Rebel Wilson, 44, Reveals She Briefly Tried Ozempic To Lose Weight

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Rebel Wilson’s highly-anticipated memoir Rebel Rising is finally here. And in the lead-up to the release, the 44-year-old actress has gotten in-depth about several aspects of her life, including her weight loss journey.

Rebel shared in new interviews that she’s gained weight due to “stress eating” and she also revealed for the first time that she’s used Ozempic, the diabetes drug that’s commonly used off-label for weight loss.

As you might remember, the star lost almost 80 pounds *and* reached her goal weight of 165 pounds a few years ago. More importantly, she seemed really happy with her lifestyle changes.

Earlier this year, Rebel said in a candid Instagram post that regaining some of the weight she lost “makes me feel bad about myself,” adding, “it shouldn’t…but it does.”

Here’s a look back at the star's weight loss journey, including her tactics for getting to her goal weight and where she is now.

Her desire to be a mom sparked her weight loss journey.

Rebel has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which can affect fertility. "Your ovaries might be enlarged and contain follicles that surround the eggs. As a result, the ovaries might fail to function regularly," according to Mayo Clinic.

During a visit to her fertility doctor in 2019, she was told she would “do much better” if she were healthier and have higher chances of retrieving and freezing her eggs if she lost weight.

“I was taken aback. I thought, 'Oh God, this guy's so rude.' He was right. I was carrying around a lot of excess weight,” Rebel told People. “It's almost like I didn't think of my own needs. I thought of a future child's needs that really inspired me to get healthier."

After going through an egg retrieval, in November of 2022, Rebel and her fiancée Ramona Agruma announced that they had welcomed a baby girl, Royce, via surrogate.

She recently regained some of the weight she lost.

Rebel told People in March that she regained 20 pounds of the weight she had lost, and a few factors played a role.

“You know when you feel comfortable in your relationship, and you're just like, f— it?” she said. “I haven't been doing personal training. I have been eating whatever. I have been eating some junk food on set, because sets are prevalent with that. I just haven't even thought about it. So I put on 20 pounds in the last six months with that insane schedule.”

Rebel also said that she’s stress eating ahead of the release of her new memoir. “I definitely think why I've been stress eating the last few months is knowing that now all this stuff will come out into the world,” she said. “I felt like I needed protection, so I had a bit more desserts and put up a bit of a barricade.”

Rebel said that she’s “nervous” about how her book will be received, but she also said that she’s “very proud” of her journey in life.

Rebel revealed back in a January 2024 Instagram post that she’s gained back 30 pounds that she initially lost.

“Working really hard has meant that, coz of all the stress, I’ve gained 14kg’s (30 pounds)!” she wrote in the caption of a video and photo of herself lounging in a hot tub on a boat. “It makes me feel bad about myself…it shouldn’t…but it does.”

Rebel said that she’s “really proud” of work she’s doing on new movies and her memoir, though. “It’s just been a LOT and I’ve lost focus on my healthy lifestyle,” she added.

Her fans absolutely flooded the comments section of her post with messages of support and encouragement. “It’s hard! Everyone is proud of you, but we already loved you, didn’t we? No matter what size, you’re still beautiful & hilarious,” one person wrote. “Your body is allowed to be comfortable,” another said. “Keep up with your healthy choices and fitness, but allow for the joy and little things that make you happy. At the end of the day, your weight and body don't define you.”

Rebel later updated the caption of her post with this add-on: “I woke up this morning and read all your comments - they bring a tear to my eye. Thanks everyone!”

Rebel had previously commented on her weight gain to PEOPLE in June 2023, sharing it got tougher once she welcomed baby daughter Royce. "I did gain weight once I had my baby, because although I didn’t give birth to her and I didn’t need to lose any baby weight, I had just gained weight from the lack of sleep and from the change in my lifestyle," she said. "For instance, now I can’t go to the gym as often as I used to. I’m just not working out as much, so that has slowed me down."

