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."

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On the Net:

http://www.oprah.com

Comments

[beanchihuahua]

I don't care who you are. You could have the best personal trainer, the best personal chef, hundreds of millions of dollars, but if your thyroid goes out of whack, it is nearly impossible to lose weight. For every pound Oprah does lose, she's liable to gain 3 more. I have struggled with hypothyroidism as well.I'm 5 ft 4 and weigh 190 pounds. I work out 90 minutes a day--45 cardio/45 strength, sometimes I swim 2300 meters in the pool, watch what I eat and in the year since I joined the local YMCA, I have managed to lose all of 10 pounds. In a person with a normal functioning thyroid, they probably would have lost 50 pounds by now. It sucks. Oprah is a powerful woman and I think she should educate the public on hypothyroidism and what it entails instead of people scoffing and rolling their eyes at an overweight person who says they have a thyroid disorder.

[Jessegirl]

Holy Smoke!...Just reading your story makes me frustrated for you!
Wow...if I was you I would have totally given up by now and probably weigh over 300 pounds!
You are a very very strong person.
Pardon my ignorance about the thyroid, but I have read more than once about the importance
of greens like iodine, kelp, chlorella etc , to help balance the thyroid...
Have you heard about this too?...Many a times it comes up for me when reading about thyroid and weight. (Please understand, I am not at all suggesting that this is a fix-all...just mabey a little helper)

[enveg01]

She should've stayed vegan. There is nothing healthier than a varied plant-based diet and moderate exercise.

[BlackYowe]

I would sooner drive off a cliff. Life without meat is no life at all!

[enveg01]

Well it's certainly no life at all for the animals you eat.

[luvobama]

Eat less. Move more. Now i want my million dollars.

It works for me. I eat on average 1300 calories a day. I eat what i want. i just don't eat a lot. That and i am on the go.

[julibelle]

re: luvobama
at last a sensible reply, sensible POV.
Fethishizing (sp?) food (anything actually) always causes a balance problem - too much or too little.
Moderation in food, shoes, pets, housing, cars, sports equipment, iTunes, whatever you desire. (well, maybe not books...)
I am a fan of Oprah but I do not drink the KoolAid
eat good food. tell the truth. be kind.

[jacquelinenh]

Argh!!!! The more I read about this, the more frustrated I become. Here's what I would say to O: Oprah, the problem is not the weight gain or your dress size or what the scale says -- the problem is an underlying hormonal imbalance that is causing all this stuff. You have an admitted thyroid problem (hormones!). You either just went through or are going through menopause (hormones!). Please take time to get your endocrine system in order before putting yourself through another Bob Greene workout and flavor-of-the-month diet. Look! I even have a quiz you can take to see if you have a hormonal imbalance -- put out by the clinic founded by Dr. Northrup, no less! -- http://www.womentowomen.com/healthassessment/default.aspx

[Moka11]

Oh come on. So Oprah has had a thyroid problem for how many years? Twenty? Thirty?
The woman has an eating disorder. Very common with child sexual abuse survivors who become overachievers.
She needs therapy not a thyroid quiz on the internet. With all respect due you.
Denial of ones traumatic past is often smothered with alcoholic, workaholic behavior or medications, or food. Food consumption has a medicinal comforting affect for many people with early age sexual trauma. Self-guilt, shame, body image and unworthiness of a healthy lifestyle always surface repeatedly. It needs to be addressed to stop the cycles of behavior used to smother the pain of it.
With O It's guilt and shame-gimmick diets-weight loss-brief satisfaction-weight gain again from unworthiness-repeat gimmick diets, etc.
Oprah is a remarkable person without a proper therapist who is knowledgeable with addressing her trauma and linking it to her seeking comfort with food.
I am a fan of hers and have many years of working with eating disorders and victims of child sexual abuse.
She doesn't need hormonal therapy but she needs therapy.

[ponderingmuch]

I agree in theory. In reality, I think you need a rare and exceptionally brilliant therapist to cause noticable healing when the wounds are really deep.

Understandable, most therapists are not that brilliant, just as most of everybody isn't. So I think one just has to find ways to heal in spite of that.

Moka11, if you are having success helping people with deep wounds heal, I hope you share more about that.

[EnlightenUp]

I could not agree more.. having suffered since childhood throughout adulthood w/ a stepfather who groomed me, molested me, acted inappropriately and had no boundaries at all... I put on weight in 7th grade and my weight has been up and down since. I have been in therapy (this time) for almost 3 years w/ the same therapist who has surprised me time and again with his compassion and understanding of trauma and healing... I believe that most DISorders are a result of some kind of trauma that people are too afraid to deal with. It's sad, but you can't force people to look at themselves.. people have to want to change. I can't even believe how far I've come in only 3 years... it's because this is the first time I've ever dealt with what happened to me.

I'm fond of Oprah.. and she has talked about her sexual abuse, but that doesn't mean she's had intensive therapy about it. Thyroid problem or not (and don't I wish I could blame my weight on that), you can still be healthy and overweight. Although not the ideal, we all have to learn how to be comfortable with ourselves and our skin. it's extra flesh. big whoop.
I think once you get to truly love yourself, there will be no more yo-yo dieting, no more quick fixes, or meds but you will choose health for yourself because you WANT to be/get healthy, not because you want to "be thin".

[johnnygoodwud]

someone pass me a custard bismark.

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

I like Oprah Fat! Just try to be the best person you can. I gained 40lbs this year due to stress, and just try to get back on the horse and work out! Weight does not tell you how healthy you are. I have the best cholesterol and blood pressure for my age, so I know it's my outside I need to work on, the inside is good. Which sounds strange?

[AkiraBergman]

Dear Oprah,

It could be that you do not like your job. I would not like myself if I had to entertain people day-in-day-out to sell for the capitalist. You are a smart woman with a lot of common sense. It may be your sub-conscious self that is doing the self destruction. Humans (and animals) self destroy when they are not happy with themselves. Probably this evolved to protect the species from destructive individuals.

Maybe what you need is a long quiet holiday away from the society. Maybe what you need is resigning from the job. But definitely you need a drastic change.

All the best.

[Jessegirl]

Okay now I'm depressed, pass the chips.

[kittygogogo]

a d d e r a l l

[Jessegirl]

Hey, what about that stuff that Kate Moss uses?
She still looks good.

[dct1999]

The health concerns are valid and should be addressed, but those BMI scales are pure bullsheet. Oprah has gained weight, but she looks good to me because she has a nice, rounded, womanly shape. I think she's sexy, but she is right to strive for health and strength.

[blurredtruth]

Is there any real news in this?

[max]

i love okcra

[MIMom]

I do too - especially fried okra!

[twokidsonecat]

My son loves Orcas, too!

[atlantishp]

Where is the news here? Everybody knows that Oprah "yoyos" all the time. I feel sorry for her. People whose weight fluctuates in wide swings usually don't live long lives, unfortunately.

[Einstein44]

Dr.Oz ,where are you ! Help her,please..

[blueskybigstar]

There is nothing like going up and down the weight scale with Oprah.

[ChristiB]

I'm right there with you Oprah! I look in the mirror and think "how did I let this happen to me again!" - its such a battle. I hate it.

[JRsNana]

Ditto that ChristiB. I've lost the same 40 pounds about 6 times in the last 8 years. I am a champion dieter. I am a loser maintainer. It's so freakin' frustrating.