Heidi Montag isn’t here for Hollywood’s ongoing Ozempic craze.
The “Hills” alum, 37, says on Pvnew’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast that she recently dropped 22 pounds without employing the trendy drug meant for type 2 diabetes patients, but used by many celebrities for weight loss.
“I’m not looking for a magic wand. I like to do the hard work,” Montag explains while promoting her partnership with Hydroxycut, a weight-loss supplement that works differently than Ozempic.
“It’s just nothing I would ever do,” she asserts, further predicting that the fad will one day fade away. “There’s no shortcuts in life. And if you’re taking that shortcut, I don’t know …”
Ozempic, an FDA-approved prescription drug, is one of the brand names for semaglutide — also known as Wegovy — which impacts the brain to maintain satiety and suppress one’s appetite.
A parade of public figures have admitted to taking versions of semaglutide for its slimming effect. Oprah Winfrey recently confirmed that her newly svelte figure is the result of weight-loss medication after months of speculation, though she didn’t specify which one she uses.
“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” the media mogul, 69, told People this week.
“I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
Even with Winfrey’s endorsement, Montag isn’t interested.
The “Bad Boy” singer tells us that Hydroxycut — its main ingredient being C. canephora robusta, a non-stimulant compound found in green coffee shown to metabolize carbs, fats and proteins with vitamin B — felt like the “perfect fit” for her to reclaim her confidence.
The mom of two — who shares sons Gunner, 6, and Ryker, 1, with husband Spencer Pratt — endured a debilitating bout of postpartum depression and related body image struggles after giving birth to her younger child in November 2022, but is in “a much better place” today.
“I had enough time to cuddle the baby and I was like, ‘OK, now I’m ready.’ This started in July and then ended in October. I lost 22 pounds over that time. And once you have lost that weight, it’s easier to maintain and to motivate yourself,” she says.
“It’s given me this desire to be the person that I’ve always wanted to be. I want to eat healthy. I want to be in the gym.”
Montag, who rose to fame in the mid-2000s when rail-thin bodies were glorified, notes that her current weight loss and fitness journey is about “feeling strong,” not being thin.
“Being skinny isn’t my goal. Feeling good about myself is,” she says. “I love having these new muscles and the feeling that I’m on my way to having a six-pack.”
The “Speidi’s 16th Minute” co-host — who is the face of a national TV campaign for Hydroxycut, launching Dec. 26 — says that she is grateful for the support of her spouse, Pratt, 40, as her commitment to health and wellness continues.
“If I need to meditate or do some time in the gym, he’s there to watch the kids or take care of things, which I really appreciate,” she raves. “This has been a transformation physically, mentally, even spiritually, and Spencer’s been my biggest cheerleader.”
