Oprah Winfrey apologizes for being a ‘major contributor’ to diet culture

Oprah Winfrey apologizes for being a ‘major contributor’ to diet culture.

While hosting WeightWatchers’ live special, “Making the Shift,” on Thursday, the talk show host acknowledged her role in diet culture and how she’s “done with shame” .

“I’ve always participated in this diet culture,” Winfrey said. “Through my platforms, through magazines, through talk shows for 25 years, online, I’ve been a major contributor to it. I can’t tell you how many weight loss and makeover shows I did and they have been a staple since I worked in television.”

During the special, which aimed to “catalyze a new wave of change in how we collectively redefine the cultural and personal relationships between our weight, our health, and each other,” according to a program description, Winfrey recalled the famous “big” trolley moment that took place on her talk show, which she said was “one of my biggest regrets.”

“It sent the message that starving yourself on a liquid diet set a standard for spectators that I nor anyone else could meet,” she said. “And I said it before, the very next day I started to gain weight back.”

She also shared her experience with yo-yo dieting, which occurred after a 1985 interview with Joan Rivers on “The Tonight Show,” when she and Rivers made a pact to lose weight together. During the interview at the time, Winfrey also told Rivers about the different diets she had tried.

“I was so embarrassed,” Winfrey said of the moment. “That was the start of a vicious yo-yo cycle that culminated in this liquid diet where I literally starved myself for months. And the result was this now famous big moment wagon.”

Winfrey continued and said, “It’s really hard to love your own body when the whole world is telling you it wasn’t worth loving.”

Before inviting the show’s first guests, WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani and body acceptance advocate Katie Sturino, Winfrey explained that weight loss journeys are personal and implored others to “stop the shame”.

“Whether you choose to move more, want to eat differently, want to change your lifestyle, want to take medication, or choose to do nothing, you will be satisfied exactly as you are, where you are” , Winfrey said. “It’s up to you, whatever path you take, this was a watershed moment for many people.”

This special comes nearly five months after she said she was taking medication to help maintain her weight loss, which she said was a work in progress for the past two years. Winfrey did not specify what type of medications she takes.

In March, after Winfrey decided not to run for re-election as a WeightWatchers board member, the talk show host spoke about weight loss on the ABC special, ” An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution. which focused on his publicly documented weight ups and downs over the past few decades.

In the special, she revealed that she wanted viewers to learn more about weight and obesity and had a conversation with ABC News’ chief medical correspondent and doctor who specializes in obesity medicine , Dr. Jen Ashton.

Winfrey’s WeightWatchers special also included conversations with Rebel Wison, Amber Riley, Busy Philipps and more.

“Everyone is doing their best,” Winfrey added. “And if they’re happy with the choices they make, you should be happy with them, too.”