'It seemed as if the struggle I'd had with my weight my entire adult life was now officially over. I felt completely defeated. I thought, I give up. I give up. Fat wins.'  

 

 

 

But Oprah Winfrey didn't give up. She never does. Instead, she wrote, with characteristic openness and honesty, about her famous battles with her weight and the real reasons behind the gains and losses.

'But as I move along the spiritual path to permanently resolving and managing the weight issue, I now see that a sense of unworthiness can come in many forms.

'I've been an overachiever since I was three years old. Achieving to prove my worthiness. Many times we insist on having all the best things because that's the only way we can ensure 'quality of life’ or ourselves. I can neglect myself in every other way, but if I have the best watch or pocketbook or car or square footage, I get to tell myself I'm the best and how much I deserve to have even more of the best. What I know for sure: having the best things is no substitute for having the best life,' she says.

Read more in O, The Oprah Magazine.