. Could I stand to lose 50 pounds? Sure. But it would only be to adhere to someone else’s idea of beauty.
Good for you, Curegirl0421! We’re all built differently. It sounds as if you’ve found your level and are happy with yourself. Congratulations!
CB can you please remove Gina’s comments?
Racism doesn’t discriminate its still racism no matter WHO’s saying it…
Syko there are words that trip the moderation filter. I’m sorry this is happening to you so much today. You used a couple of them by mistake. We try and keep people from arguing about specific topics and spamming and there are “hot button” words that trigger it. The moderator comes on later at night and I took some time off to cook dinner, which is why it took a while. Sorry for the wait and thanks for hanging in there.
Gina’s more offensive comments have been deleted, but you can tell what she said by the way that people responded to her.
-edit- I was a little bit ahead of you drm! 8)
p.s. Gina isn’t black. Can’t tell you how I know, but I’m positive.
anastasia and curegirl: Rock on, girls. I beat myself up over not looking like I once did and your words are inspiring. I bet you’re both knockouts!
I know about the words, CB, but can’t remember all of them (I’m OLD, remember?) and I didn’t think I said anything offensive or used any of the words. I suppose r a c i s t got me on the one, but why is that more offensive than r a c i s m?
Syko it’s not really like the words are all that systematic or that the specific word is offensive in itself. Yes one of those two is on the list. It’s there because when this contentious topic comes up we want to know about it – the comments in response get sent to moderation and that alerts us to the original offending comment and we see right away that there’s trouble on that thread. No one reported that comment as abuse so we do that to get alerted. The N word and some variations are on the list but there are so many other ways that people can be racist. I never thought to add “monkey” like this idiot used or all the other obnoxious racist things that people can come up with. If a word isn’t on it’s because the moderator and/or I didn’t think of it, and it’s not necessarily because of that word. We’re sorry for doing it this way but it’s hard to keep these things under control.
Oprah looks fantastic – who cares how much she weighs?
If she looked unhealthy or sickly, fair enough to speculate, but she looks gorgeous.
it’s very human that she admits that at her age she should know better but still has body issues
other than that, can’t stand her
Dear Oprah:
I have no ill-will towards you. Very occasionally, I’ll even watch your show. And I get that despite being the wealthiest woman in the world (and no, I didn’t check the facts, could be someone else, but you’re on the list at least), you still have issues with emotional eating. I get it. You’re human. Me too.
But girl, don’t tell me with a straight face that the picture on the left side (you in a white navel-bearing top) is accurate. That’s a photoshop if I ever saw one. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean — there IS but we’re playing by the rules of “This is the way women in magazines will look — glossy and free of wrinkles, lumps, and visible pores,” and I get that. But you’d have better luck trying to grow four inches taller than trying to make yourself look like that picture. Because, you know, you never actually looked like that in the first place.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say. I won’t charge you for my advice like all your other specialists and experts, but if you want to send me college tuition, I wouldn’t say no. Also, please reconsider sharing diet books with the world. Just leave them on shelf — or better yet, in the store. Don’t even buy them (or have one of your many (I’m sure) assistants buy them). It’s just bad for all of our self-esteems.
Thanks!
XOXO,
Brista
Thanks Guys for asking CB to delete Gina’s comments and please let’s stick to the issues at hand. I dont have weight issues but I know excercise has to be in your daily routine, especially after 40. If not, then you will face the same issues as Oprah. And yes, if you have thyroid issues, it does have impact on your weight.
I sympathize completely with Oprah. You can have all the money in the world but if you want the food, it’s like your brain can only focus on having it. No Bob Greene, or anyone else can stop someone who wants to eat that badly. It’s like you have a one track mind to eat.
Who really CARES how much she weighs? I am sick of hearing her name, frankly. Her stupid HAIR probably weighs 200 pounds..the girl needs a haircut while she is self improving.
i am always under moderation so it will probably take 15 hours before anyone sees this comment, but…
Oprah does NOT weigh 200 pounds. that is a lie. she looks more like 230 to me. just saying.
I tend to agree with chick. I think she’s more in the 230 range myself as well.
Coming from someone who once knew what 230 looks like (and 288 for that matter)! 🙂
Bitch can afford some damn lipo. 🙄
I love her hair. Mine is naturally curly, and I could only dream of spirals like that. So tame! So full! Yeah, yeah, I’ll shut up now.
I’m with brista: “please reconsider sharing diet books with the world.” Oprah talks too much. She loses weight, she gains it back, she loses again, she gains again… Blah blah blah. Listening to her talk about herself all the time is almost as bad as listening to her interview a celebrity.
Granger, I know what you mean, but Oprah can do a really good interview sometimes if she lets people talk. What startled me was her saying she wanted to disappear and then refused to attend a function out of embarrassment. I listen to people’s problems for a living and this alarms me. But she’s nothing but brilliant at marketing herself, and this cover of O, copping to her problem of keeping weight off, is great damage control. I’ve watched her since the 80s give advice about weight loss, find the holy grail, get all excited with a guru of the moment. It’s obvious she has a poor self-image and poor insight into her problems.
