Oprah reveals what happened when she stopped taking weight loss medication for 12 months

Oprah Winfrey has spoken candidly about what happened when she quit using weight-loss injections for a year in a bid to 'beat the medication'.

Oprah, 71, first opened up about using a GLP-1 weight loss medication two years ago, when she announced she had 'released [her] own shame' on the matter and began using the medication 'as a tool to manage not yo-yoing' her weight.

"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, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for," Oprah said in her interview with People at the time.

"I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."

Two years on, the chat show host is now reflecting back on her weight loss journey in a new People cover story, in which she revealed she got 'lots of push back' after sharing her news.

What many people didn't know is that just six months after she started taking GLP-1 injections, Oprah decided to quit 'cold turkey' on her 70th birthday in January 2024.

“I said, ‘I’m going to see if the science is right. I want to see if I can do without it'," Oprah recalled.

Oprah began using GLP-1 medications when she was 69 years old (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

What happened when Oprah quit GLP-1 medications?

One reason many people can gain weight after quitting weight loss drugs is due to a failure to change routine, meaning they're often still eating the same way they were before using such medications.

However, Oprah sought to fight back against people who said she would 'immediately put the weight back on', and stuck to a healthy diet and workout routine in a bid to avoid weight gain.

In spite of her efforts, Oprah noticed that she gained 20lbs throughout the year she quit the medication.

With the weight gain in mind, Oprah told People what she'd learned, saying: "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 gained 20lbs when she stopped using GLP-1 medication for 12 months (John Salangsang/Variety via Getty Images)

Oprah's message to people with obesity

When she first started using weight-loss jabs, Oprah explained that she'd been 'blaming herself' for being overweight, but not acknowledging that she has a 'predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control'.

"Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it's about the brain," she said at the time.

Now, having tried to quit GLP-1s, Oprah sent a message to anyone with obesity in their gene pool.

"I want people to know it’s not your fault,” she said. "And people need to stop blaming other people. Don't say, 'Why don't you just work out more and eat less?' That is not the answer. I want people to have the information, whatever you choose to do with it, whether you get the medications, or whether you want to keep dieting.

"That's the lesson I learned: I stopped blaming myself."