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oprah winfrey weight

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There must be a hundred different ways to determine if someone is healthy. A general practitioner will check your lung capacity, blood pressure, heart rate, BMI, skin color, hair, eyes, and nails to see if you're healthy.

A psychiatrist will examine your mental and emotional states to see if you are healthy.

Our personal health is a complex thing, but many of us simply rely on a number on the scale to see if we're physically fit.

However, being thin doesn't necessarily mean someone is healthy.


While maintaining a healthy weight is important, when we don't hit our numbers on the scale it can lead to anxiety, depression, and low self- esteem — issues that can create serious health issues.

Oprah Winfrey knows a lot about the power the scale can hold over people. She has been candid about her weight throughout her career and, over the years, we've seen her body go through drastic changes.

while on her quest to find her ideal weight, it has fluctuated between 145 and 237 pounds.

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In a powerful interview with "Entertainment Tonight," Oprah admits that she's taken a more holistic view of her health and stopped worrying about the number on the scale.

"I'm really over the scale. I don't even use a scale anymore. I just use 'do I feel well and does this fit?'" she told the reporter.

"Because I now fully have come to understand — I'm about to turn 66 — I know having been on every diet in the world that now WW has allowed me to stabilize and to feel healthy inside and out with all the numbers that matter. Not just your weight but your blood pressure, your blood sugars and all of that.

"I'm healthier than I've ever been," she continued. "I do believe that healthy is actually the new skinny, Rachel. That is what I'm saying."

Oprah's words are important because of the tremendous influence she has over her fans. Oprah is letting them know that health is what's truly important and that's much more than the number on a scale.

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Later in the interview, she was asked what she's proud to have overcome.

"I'm especially proud of myself for not living in the world of comparisons," she admitted. "Years ago when I pulled out that wagon of fat, I was actually comparing myself to everybody else. Now I've reached the point where I'm really okay exactly where I am. It's taken me a lifetime, practically, to figure that out."

Imagine if everyone, Oprah included, learned at an early age that the only person we need to compare ourselves to is ourselves. It's not about trying to be like a celebrity on TV or our friends and family.

A truly happy life comes from trying to be a slightly better version of ourselves each and every day. That goes for our health, our careers, hobbies, and how we treat the people we love.