Oprah: "I'm Mad At Myself, I'm Embarrassed" Over Weight Gain

CHICAGO — An embarrassed Oprah Winfrey says she's "fallen off the wagon" of healthy living and has ballooned to 200 pounds.

In January's "O" magazine, Winfrey, 54, details her recent struggles with an out-of-balance thyroid and how the condition made her develop "a fear of working out." She says she's gained 40 pounds since 2006, when she weighed 160.

"I look at my thinner self and think, `How did I let this happen again?'" the talk-show queen says in the article provided early to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.

"I'm embarrassed," she says. "I'm mad at myself."

Winfrey's weight and height put her body mass index at 31.8, which is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says people who are obese are at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Winfrey says she's abandoned trying to get thin. She just wants to be strong, healthy and fit. She hopes to get started with her upcoming "Best Life Week," starting Jan. 5 with an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during which she is expected to talk candidly about her weight.

Winfrey famously wheeled a wagon loaded with fat onto the set of her talk show in 1988 to represent a 67-pound weight loss while wearing a pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans. She had lost the weight with a liquid protein diet.

"When it comes to maintaining my health I didn't just fall off the wagon. I let the wagon fall on me," the chairwoman of Harpo Inc. writes. "I didn't follow my own fundamental rule of taking care of self first."

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In 2005, Winfrey said she starved herself for four months to lose weight. Ever since, her weight has yo-yoed. She weighed as much as 237 pounds and by late 1990 acknowledged she had regained most of the 67 pounds, saying "I'll never diet again."

In 1993, she hired personal trainer Bob Greene and the next year finished the Marine Corps Marathon. By 1996 she said her roller-coaster weight saga was over.

But now, Winfrey finds herself tipping the scales again, telling AP Television last week that she has yet to choose a gown for President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural ball next month.

"I had a dress on the vision board, but I'm not sure that's gonna fit," Winfrey said. "So I have to work on something else."

___

On the Net:

http://www.oprah.com

Comments

[1990enzo]

Oh, Oprah, I am right behind you, unfortunately.

[oandjoe08]

does this mean she is going to stop writing diet books?!

[toocoldout]

She never wrote a diet book.

[kolorkin]

WE STILL LOVE YOU OPRAH!!!!

CONSIDER BECOMing vegan or vegetarian - it would help tremendously.

[bog]

yeah and she can eat all kinds of soy crap. that'll help her thyroid.

[sophieozz]

Thank you.

[happycat]

Oprah is being too hard on herself. She looks great just the way she is. Not everyone was built to be skinny, and she is obviously one of them. Life is short. It's amazing how much time we all put in stressing about our weight.

[jpmdevildog]

In this issue, Oprah reveals that Tonya, the World’s Fattest Cat, has been her behind-the-scenes support force all these years.

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/celebs/oprah-leans-on-worlds-fattest-cat/

[katsmom101]

Oprah is one of the nation's few billionaires. Does anyone ever worry if Warren Buffet has gained a few pounds? Have you looked at most of the fat cats (literally) that we consider captains of industry? I doubt that they are ever "embarrassed" about how they look, or frankly give a damn. Oprah should stop obsessing about her weight and enjoy her success. Hold your head high, girlfriend.

[Moka11]

Anyone who thinks they are being helpful with telling Oprah or anyone else that you "look" fine when they are telling you they are ashamed, guilt-ridden, and embarrassed misses an opportunity to understand someone crying out for help.
If you go to an emergency room of a hospital bleeding from a head wound and the receptionist says "you look fine" I think you would disagree.
The ongoing dismissal of someone verbalizing their trauma is about as insulting to the traumatized as pouring salt on the open wound they are seeking help to heal.

[DeeW]

Gimmie a break.

There's nothing wrong with her and the sooner she realizes that the better she'll be. She's letting society's ridiculous and unatainable standards ruin her life! She looks fine. She's healthy. Live and be happy!

And the analogy you use is insane - there's no comparison. That's my point - being overweight is not like a head wound or any other injury. It's just the way she is. Just the way I am. That's it. Love yourself and get on with life!

[Moka11]

DeeW,
I disagree with you in that the analogy I use is very serious in relation to Oprah and I equate my analogy to Oprah's cry for help. "Society's ridiculous and unattainable standards" are based in human health, science, human biology , and Oprah's own standards of misery and shame.

If it feels more comfortable to change my analogy to an internal debilitating painful scar that someone is wanting help for and being dismissed as looking fine from the outside.

You obviously love being who you are and kudos. Oprah loves being who she is...excep­t for her shame and misery surrounding an issue of food that has haunted her for years. To dismiss it as an overreaction on her or society's part is a common injustice to someone crying out for help that is being told to stop crying.

[Conejo]

Oprah has a glandular problem. Overactive salivary glands.

