Oprah Winfrey: 'I can't accept myself if I'm over 200 pounds'

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Oprah Winfrey says she "can't accept" herself when she weighs more than 200 pounds.

The 63-year-old television personality explained in an interview for the New York Times essay "Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age" that she agreed to join Weight Watchers in order to take control of her health.

"In the particular moment in time that I got that call, I was desperate: What's going to work?" Winfrey recalled. "What is going to be consistent, keep my conscious and mindful?"

"For your heart to pump, pump, pump, pump, it needs the least amount of weight possible to do that," she said. "So all of the people who are saying, 'Oh, I need to accept myself as I am' -- I can't accept myself if I'm over 200 pounds."

"It puts too much work on my heart," she explained. "It causes high blood pressure for me. It puts me at risk for diabetes, because I have diabetes in my family."

Winfrey was named a Weight Watchers spokeswoman in October 2015 after purchasing 10 percent of the company's shares. She showed off her 40-pound weight loss in a series of promos for the program in December.

"Since I started Weight Watchers, I've lost over 40 pounds," the star said in one video. "I can honestly tell you, I struggle no more."

"Like everybody, I want to live a life that is full -- full of the happiness found in living the life I want. Full of the energy that comes with good health. Full of the great foods I love," she added in another clip. "I live well while losing weight."

Winfrey previously credited longtime partner Stedman Graham with helping her to lose weight, telling Good Morning America in June 2016 that they keep each other "accountable." The star later denied she and Graham will marry after 30 years of dating.