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Oprah Winfrey stepped into her 71st year with a visible transformation.
The media mogul was spotted leaving a gym in Santa Barbara on Wednesday, February 19, in photos obtained by Page Six. Winfrey –– who recently discussed her weight loss journey –– was dressed in a casual workout set with her slimmed-down figure on display. The 71-year-old, who recently celebrated her birthday on January 29, had her hair pulled back by a black headband and was carrying a blue hoodie as she headed to her car after her workout.
Oprah Winfrey attends the premiere of Netflix’s “The Six Triple Eight” at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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This sighting comes just one month after Winfrey made some bold comments on weight loss on The Oprah Podcast. “All these years I thought that thin people — those people — just had more willpower,” she admitted. “And then I realized the very first time I took the GLP-1 that, oh, they’re not even thinking about it.” (GLP-1 medications can help lower blood sugar levels and can also promote weight loss.)
In December 2023, Winfrey confirmed to People that she was only seven pounds shy of her target weight of 160, attributing her progress to the medication. This comment came just three months after the OWN star dismissed weight-loss drugs as “the easy way out,” at the Oprah Daily’s The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight panel. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, ‘I’ve got to do this on my own.’ Because if I take the drug, that’s the easy way out,'” she exclaimed.
Oprah Winfrey is seen at “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on September 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Winfrey’s complicated relationship with weight was publicly tested during her 1985 appearance on The Tonight Show With Joan Rivers. When Rivers bluntly asked, “Tell me, why are you so fat?” Winfrey was left stunned, responding with humor, saying, “Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan.” But Rivers pressed further, even telling her, “Shame on you,” and offering to invite her back only if she lost 15 pounds. At the time, Winfrey felt she deserved the shame, but admitted, “Of course, I didn’t lose the 15 lbs… I went and ate my way to another 10 lbs.”