Oprah gets personal about weight struggles in new townhall

I took on the shame that the world gave me for 25 years making fun of my

weight

it was a shocking emotional national sport revealing this is Oprah's return to Prime Time television tonight here on ABC you have received a lot of criticism for that you and your family, do you? what do you want to say about that? I'd say we walked a mile in our shoes in front of a live audience and on a set very similar to the one she used for the Oprah Winfrey show almost 13 years ago. The legend shares a story. own, I will never forget one day in 1990.

I saw myself on the cover of the TV guides best and worst dressed list and I remember thinking at first, oh look, there I am on the cover, and then I read the headline that said that Mr. Blackwell The tastemaker of the time called me lumpy and downright chubby and gave life to many others, nothing stopped during the full hour television event, shame, guilt and the Revolution of loss of

weight

. I starved myself for almost 5 months and then I'll pull out that fat wagon that the internet will never let me forget and after losing 67 pounds on a liquid diet the next day y'all, the next day I started gaining them back.

A mix of medical experts and

personal

stories that started a conversation about the rapid increase in the use of prescription weight loss medications, we are seeing twice the weight loss that can be achieved with this class of medications compared to what that we've had in our toolbox for the last few decades in combination, of course, with a healthy lifestyle, highlighting how These drugs are changing lives across the country in seventh or sixth grade, when I was made fun of, I thought, maybe maybe I'm different. Maggie Irvy, 16, of Marceline Missouri, opens up about her struggle with her weight since childhood.

I liked all sports when I was little and I worked out all the time but I still never lost like I was going to lose weight and the next thing I know I would just gain it all when my heaviest weight was around 285 like I could eat four plates. for food, if she wanted to, if she could, the boys at school, Maggie says, began to appear in the clothes she wore in sixth or seventh grade. I was wearing one of my dad's t-shirts and it was too big, but I mean, no. I don't care that she was comfortable, she was comfortable, they're making fun of me, they're saying, oh, Maggie is wearing her dad's shirt like she doesn't even fit into her own clothes.

I think it's the first time she really feels his feelings. She was hurt and she didn't know how to get back to her mother Erica desperate to help her daughter lose weight. At one point, a health professional told me that I would weigh 500 pounds by the time I was 16 and that Maggie would die. She underwent bariatric surgery which she says did not stop the compulsions to eat more than she wanted, so her doctors turned to a medication called Victoza. When Maggie started taking the glp1 medications, she was one of the youngest people who had ever taken them and it was the thing that calmed down that part of her brain and allowed her to eat what she needed during surgery and losing weight became kind of a miracle tool for many glp1 agonist medications were originally intended to treat type 2 diabetes.

Now many use them for weight loss we often have discussions about how to help people manage their weight. I think there are a lot of biases that make it difficult for people to understand that obesity and itself is a complex chronic condition as millions of Americans turn to these medications, experts say. Drugs like OIC mararo wovi Zepbound could make a dent in the obesity epidemic in the United States. Nearly one in three Americans in this country is overweight and about 40% are classified as obese. Obesity is related to many different factors, not only what we eat but also our health. environment our medications that we use certain hormonal conditions that we can have this medication helps provide a level playing field I follow you mom is at home excited about it so these are my jeans from when I started omg that's crazy Hollywood can .

I can't get enough, I think it's amazing and I think it's great for them, people hate it because they want to do it and Oprah makes it her mission to keep the conversation going. Now there is a feeling of hope number one and number two. Don't blame yourself anymore, yeah, because when I tell you how many times I've blamed myself decade after decade, her fluctuating size has been the subject of relentless tabloid scrutiny, from being a spokesperson for Weight Watchers I Love Bread to revealing in December past that I was using a method to lose weight.

For many drug users with a new body comes a completely new perspective on life. I have been struggling with my weight for as long as I can remember. I mean, I remember feeling like my relationship with food was different than a lot of people from the age of 5 10 years for Amy Kane navigating her weight loss has been a lifelong issue the full-time mom dealing with the constant shame and anxiety I felt about my appearance I would say my highest number was probably around I weighed 300 pounds I didn't look in the mirror very often I didn't get on the scale because I didn't want to find out I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS around 13 years old and the only thing we know Diseases like that is that it is very, very difficult to lose weight.

I think I got to the point where I thought I wasn't going to be able to lose weight, so I said, "To hell with it," gave up, and then I got diagnosed. Amy, with diabetes, says that was her breaking point, she completely overhauled her diet and lifestyle and lost about 60 pounds on her own, but after hitting a weight loss plateau, an endocrinologist suggested she Try Manjaro, this medicine has saved my life and I haven't. I just mean physically but emotionally in many ways. I think the reason this medication was so effective for me is because I committed to completely overhauling my lifestyle and diet and working on my mental health seemed impossible to do before this.

The medication allowed me to feel possible today after losing over 160 pounds total. Amy says she feels like a completely different person. My life has taken a 180. I was a mother who struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety really, really bad, and I somehow overcame this past. These years have changed my life, yes, the medications helped me, but I also worked hard, hard, to have a better relationship with my children, to have a better relationship with my husband, to have a better relationship. With myself I now hope to convey her experience to her more than 50,000 followers on Tik Tok, although I don't love the situation.

I'm actually very proud of the hard work I did where she gives people an intimate look at her journey. I have 16 year olds following me and 75 year olds following me but we all have this common connection so I'm just providing an idea and I think it just provides a connection for someone to feel less alone in this crazy journey ERS Let's Get Down feeling less alone a concept echoed by many at age 16 Maggie irvy says that after losing about 108 pounds in total she feels seen for the first time before I feel like no one really noticed me like I did and now that I have lost weight and that I am in high school with more people and they noticed me for my

personal

ity more than my appearance because they just recognized me as the fat one, the fat girl who used to go to a Catholic school.

I sense that Maggie's mother says that she is seeing how Maggie's physical health dramatically changes the normal blood level. Non-fatty liver. He is not prediabetic. She will live a long and healthy life, but Maggie's social life is also changing for the better. She was busy hanging out with friends, something she felt was unimaginable before she had come so far and done so much more. I joined the cheer team and I wouldn't have done that before I was so successful. Since then you know that Maggie has a best friend, she has a big group of girls she can hang out with, she feels socially safe, she is doing very, very well and that makes me happy for her, for Maggie and Erica, for Amy and even by Oprah.

Losing weight meant gaining a new perspective on life. I think for a long time the message was get some willpower, just go to the gym, eat less, you know, why can't you just lose weight? This is a disease for a lot of people, um, and that. It's not just a lack of strength, these medications are helping people with chronic diseases like obesity to get better, to feel better and to be able to live a better life, so I think this is a big turning point, a turning point , but also a reminder that your weight isn't worth what it's worth to people who feel happy and healthy celebrating life in a bigger body and don't want the medications.

I say bless you and all the people who believe that diet and exercise are the best and only way. to lose excess weight, bless you too if that works for you and for people who think this could be the relief, support and freedom that, as you said before, you have been searching for your whole life, bless you because there is space for everyone. views Our thanks to Deborah, you can watch Oprah's full special on shame, guilt, and the weight loss revolution streaming now on Hulu. Hello everyone, George Stephanopoulos, thank you for visiting the ABC News YouTube channel if you would like to see more videos. show highlights and watch live event coverage, click right here to subscribe to our channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app to receive breaking news alerts.

Thanks for watching.