Oprah Winfrey has probably tried every diet out there, every weight loss scheme, every fad and every cleanse. But she’s not trying Ozempic, the now-ubiquitous diabetes drug being used by so many people to lose weight fast. It’s not that Oprah necessarily has medical concerns about the drug, she just thinks Ozempic is “the easy way out” of weight loss. I mean… I can recognize Oprah’s perspective while also knowing intellectually how damaging that line of thinking is.
Oprah Winfrey is joining the conversation surrounding using type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic for weight loss. The media mogul, 68, recently hosted a panel, Oprah Daily’s “The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight,” discussing the obesity and weight crisis, which affects 2 billion adults globally. She held the conversation alongside obesity specialists Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford and Dr. Melanie Jay, and psychologist Dr. Rachel Goldman.
Winfrey — a board member and shareholder for WeightWatchers — was also joined by Sima Sistani, CEO of WeightWatchers, which recently started offering a telehealth treatment option for new weight loss drugs. During the panel, Winfrey revealed that she’s had some thoughts about taking Ozempic, an FDA-approved prescription medication for people with type 2 diabetes. It’s one of the brand names for semaglutide and tirzepatide — also known as Wegovy and Mounjaro — which works in the brain to impact satiety, and is the latest Hollywood weight loss trend.
“Shouldn’t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Winfrey said during the panel. “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.'”
Winfrey also explained that she was “shamed in the tabloids every week about for 25 years” for “not having the willpower” when it comes to her weight loss journey.
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician, emphasized that “obesity is a chronic disease” and “willpower” isn’t a word she uses when it comes to her patients.
“It’s hard to see you ostracized in the way that you’ve been. Because this isn’t about willpower. It’s not your fault,” she told Winfrey. “It’s how our bodies regulate weight and each of us is different, each of us is unique, not one is superior to another. We’re just different and acting on those differences and treating the differences in the heterogeneity of the population is how we’re going to actually make change in this disease.”
I hate that I recognize Oprah’s line of thinking in my own. I sometimes look at Ozempic – when taken purely for weight loss – as a “quick fix” for people who aren’t doing the work of simply eating healthier and staying active. But obviously, it’s much more complicated than that, and Dr. Stanford is right – every body is different and it’s not about “willpower.” I also didn’t realize that Oprah is still on the board of WeightWatchers!!
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