Chrissy Metz has revealed she is using a GLP-1 weight loss medication after dropping 100lbs. The 45-year-old This Is Us actress announced a new partnership with online service Ro on Monday, saying she wants "to take care of myself" amid Hollywood's Ozempic craze.
"I'm not getting any younger," she told People magazine. "I'm in perimenopause, and there were obesity issues within my family and with my father, and I felt like I've tried so many modalities, whether it was diets or therapy, and none of it really worked for me."
Metz also spoke about her use of the medicine while appearing on Today with Jenna and Sheinelle. She said the prescription drug has quieted her obsessive thoughts about food. "There's space for more creativity, more work, more being present in the moment," she explained.
It comes after the entertainer told the Daily Mail last year that she had shed 100lbs through strength training and changes to her diet.
Skeptical at first
Metz told People she was hesitant to try a GLP-1 for years, figuring it wouldn't be effective or would give her uncomfortable side effects. After trying the drug, she said, "It's been great! I've enjoyed the benefits that I didn't think that would come, because I was very skeptical."
She added, "I just vilified food for so long because I was taught that it was bad, and you shouldn't eat this or that."
Metz said the rewards of weight loss include more mobility, less joint pain and reduced inflammation. The Broadway star, who currently stars as Angelique in the musical & Juliet, said the changes have let her "run around onstage" more easily.
Putting herself first
Considering the decision to use a GLP-1, Metz said her thinking was about how to better herself and put herself first, which she called the bane of her existence because she is a people pleaser. She said her blood work is already better and that she is getting ahead of things that needed attention.
She said she continues to prioritize fitness, working with a trainer and lifting weights to build muscle. "I know it's not a magic wand, and I need to change other things," she said, adding that it's really about how comfortable she is and learning what she's capable of.
No target number
Metz said she does not have a particular number she is trying to reach on the scale. "I really try not to have a number. I just want to feel strong and not have my morning ruined because I stepped on a scale and I'm several pounds above what I think I should be," she explained.
Metz previously said she had "very complicated feelings" about weight loss drugs. A year ago, she told People that for people with diabetes who need to lower their A1C, such medications are important, but that they could become a slippery slope for someone with a restrictive eating disorder whose appetite is minimized. She said at the time that she never claimed to be the poster child for body positivity and only wanted to do what she could to live the longest, healthiest life.
The Florida native has spoken about her father's death from sepsis after he underwent gastric bypass surgery, and said she does not want to meet the same fate.