I feel for Oprah. I’m not big by any stretch of the imagination (5’5″, 125 pounds) but I emotionally eat and there was a time when I was all of a sudden up to 140 and was like, when did that happen? It’s nice to know that even Oprah can fall off the wagon for larger women, especially emotional eaters because then they have someone they can relate to and possibly follow when she starts losing weight again.
RReedy and Codzilla: she wears wigs.
Well, her wigs look great. Beyonce should be taking notes.
Time for MORE lypo!
OOO, don’t you know it? Beyonce’s got 1 million dollars worth of them and they all look like Barbie hair like Tyra Banks’ wigs.
gosh, I can’t imagine having to talk about my weight–or feeling like i have to talk about my weight–on this kind of a national stage. 😯
you know I am offended by what i am reading about oprah! she is such a respectable woman of high standards, does amazing things and constantly gives back and you all (who I am sure are not above reproach, atleast not like oprah who is the closest one can get to being perfect) have so much negative to say. HATERS!
Oprah with all her billions is still susceptible to all the emotional problems like all the rest who are battling their weight. I don’t buy the story that she was afraid to work out because of the problem with her thyroid and now weighs 200. What’s wrong with walking for 30 minutes to an hour everyday? That would have helped keep your weight down Oprah and help you to maintain a reasonable weight. Oprah your problem is food. You are eating and tasting things at these events you go to and acting like you have a metabolism that will burn it off quickly. Oprah you are eating more than 2000 calories a day and sedentary. You need to face the fact that you are not happy in your relationships. You don’t believe that people will like you outside of your money and fame. Look at who your friends are – celebrities. You feel vulnerable and use food as a cover to keep your emotions from being exposed. Gail is your only best friend that you can reveal your secrets to. You need to face the fact that despite giving monies to charities and investing in a school in Africa for girls that you still feel a void. That is because your inner spirt is fighting against the Holy Spirit. You need to acknowledge the fact that you are nothing apart from Jesus Christ the true Savior of all mankind. Until that happens you will continue to eat food and keep gaining weight. Take the time to go into your prayer closet and expose yourself to the one true God. Tell him what your failures and fears are. He knows them already and is just waiting for you to start talking and needing him. Oprah, find someone that truly loves you, wants you as his wife and life time partner and adopt some children of your own. Forgive those who have hurt you in the past and pray for them. It will change your life to love someone other than yourself. I pray that you will come to know what is really important in life. It’s not money or fame. It’s your relationship with Jesus and your character. You can lose this weight yet another time but it will keep coming back until you change the inside. I have confidence that you will find a way to take care of YOU.
I too struggle with weight issues.
I have to say, usually Oprah is “meh” with me, I don’t love her but I’m not one of those obsessed anti-Oprah nuts sending death threats to her everyday either. There are times I agree with her and times that I don’t.
On the other hand, I can relate. This is the heaviest I have ever gotten and feel ashamed. My weight fluctuates, and am currently over 160 pounds from 125 pounds last year. It may not sound a lot, but it is, especially on a small person like myself, and every single extra inch is obvious.
I have back problems because I can’t carry my weight, as most of it distributes around my stomach and midsection.
When I feel this pain in the morning, I don’t want to get out of bed. In fact, I don’t even want to be in public. I’m a young woman who is vulnerable to the pressure to be only fat in the right places. I feel as a young person, that it’s my responsibility to look good.
And I do want to look good, but I met my physical prime when I was 18. It’s sad that a 20 year old feels so ancient and she’s already let go of herself.
I ask myself how I got this way, and it’s because I’m neglectful toward myself. I don’t take care of myself like I used to, and am ashamed of it. This sounds cliche, but for over a year now, I’ve been seeking comfort in food. I don’t have any friends at college, so bingeing on a Friday night when everyone else is out partying, food’s the only social life I have.
Sometimes I’ll go extensive periods of time without eating at all and then overeat one day. Then I wake up in the morning with severe stomach pains and it feels like someone’s piercing pins into my back. Despite feeling defeated and achy when I wake up, the pattern continues, and I go to bed feeling the same way I did the night before. I’m not the same girl I was a year ago. While I always suffered poor self esteem, I’ve never cried myself to sleep over it…but it has led me to losing copious amounts of sleep at night. I’m always tired, and my lack of sleep has significantly damaged my performance and my moods.
Not to sound like I’m pining for sympathy, but I wouldn’t wish this kind of self-destructive behavior on anyone.
@Christina X – I found your post a 100 times more moving than Oprah’s. It’s too sad that you believe, at 20, that your ‘physical prime’ is behind you. Because of course it’s not and this is just your feelings of helplessness at something you believe is out of your control. You’re spot on, you ARE neglecting yourself, and this is key to turning this around. Have no diet advice for you (other than the balanced diet/exercise one – the ONLY one, imo) but I would say this: forget about your ‘responsibility to look good’ and try to focus on your responsibility to be kinder to and less critical of yourself. You have to start there. Everything else will come from that.
