Oprah Winfrey Gives The Skinny On Her Healthy New Cookbook

Oprah Winfrey is ready to tell her life story—through food! The media mogul is set to release a healthy cookbook, and People posted a sneak peek of the cover which shows a slimmed down Oprah dining on fresh fruit and healthy green juice.

Winfrey’s book, titled Food, Health and Happiness: 115 On-Point Recipes for Great Meals and a Better Life, is due out January 3, and it may be just what the doctor ordered to keep people on track with any New Year’s weight loss resolutions.

In a statement to People, Oprah said she wants to use her forum to share her weight loss secrets with her loyal fans.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve been the kind of person who wants to share the things that make life better,” Winfrey said in the statement.

“When I come upon something useful, something that brings me pleasure or comfort or ease, I want everyone else to know about it and benefit from it, too. And that is how this cookbook came to be. It’s my life story — the lessons I’ve learned, the discoveries I’ve made — told through food.”

Oprah Winfrey has long surrounded herself with some of the top chefs in the business, so it’s no surprise that she has collaborated with a few of them for her cookbook. Recipes in the book come from Top Chef winner Mei Lin as well as Oprah’s famous former personal chefs Rosie Daley and Art Smith.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Oprah revealed that the idea for the book came about after she worked with several seasoned chefs to make healthier versions of her favorite meals. Winfrey added that the number one questions guests to her home ask her is “‘How is this so delicious and still healthy?” Oprah decided to answer that burning question by sharing the special recipes.

Oprah Winfrey now owns a stake in Weight Watchers, and it’s clear that the weight loss program is working for her. Now the former talk show host will share some of her favorite recipes—and her personal story–in Food, Health and Happiness. Earlier this year, Winfrey put her memoir, The Life You Want, on the back burner to make way for her cookbook endeavor. There is no word on when Oprah’s long-awaited memoir will be published, but for now, fans can follow her story through food.

Ironically, Oprah hasn’t always been a cookbook fan. In an interview for O Magazine, Winfrey revealed that she doesn’t usually like using recipes.

“I’m absolutely an improvisational cook—a makeshift cook,” Oprah said. “I don’t like looking at recipes, and even if I do use one, I will adjust it to whatever feels right to me. It’ll be based on what is here, and what is in the garden.”

Of course, Oprah made that statement well before she signed on to Weight Watchers and started using the company’s “points” program. Now Oprah has to carefully weigh out her choices to ensure she stays on track.

The upcoming Food, Health, and Happiness will be Oprah Winfrey’s first official cookbook, but she has had her hands in the cookbook biz before. In 1994, Winfrey took Daley under her wing and helped her longtime personal chef promote the book In the Kitchen With Rosie: Oprah’s Favorite Recipes. The book was an instant smash thanks to Oprah’s support, selling a whopping 6 million copies. Also, Winfrey penned the intro to The Oprah Magazine Cookbook, which was released in 2008.

Take a look at the video below for an update on Oprah Winfrey’s first cookbook protégé.

[Featured Image by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Hearst]