But Rebel told People in March 2024 that she plans to focus on living a healthy lifestyle again soon. “I think once this press tour is over for the book, I'll just go back to a bit more of a normal schedule and working out how I can be a mum and also take an hour or two in my day to be healthy,” she said.

She’s tried Ozempic to help maintain her weight loss.

Rebel revealed to The Sunday Times in March 2024 that she took Ozempic to help her maintain her weight loss. “Someone like me could have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs can be good," she said.

But Rebel also said that she doesn’t want young people to “obsess” over their looks and to embrace their appearance. “I feel strongly that young women shouldn't try to obsess over looking like Victoria's Secret models—they should just look like themselves,” she said.

Rebel also said that her relationship with food is “complicated.”

She’s struggled with her self-esteem.

Rebel shared in an excerpt from her book, Rebel Rising, that she’s had issues with self-esteem. “I know that at 39 years old, I’ve trashed my body with junk food, I guess because deep down I think of myself as trash,” she said, per Us Weekly.

“Sure, sometimes I feel like I’m a success. Some days I feel like I’ve ‘made it’ or I’ve ‘done good.’ But a lot of the time I feel I’m not worthy,” she continued. “Not worthy of a proper relationship. Not worthy of love. I’m not worth caring about, not by myself or by others.”

Rebel also revealed that her agency didn’t want her to lose weight because she was always cast as the “fat, funny girl” who made jokes about her body.

Rebel has denied following the Mayr method.

After her dramatic weight loss, Rebel cleared up rumors she'd been following the Mayr method, a diet based on the “Mayr Cure” created by Dr. Franz Xaver Mayr, an Austrian physician, nearly 100 years ago. Mayr believed that most people are poisoning their digestive systems with the foods they eat and how they eat them. So the goal was to improve health through digestion.

Rebel visited VivaMayr, the luxury medical resort associated with the method, in 2019, 2020 and most recently in July 2022. She posted a pic of herself on Instagram at the resort posing outdoors, sharing, “Oh it’s soooo gooood to be back at @vivamayraltaussee 🇦🇹 working the Mayr method to reset my system for the rest of the working year!”

But in an Instagram Story, Rebel clarified that “This was NEVER my diet." "Also have NEVER endorsed any diet pills or magic weight loss pills," she added. "Do NOT want anyone to get scammed."

She isn't too hard on herself, and enjoys her vacay time.

In July of 2022, Rebel shared a swimsuit photo on Instagram with a caption stating she had gained 3 kilograms (a little under 7 pounds) on vacation.

"I’m at an amazing all-inclusive resort…I’ve lost all self control," she wrote. "But you know what? I can get up tomorrow and go to the gym, and hydrate and eat healthy and love myself. It doesn’t help to be hard on yourself but I know what it’s like to feel guilty and not great after eating too much."

Then came her big message that really seemed to sum up her whole health journey: "But if you’re like me just know YOU are more than just your weight, your weight doesn’t define you, just try your best to be healthy and don’t be so hard on yourself 💗 Be the best version of you 💗."

Rebel's setting a great example of authenticity on Instagram—just call her the Queen of Balance.

She focuses on eating more protein these days.

Rebel explained that she follows a high-protein diet. In an interview with People, the actress shared that she used to eat 3,000 calories every day.

“Before I was probably eating 3,000 calories most days, and because they were normally carbs, I would still be hungry,” she said. “So, I've really changed to eating a high-protein diet, which is challenging because I didn't used to eat a lot of meat. I eat fish, salmon, and chicken breast.”

In Rebel Rising, the star says she started concentrating on eating protein at every meal and hydrating with water in between meals. She started cooking more at home and writes that her favorite meals to make are tacos with ground beef and protein shakes with berries and almond milk.

She credits the coronavirus pandemic with helping her slow down and turn “bad habits to healthier ones.” It helped her focus more on her overall health and her struggle with emotional eating.

