Oprah Winfrey is opening up about a shocking side effect of her weight loss journey — and it has nothing to do with the scale.
In a new interview with People, the media icon revealed that the GLP-1 weight loss medication she began taking in 2023 didn’t just transform her body — it completely erased her desire to drink alcohol.
“The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing,” Winfrey said.
The OWN founder, who turns 72 next month, admitted that alcohol once played a much bigger role in her life than fans might expect. She recalled being able to “outdrink everyone at the table” and described herself as a longtime tequila fan.
“I literally had 17 shots one night,” she revealed. “I haven’t had a drink in years. The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing.”
Winfrey also got candid about how deeply her relationship with weight affected her self-image for decades. For years, she believed her struggles came down to discipline and willpower — until she stopped blaming herself.
“I thought it was about discipline and willpower,” she said. “But I stopped blaming myself.”
At her heaviest, Winfrey weighed 237 pounds and was facing serious health concerns, including prediabetes and high cholesterol. Even after trying to embrace body acceptance, she realized her health markers were sending a clear warning.
“I was not healthy at 211 lbs,” she said.
Since starting the medication, Winfrey says food no longer dominates her thoughts — and exercise, once something she dreaded, has become a daily source of joy. She now works out about two hours a day, six days a week, mixing hiking, cardio, and strength training.
As she approaches her 72nd birthday, she says her mindset has completely shifted.
“I’m side-planking and deadlifting,” she shared. “I’m not constantly punishing myself. I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. But she’s a happy woman.”
Winfrey revealed that she briefly stopped taking the injections in early 2024 while continuing to eat well and exercise — but the weight returned. She now understands the medication may be a long-term commitment and typically takes weekly injections, sometimes spacing them out to 10 or 12 days.
“You need to start slow and gradual,” she advised. “If you start by taking too much at one time, you have more of a chance of messing yourself up.”
Her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, 74, has been fully supportive throughout her journey.
“I feel like I have more to give to everybody,” Winfrey said. “I’m just more open to all.”
The medication has helped her lose roughly 50 pounds, though she stresses that her focus is no longer on numbers. She also addressed past criticism, acknowledging that she once referred to prescription weight-loss drugs as an “easy way out.”
In December 2023, after years of speculation, Winfrey publicly confirmed she was using a GLP-1 medication and declared she was “done with the shaming.”
“I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she said.
Looking back, Winfrey says the journey — painful and public as it often was — finally led her to peace.
“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift,” she said. “And not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”
Today, she says she feels better than ever.
“I feel more alive and more vibrant than I’ve ever been,” Winfrey said. “Whatever was happening needed to happen to get me to this point… And I am healthier now.”
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