[meede]

I'm just fed up and tired of Oprah preaching she knows what's best for everyone in the world in that she knows best how we should live our lives. When someone has a problem, she's the preacher that knows the answer why. Well -- when she can't deal with her own 'backyard' which has now been brought to light one more time -- she should keep her 'preach' out of everyone else's life. She will use this as a 'this is how everyone should live'. This person who for example, on her roadtrip with Gayle turned her nose up at hotels that 'weren't good enough' for her anymore. This same person who when walking the walk shows her true colors of believing herself better than everyone else. Get over yourself Oprah.

[bobbysgurl]

I don't watch Oprah, unless I find out in time that Dr. Oz is going to be on her show.

I did subscribe to her magazine recently after I read a lot of the hateful things that were being said about her on her blog because Sarah Palin was not going to be on her show. I did it to show my support for a woman who thinks for herself.

The best thing about television is the off/on switch or the channel buttons. Get it?

[meede]

I get it --Actually I got it long ago. When I saw so many people stop thinking for themselves and became sheep following Oprah like she was G.o.d. -- which she continues to portray.

As to the comment re Palin, after she endorsed BO, of course she would not have had anyone else on. Even BO was not on as if he was, then she technically had to give same air time to others as of course politics would have been discussed. There are some people that think outside the box.

[candyperfumegirl]

Wow, I thought she looked a bit heavier, but didn't realize she had gained that much. Still, she seems to pull it off alright. She wears gorgeous, flattering clothes, looking voluptuous and glowing. Good for her for taking control of her weight and getting "back on the wagon". Still, she is a roll model of style, taste, and self-made success at any size.

[MissMisk]

Come on, HP. Laugh a little.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/10/1581/6723

[bloominglater]

sending this out to the collective--i hope that oprah is able to attract this positivity.

we love you oprah--not for what you look like, but for what you have contributed to the world. as long as you are healthy and happy, there is no need to be embarrassed. we can never be embarrassed for the things we cannot change. it is the nature of human beings to struggle and we all have a cross to bear. please have compassion with yourself. peace and many blessings!

[Checquoline]

Oprah, I have said all along. You know how to make money, you don't know how to lose weight. Stick with what you know.

[Jessegirl]

Honestly Oprah, 40 pounds is not that horrifying.
You are still within reach of a slimmer you...it's under there, it's not way way way under there.
You haven't B-A-L-L-O-O-N-E-D ......yet.
You still have a "woman" figure, you are seeing yourself way worse than you are.
But now you have 'caught' yourself and its perfect timing too.
Its going to get better as eveyone huddles around you to help.
And I can't wait to watch.
You go girl.

[duze]

Jessegirl. That was a wonderful response you wrote regarding Oprah and her problem with gaining the weight. However, what I don't understand is the "woman" figure comment. What exactly does that mean? To me any figure on a female is a woman's figure. If by this statement you mean anyone any size below a 10 is not or less than a woman, this is a very rude intended towards half hearted insult. Many women are small, just as many women are bigger. Problem being is that America's views of beauty, fitness and style is easily depicted as a smaller size person. This in itself is what sells, everything, especially many items of interest to women. However, I've often found that when this remark is made it's made by someone you sooner more than later will lose a great deal of weight and love the look. If the remark is somehow ment or intended to make a smaller frame person feel somehow inadequate. Please,
this remark is often made by women and others who are not successful with their weight goals and feel the need to take it out on someone else. Listen the diet, industry is hovering around $500B. Somebody wants to lose weight.

[Jessegirl]

When I said she still has a "woman-figure", I meant that she has not gained soooo
much weight that she doesn't look womanly in clothes anymore. That's all.
Any person that puts on double that just looks like one big giant chunk in clothes.
Better to 'catch yourself' before this.
(I realize there are some who have medical reasons for their weight, and I hope
Oprah talks about that more on her new shows so that there can be some better
understanding)

[nanton29]

Hey Lady O you look mah-velous. But then again I am not into skinny. I love to see a little flesh on the bones.....­..

[ejackson21st]

Oprah's losing battle has as much to do with the advice she is taking from the people she is making famous. She believes in and preaches things that really make no sense.

Start with man who is not a medical doctor, Dr. Phil (forced by the courts to reimburse all the people who bought into his $120 a month phony weight loss pills. He even pled no contest to pushing fake pills and advice.) And Oprah's Dr. Oz, the heart surgeon, who somehow became is a weight loss expert. Have you seen his video of going into people's homes and telling them to basically throw out everything they have in their refrigerators because it's "all wrong" and then advocates taking 20 deep breaths in the morning and 10 minutes of exercise as ways to quickly lose weight .

Oprah's great advice: " Don't eat white foods" (as if food colors determine cause weight gain. "Never weigh yourself" (no wonder she's surprised she turned out fat again, she didn't stop and look). "Do 500 "crunches" a day". Crunches are muscle building exercises which make your stomach appear larger and they absolutely do not target stomach fat and do little to burn calories. "Never eat past 7pm at night" (You gain weight because of how many calories you eat each day and if it is 7pm or 10pm, they all add up and burn off the same way). I saw her segment on how "laughing yoga workouts" can get you 6pack abs.

[toocoldout]

Rr. Oz saved Bill Clinton's life. He's no hack.