Oprah Lost 50 Pounds on a GLP-1 and Here Are 4 Mistakes She Made That Almost Cost Her Results at 71
You may have heard poet and playwright Oscar Wilde's quote, "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." As time passes, those experiences are considered sage wisdom. This is something Oprah Winfrey knows firsthand. After battling with weight fluctuations her entire life, the celeb successfully lost 50 pounds on a GLP-1. While Oprah is now in a happy place, her journey didn't come without a bit of trial and error.
Below, we're breaking down four essential course corrections Oprah made in her health journey.
She Learned GLP-1 Medication May Be "A Lifetime Thing"
After going off GLP-1s, Oprah continued to work out regularly and practice healthy eating habits. However, during the 12 months she was off the medication, the celeb ended up gaining 20 pounds.
"It's going to be a lifetime thing. I'm on high blood pressure medication, and if I go off the high blood pressure medication, my blood pressure is going to go up. The same thing is true now, I realize, with these medications. I've proven to myself I need it," Oprah told PEOPLE.
She Let Go of Blame
After taking prescription weight-loss drugs for over two years, Oprah let go of the mentality that her weight is her "responsibility to fix."
December 2025, Oprah told PEOPLE, "I thought it was about discipline and willpower. But I stopped blaming myself. I avoided the word 'obesity.' It connoted 'out of control.' But I came to understand that overeating doesn't cause obesity. Obesity causes overeating. And that's the most mind-blowing, freeing thing I've experienced as an adult."
She Knows GLP-1s Are Not a One-Stop-Shop Solution
Successful weight loss—and weight management—in the long-term involves adopting all-around healthier lifestyle habits. Taking GLP-1 medication is only part of the equation. This is something Oprah learned along her journey.
"I know everybody thought I was on it, but I worked so damn hard. I know that if I'm not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn't work for me," she told PEOPLE.
She Uses GLP-1s as a Tool
Oprah told PEOPLE that she takes GLP-1 medication as "a tool to avoid yo-yoing," adding, "I realized I'd been blaming myself all these years for being overweight. And I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control … I now use it as I feel I need it."
For more weight-loss success stories, check out Here's How Whoopi Goldberg Lost the Weight of "Almost Two People" on Mounjaro After 65.
