Oprah Winfrey has overhauled her eating habits over the last 12 months, and she is looking more confident than ever as she continues to display her weight loss.
The 69-year-old – who recently turned heads with a waterside photo at her $100 million home – made another stunning appearance on Friday as she attended the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, described as the "epicenter for Black joy, celebration, and self-love".
Oprah was in attendance to take part in a panel discussion about the legacy of Alice Walker's 1982 novel, The Color Purple alongside Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino.
The former talk show host showcased her slimmer figure in a patterned gray blouse tucked into a pair of metallic silver pants that helped to highlight her trim waist and curves.
© GettyOprah wore her hair in her natural curls and added a pop of color with a glossy berry lip, oozing confidence as she smiled for photos outside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
At her heaviest, Oprah weighed 237lbs but last year she vowed to "reset" her eating habits to "get back in control of how I want to live".
© GettyOnce again, she turned to the points-based weight loss program WW (formerly Weight Watchers) of which she is an ambassador, which previously helped her to lose over 40lbs.
"Time for a reset. I'm clearing out my fridge," she said on Instagram early last year before promoting the benefits of WW. "It brings you back to center. It helps me stay on track."
© GettyShe added: "It brings a level of awareness to what I'm eating, and that's what helps me close out the holidays, get back in control of how I want to live. So, let's do our day one together. Not one day, not tomorrow, not next Monday, not next week. Let today be our day one, OK?"
Oprah first joined WW in August 2015 and within 15 months she had dropped more than 40lbs. "I can honestly tell you; I struggle no more. I'm eating everything I love — tacos, pasta. I've never felt deprived," she said in an ad for the company at the time.
© GettySpeaking in a press release, she added: "Weight Watchers is easier than any other program I've ever been on. It's a lifestyle, a way of eating, and a way of living that's so freeing. You never feel like you are on a diet, and it works.
© Getty Images"I would say to anyone who's thinking of joining Weight Watchers: Take the leap. And get about the business of enjoying a fantastic and full life."
In the January 2016 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, she touched on why she decided to join the program, writing: "I was fed up with my lose-and-gain again routine. I had enough of no-carb regimens. Some people can live without bread and pasta, but it just doesn't make sense to me."