“I definitely think with the slow down, it did help,” she says. "I think I was emotional eating, and overeating at times, because I wasn't loving myself enough either. And it does come down to that self-worth and self-love."

But Rebel doesn't deprive herself. Since she's just trying to maintain her current weight, she told WH that she enjoys more snacks, and even sometimes yummy treats like ice cream and chocolate. She says this approach feels more "maintainable."

She also is big on incorporating healthy, nutritious ingredients into some of meals she already loves, like adding shredded carrots and avocados to tacos.

"I'm just trying to go for overall balance, overall healthy balance," she said. "I have this state of being, which is not my quote, but I go 'Nothing is forbidden.' We’ll be like, 'Should we get In-N-Out burger?' And I'm like, 'Nothing is forbidden.' I can go there, I just might eat half of what I used to eat before. You know? And I'll have a burger, and a few fries, and then you feel fine."

People treated her differently after she lost weight.

Rebel told People in March that she got “quite a lot of attention” when she lost weight. “I thought, ‘Gosh, people are so intrigued by this.’ Literally, I got more attention for weight loss than any movie I'd ever done,” she said.

While Rebel said all the attention was “superficial,” she also enjoyed it. “And I went, ‘Oh, is this what hot people experience all the time?’ Their life must be so bloody blessed,” she said.

Rebel shared that all the “positive reinforcement” encouraged her to continue to live a healthy lifestyle. “It was interesting to know exactly what it's like to be invisible sexually and then to be visible,” she said. “I've experienced both sides of the coin.”

Rebel previously stopped by The Morning Crew With Hughesy, Ed and Erin to discuss some of the changes she’s noticed. “I think what’s been really interesting to me is how other people treat you,” Rebel said. “Sometimes being bigger, people didn’t necessarily look twice at you. And now that I’m in a good shape, like, people offer to carry my groceries to the car and hold doors open for you. I was like, ‘Is this what other people experienced all the time?'”

One thing that hasn’t changed? Her self-confidence. “I like to think I looked good at all sizes and stuff and I’ve always been quite confident,” she said. “So, it wasn’t like I wasn’t confident and then now I’m, like, super confident.”

Still, since working out with her trainer, she’s been, uh, even more confident than usual. “You can tell that I post, like, a lot of photos of myself on Instagram. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, loving myself,'” she said. “I know I should calm down a bit on that.”

An Instagram post shows her power posing in a seriously sporty one-piece while on vacation. "Palm Beach-ing 🏝," she captioned the shot. "I think I wanna move to Florida now." She looks right home on the sandy shore, totally ready for a hot girl summer.

Rebel declared 2020 was her ‘Year of Health’.

Rebel declared 2020 her “year of health," telling fans she'd be prioritizing exercise and aiming to get down to her goal weight of 165 pounds. To achieve that, she's been relying on a combination of exercise and a healthy diet.

Rebel first revealed her plans on her Instagram account back in January 2020. She started by simply walking more and making some smart food swaps. "I put on the athleisure and went out for a walk, deliberately hydrating on the couch right now and trying to avoid the sugar and junk food which is going to be hard after the holidays I’ve just had but I’m going to do it!" she explained.

Fans cheered her on and Rebel said she was grateful: "Thanks for all the love so far on my 'Year of Health' journey—when I was reaching for the candies last night after dinner I thought to myself 'hmmmm...better not' and had a bottle of water instead," she wrote in an update at the end of August.

Alongside a photo of herself showing off her progress and a gorgeous view on a hike, Rebel shared that she was three kilograms (or about six pounds) away from her goal weight on Instagram. (Btw, her trainer is a big proponent of snapping progress pics, but more on that in a sec.)

“It's really about enjoying exercise and physical activity, so I will just go on a light walk," she told WH. "I’m not killing myself at the gym.”

What did Rebel’s workout routine like?