Your own honesty and intelligence (which comes across clearly here) about how your life has been for the last year or so suggests that you already know you deserve much better from yourself than this. You can do it. I wish you luck and strength.
Christina X: It sucks having to go through what you are going through. I’m 22 and felt that my best weight happened about a year ago and now I’m around 130 but being 5’5″ with enormous chi-chis, that looks heavier than it is.
I don’t know you personally, but since you are in college, I would suggest going to your campus counseling services. Most colleges have free meetings with psychologists who can suss out what is actually going on with you and why you continue with self-destructive behavior.
I do hope that you beat this. Constantly going up and down in your weight is hard on your heart and body.
I hate the tired, trite saying that we should judge people not by their outside but by whats on the inside. People are made up of a combination of qualities -greed, jealousy, pettiness, vainity, falseness, opportunistism…as well as integrity, compassion, empathy, generosity, kindness… but few if any are really “good”. It doesn’t mean you can’t like people, just don’t be naive. We’ve all done something bad and anyone who hasn’t is a liar.
ChristinaX: I’m 20 years older than you, and trust me you will have tons of ups and downs ahead of you. The best age is probably 26 ish, when you are still very young and pretty but also much wiser than in your early 20s. My weight had always fluctuated, and I hear you and I’m at the downward cycle myself now. Now – why don’t you go to gym exactly on friday night, and set it as your major cardio day of the week? Gym will be all yours since you say that everybody is out, so you can do 1.5 hours of ellyptical on level 10 followed by some major swimming or spend time in sauna, and trust me you’ll kill your depression! And if you still have a need to reward yourself afterwards, you can binge as much as you want on home made hummus and tomatoes.Finally, go to movies – who cares if you go by yourself – if you have issues about that, then come when a movie is about to start. Just get the heck out of your house!!! 🙂 so, how about next Friday?
I’m 6′, 222-224lbs. I’m here to tell you there isn’t a cheeto’s chance in hell that woman is 200lbs at 5’6″! Nor is that white, photo-shopped to hell and back thing really her.
Get over the self-loathing woman! Shut your pie hole, stop with patronizing the rest of the Western world and disappear for awhile. Then eventually you might be worth listening to. I won’t, but maybe your brown nosing subjects would put more stock in your EVOO clone, your fake Doc, and your unending mouth!
Nina, NotBlonde, and Geronimo- thanks a lot for your kind words. Some days I’m getting a little better with the binge habit, but it still happens.
I do, however, have a free on campus exercise facility and counselling is free as well. I will put that into consideration.
I have a similar body shape to hers and I weigh more. She looks how I did when I was that weight.
When you have hypothyroidism, it really can mess with your head when it comes to working out. I know I should do it but since we’re waiting on final blood test results for me to go on medication, there really seems to be no point. There won’t be any difference. In 3 months of working out at Curves, I lost 3lbs and 4 inches. Before I gained all this weight, I could lose that in a week of Weight Watchers. You do get a sort of fear that nothing you do will work and you’re going to get stuck in this body forever. If you don’t try, you don’t have to feel that you’re still a failure.
Oprah: quit lying for a change, that is no 200 lbs, I weigh 200 lbs, your height and bone structure and I know what 260 lbs looks like and that’s what you are today, and that sailor white suit, looks like Paris Hilton was the model with your head, get real, we are pretty smart too.
Marilyn X
Oprah: quit lying for a change, that is no 200 lbs, I weigh 200 lbs, your height and bone structure and I know what 260 lbs looks like and that’s what you are today, and that sailor white suit, looks like Paris Hilton was the model with your head, get real, we are pretty smart too.
Marilyn X
Oprah: quit lying for a change, that is no 200 lbs, I weigh 200 lbs, your height and bone structure and I know what 260 lbs looks like and that’s what you are today, and that sailor white suit, looks like Paris Hilton was the model with your head, get real, we are pretty smart too.
Marilyn X
Wow. That certainly doesn’t look like 200 pounds. My mom weighs 202 and looks smaller than that. Is that picture when she stated that weight?
I am Janie, I am 25, and I weigh 585 pounds. I have tried everything to lose weight including water skiing, long distance running, and sky diving. All this just about killed me. What really annoys me is when people point at Oprah and say “just do what she does”. Its easy to talk about weight loss all the time when you can go afford to get trainers, advisers, counseling, special foods, exercise machines a new one every day. But I train horses, and I don’t make a lot of money. I am getting tired of horses falling down under me flat in the dust but what can I do. I think I need a different job. I am looking for a man who understands me and isn’t hung up on a girl being thin as a twig. If you are that man then reply on here.
Janie – I can relate to your trying and trying, and not losing weight. Same thing happens to me. It could be a thyroid issue, as it was with me. Definitely NOT fun. Hang in there, the right guy will come.
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