Oprah Winfrey has entered the Ozempic chat

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Weight loss drugs are getting a lot of attention these days, and now Oprah Winfrey is weighing in on the topic.

While hosting her Oprah Daily’s “The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight,” the mogul said she was “ready for this conversation.”

“You all know I’ve been on this journey for most of my life,” Winfrey added.

“My highest weight was 237 pounds,” she said. “I don’t know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine over the years.”

Talk turned to type 2 diabetes medications Ozempic and Mounjaro, which are also prescribed for weight loss.

After an audience member said she lost 100 pounds with the help of Ozempic and that it had aided her “mindset” when it came to food, Winfrey seized on that.

“One of the things that I’ve been so ashamed, shamed myself about and was shamed in the tabloids every week for about 25 years is not having the willpower,” said Winfrey, who is also a board member and stock owner with Weight Watchers. “I think that there is a distinction between mindset which we are now hearing, the brain tells you a certain thing about how you process food versus willpower.”

The topic of shame was prevalent in the discussion among the panel of health professionals – both shame about being overweight and people who have been shamed for using weight loss medicine.

“Shouldn’t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Winfrey said. “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.’”

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