Rebel worked out with trainer Jono Castano up to seven days a week. (She was not kidding about working hard.) In Rebel Rising, the actress lays out a typical day: "exercise for about two hours—one hour with a trainer focused on strength and conditioning, and one hour doing my own cardio (which was usually walking," she writes.

Rebel captioned a video of her flipping fitness sesh: "Starting the week off right! Look out @chrishemsworth & @liamhemsworth 👀 Australia’s latest action hero is turning it up! 💪🏻."

Her routine also included stair sprints and bouts with battle ropes. It seemed like she was a fan of high-intensity interval training, and her trainer is a big fan of her. He would shout to encourage her IRL and on the 'gram wrote: "🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 You got this @rebelwilson #level1000."

Even when Rebel's busy, she would make time for her workouts. In October of 2020, she got in some early morning hikes and explained on Instagram: "This week was super busy but I got up super early 3 times (6am 😜) and went on a hike...even did a couple of 100m sprints to get the heart rate even higher (although my ‘sprint’ is probably someone else’s ‘slow jog’ 😝) but I felt proud of myself and now only 3kg’s away from my goal weight! Rebs x."

Her other secret weapon was a good, old-fashioned walk. "I got all these high-tech tests done on me during my year of health," she said, per People. "They said that walking was actually the best way for me to lose unnecessary body fat."

In an Instagram post, she shared a snap from a stroll outdoors.

"Enjoying a morning walk amongst health treatments at the glorious @vivamayraltaussee...finishing my Year of Health off STRONG at the place that gave me that first kick-start 😁," she captioned a recent Instagram post.

Rebel took self-care seriously, too.

During her "Year of Health," Rebel made sure to sleep eight hours a night, she writes in her memoir.

Rebel also journaled for twelve minutes a day in a practice she dubbed, "Purge Emotional Writing." And if she felt like she lost her focus or started to slip back into old patterns, she'd look at an old photo of herself when she was young.

"I'd look at that sweet little girl's face and think, 'If I was her parent, would I feed her a dinner of ice cream and cookies? Nope. There's no way I'd do that to that innocent girl. I'd want to feed her healthy, nutritious meals.' I was trying to re-parent myself so that hopefully I could become an actual parent in real life."

Rebel’s been honest about the fact that weight loss hasn’t been easy.

She wrote in one Instagram caption: "Even if you have to crawl towards your goals, keep going x it will be worth it. Try and give a little bit of effort each day...I know some days are frustrating as hell, you feel like giving up, you get annoyed at the lack of progress...but good things are coming your way 🤘what are your goals this year?"

But all her hard work is clearly paying off.

And she’s always been open with fans about her weight loss goals.

Back in July of 2020, she revealed her exact weight loss goals in a now-deleted Instagram post: "I’ll be honest with you guys—with my 'Year of Health' mission I’m trying to get to 75kg’s and career wise am trying to get one of my movies into production before the end of the year! Both of these things are requiring a daily effort and there’s constant set backs—but I’m working hard x." (FYI: 75 kg is roughly 165 lbs.)

Rebel has struggled with emotional eating.

Rebel told People that she’s struggled with being “a proud fat female” while also being “ashamed of my eating behaviors.”

“I think to many people I'm a beacon of body positivity because I see people who are considered medically obese if you look at their weight, but I think they are absolutely beautiful,” she said. “I really think beauty is at any shape and size so I do really promote that.”

Rebel also opened up about emotional eating she would do, calling it “shameful.”

“For example, eating a whole tub of ice cream every night and then feeling bad about myself, making myself get up early in the morning and go to the gym for an hour and a half and running on that treadmill until sometimes my back would hurt,” she said.

Rebel said that it took time and therapy for her to understand why she was an emotional eater. “I would be hard on myself,” she said. “I'm like, ‘How can I be a person who excels in so many things, and gets two university degrees, and can make millions of dollars, and can start from nothing and then create this huge career, but I couldn't lose weight?’ I would always beat myself up about that and go, ‘What's wrong with me?’”

