Star Jones says twenty years ago it was shameful to be overweight person

She appeared on the latest episode of the 'Behind the Table' podcast, and opened up about the lessons she's learned over the course of her career and how she is "grateful" that she never succumbed to public pressure to lose weight in an unhealthy manner, reported People.

"Twenty years ago, it was shameful to be an overweight person," Jones said. "It was something that the late-night hosts made tremendous fun of. People were stigmatized very much."

However, Jones said that despite the fact that she was "hugely criticized," she ultimately made the decision to get fit on her own terms and at her own pace.

"I am so grateful that I followed my doctor's advice and not the public's advice, because the doctors really said to me, 'Until you do the work on yourself to know why you have an addictive personality and why you can't get control of your weight, you won't be successful in this. Even if you use surgery to jump-start it,' " she recalled, reported People.

"Because I actually had to lose the weight in my head. Yes -- before I could lose it on my body," she continued. "And because I took that advice and because I listened to myself and my doctors, it's [been] 22 years and I've kept the weight off."

"That is not something that people can fully appreciate, how hard it is to really change your lifestyle and your life and to do it in the public eye," she concluded, according to People.