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Oprah Winfrey says she regrets being a "major contributor" to diet culture.
On Thursday (May 9), Winfrey hosted the WeightWatchers live special "Making the Shift" during which she admitted to playing a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic weight loss methods.
“I’ve been a steadfast participant in this diet culture,” Winfrey said. “Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years, through online ― I’ve been a major contributor to it. I cannot tell you how many weight loss shows and makeovers I have done, and they have been a staple since I’ve been working in television.”
Winfrey cited the infamous "wagon of fat" moment in the 1980s on her daytime talk show, referring to the incident as one of her "biggest regrets."
“It sent a message that starving yourself with a liquid diet set a standard for people watching that I nor anybody else could uphold,” Winfrey said. “And I’ve said this before, the very next day, I began to gain the weight back.”
The talk show host recalled how she had "starved" herself for months on a liquid diet before infamously pulling out the wagon.
“That was the start of a vicious cycle of yo-yoing that ended up with that liquid diet where I literally starved myself for months, and the result was that now famous wagon of fat moment," Winfrey said.
“It’s really hard to love your own body when the whole world is telling you it wasn’t worth loving,” she added.
Winfrey's remarks on the WeighWatchers special follow her announcement in March that she wouldn't stand for re-election on the organization's board after nearly a decade.
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