Lizzo has opened up about her brief experience with Ozempic following her dramatic weight loss.
The 37-year-old singer, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, has been flaunting a noticeably slimmer figure for months.
Earlier this year, the Grammy-winning star took to Instagram to reveal that she’s officially reached her weight release goal: “I did it. Today, when I stepped on my scale, I reached my weight release goal. I haven't seen this number since 2014! Let this be a reminder you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Her fans were quick to shower her with compliments, and this time, she’s proudly accepting them.
“I feel like I worked really, really hard and it was intentional with what I did with my body,” she said on Just Trish with Trisha Paytas. “So when I get compliments, I go, ‘Thanks b****.’ Like, I really receive it."
The 'About Damn Time' vocalist shared that she’s being careful with how she talks about her transformation. She now uses the term “weight release” instead of “weight loss,” a mindset shift she credits to her boyfriend, Myke Wright.
“At first I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I lost five pounds,’ and he was like, ‘Where did it go?’” she said. “I was mad at him... but I want to be very intentional about the words that come out of my mouth because there’s young people who are watching me.”
She added that media coverage of people gaining or losing weight “had an effect on my brain chemistry," and now, she’s trying to change that narrative.
“Even me releasing the weight has affected people, and I take that seriously. I take that responsibility. And because of that, I want to transmute it into something that makes people feel comfortable and less afraid of it.”
In September 2024, Lizzo shut down rumors that she was using weight-loss drugs by posting a now-viral Instagram reel with the caption: “When you finally get Ozempic allegations after 5 months of weight training and calorie deficit.”
But this week, the 'Good As Hell' singer decided to set the record straight. After months of speculation, she confirmed that she had briefly tried the weight loss medication but ultimately chose to stop.
“I tried everything. Ozempic works because you eat less food, yeah? So if you eat right, it makes you feel full,” she told Paytas. “But if you can just do that on your own and get mind over matter, it's the same thing.”
She added: “It’s not easy. It’s a drug to help somebody with something they’re struggling with. I think people... It’s their way of being fat phobic when you’re telling someone they’re cheating.”
Lizzo didn’t disclose which GLP-1 drug she used, but medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are among the most common weight-loss injectables. She also stressed that everyone’s journey is different.
“I don’t like to tell people too much about releasing weight like what I did because I don’t want people to do what I did and it doesn’t work for them. Everybody’s body is different,” she explained.
For the 'Special' musician, the real breakthrough came when she stopped following a vegan diet.
“When I was vegan, I was consuming a lot of fake meats, I was eating a lot of bread, I was eating a lot of rice, and I had to eat a lot of it to stay full,” she said. “But really, I was consuming like 3,000–5,000 calories a day.”
During a trip to Japan, she reintroduced meat, and her body responded instantly. “My body was so happy. My body was like, ‘More, more please.’ And I was like, ‘OK, this is what my body likes,’” she shared,
Now, she sticks to whole foods like chicken, beef, and fish, which she says actually leave her feeling full.