Oprah: diet journey in pictures
Compiled by Stephanie Lysaght and Denise Martin
It’s no secret that weight is an issue that’s plagued billionaire talk show host Oprah Winfrey for decades. On Tuesday morning, the Associated Press published advanced excerpts from the January issue of O magazine, in which she admits she’s back up to 200 pounds. She reportedly looks at her thinner self and thinks: “How did I let this happen again?” We take a look back at her seesaw battle with the bulge. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)
1988
The first and most famous of Oprah’s weight-loss success stories happened in a 1988 episode of her talk show. She famously wore a pair of size 10 Calvin Klein Jeans -- her smallest size in years -- while wheeling a wagon loaded with fat around representative of the 67 pounds she had lost on a liquid protein diet. (Charles Bennett / Associated Press)
1990
A little more than two years after the Calvin Klein jeans episode, Oprah had relapsed into her old eating habits and she told People magazine that she had gained most of the 67 pounds back. “I’ve been dieting since 1977,” she said. “The reason I failed is that diets don’t work. I tell people, if you’re underweight, go on a diet and you’ll gain everything you lost plus more. Now I’m trying to find a way to live in a world with food without being controlled by it, without being a compulsive eater. That’s why I say I will never diet again.” (Jim Smeal / WireImage)
1994
Four years later, she nixed fad dieting. Instead she slimmed down and buffed up with the help of a personal trainer and full-time, in-house chef. To prove her fitness and newfound mental toughness, she finished the Marine Corps Marathon. That year, her chef, Rosie Daley, also published a cookbook of healthy recipes called “In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah’s favorite recipes.” (Luc Novovitch / Associated Press)
1996
Oprah kept up the fitness regime through 1996, when she posed on the cover of People magazine, in which she shared the diet and workout routine “that finally worked for her.” (Chris Kasson / Associated Press)
1997
In 1997, a very fit Oprah ran in a 5-kilometer
2005
In a 2005 Associated Press article, Oprah recalled a failed diet from her past, saying, “I had literally starved myself for four months not a morsel of food. ...Two hours after that show, I started eating to celebrate. Of course, within two days those jeans no longer fit!” (Brad Barket / Getty Images)
2006
In 2006, Oprah weighed 160 pounds. In 2008, 40 pounds heavier, she wrote in “O,” I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I’m still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, ‘How did I let this happen again?’ ” (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
2007
In 2007, Oprah told viewers that a thyroid disorder had caused her to gain 20 pounds.
“At the end of May, I was so exhausted I couldn’t figure out what was going on in my life,” said Oprah on her show. “I ended up going to Africa and spent a month with my beautiful daughters there, was still feeling really tired, really tired, going around from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong and finally figured out that I had literally sort of blew out my thyroid.” (George Burns / Associated Press)
2008
In the January 2009 issue of “O,”