In November 2020, she opened up to Drew Barrymore on her talk show The Drew Barrymore Show and talked about what the process has been like for her.

Rebel went on to say that she had tried "fads and diets" before, but wanted to take a "holistic approach this time." And that meant focusing on her mental health, too.

"I think what I really suffered from was emotional eating and dealing with the stress of becoming famous internationally. There is a lot of stress that comes with it, and I guess my way of dealing with it was just eating donuts," she said. "So, I was working on the mental side of things of 'Why was I not doing that? Why was I not valuing myself and having better self-worth?'"

And, while Rebel did say to Drew that she wants “to lose a few more" pounds, her goal isn’t to get super skinny. "I love my curves and stuff. I don't think I'll ever go too skinny, but I feel so much healthier," she shared.

The physical and mental changes have also translated into her career, where she’s "really coming into my own."

"I feel more in control," she continued. "I get to produce movies now—which is amazing—and have more control over the content. Everything seems to be coming together. Maybe I was a late bloomer or something, but I'm slowly getting it together."

Her trainer would say that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

According to Castano, Rebel has the right idea with her “year of health,” because often, people don’t realize how long it takes to transform the body and make lasting lifestyle changes.

"The first thing is, we need to really understand where they're at. So, what I mean by that, is we need to find out their weight, body fat, muscle mass," he told Yahoo! Lifestyle. "Because what tends to happen as well is that a lot of people weigh themselves and they don't understand why they're not losing weight, because they're putting on muscle, and then they're looking better." He’s a fan of taking photos every week during the transformation to track progress.

"I think with any type of transformation, you shouldn't always look at the easiest option, you know, two months is not enough time to be able to change your body," he said when asked about fad diets and eight-week programs.

"Don't forget, two months, you're putting a lot of stress on yourself. When your goal is like that and you don't achieve it, it can cause a lot of mental problems. So, my advice is to keep your goals realistic, short and then achieve them and progress from there."

Not to mention, it’s easier to make lasting changes to your lifestyle with the mindset that those changes will be long-term.

"A transformation is never-ending, the journey always continues, so you can never give yourself 10, 12 weeks,” Castano said. “Because it just continues, once you reach your goal then what? Then you're going to stop? You can't stop it becomes a lifestyle, you continue and you become the best version of yourself as cliché as it sounds.”

Rebel’s sense of humor has been fully intact throughout her health journey.

The Pitch Perfect star showed off her bod in a swimsuit and cover-up while jet skiing in Monaco, where she continued her “Year of Health” journey while social distancing on a yacht. (She also attended the Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health and hung out with Prince Albert. Casual.)

Aboard the yacht, Rebel also shared a jokey glimpse into her workout routine while traveling.

“Hey guys, I’d just like to share my new workout routine,” she says in the video. “I call this the Monaco routine.” She goes on to do a set of biceps curls with 4.5 liters of Grey Goose vodka. “I’m really trying to tone the upper arms.” Then she lifts it overhead. “You really want to feel that burn.”

Next, she hoists it over her shoulder and suggests running up and down stairs. “I’m not going to run up and down the stairs right now, but you guys get the picture.” Even though the video is clearly for laughs, Rebel’s form while lifting is pretty on-point.

She even cracked a joke about the "hot girl summer" trend last year.

"Hot girl summer was so successful that I'm off the market," Wilson joked with Yahoo! Life News. "So I won't be doing hot girl summer this year. Hopefully I'll be in a happy, successful relationship."

She finds creative ways to treat herself.

She hasn't restricted herself so much that treats are off the menu completely. Rebel shared on Instagram in october 2020: "Remember though girls, you still gotta treat yourself 😘 🍰 (I just do it with food now only once or twice a week...and substitute bubble baths on alternate nights)"

Kudos to Rebel, or her new nickname "Fit Amy," and her inspiring "year of health."

You Might Also Like

• Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream

• These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals