TikTok star Remi Bader has opened up about her past experience using Ozempic, as the diabetes medication becomes the internet’s newest diet trend.
The 27-year-old influencer appeared on the latest episode of Amanda Hirsch’sNot Skinny But Not Fat podcast, where she spoke about being prescribed the diabetes medication “before it was trendy”.
“I’m, like, almost annoyed that it’s this trendy thing now, when I went on it for actual issues,” Bader, who has 2.2 million followers on TikTok, told Hirsch.
The plus-size model explained that her doctor had recommended she try Ozempic, shortly after it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2020, for her pre-diabetic, insulin resistance, and weight gain issues.
However, the Victoria’s Secret ambassador said that she has mixed feelings about Ozempic, because once she stopped taking the once-weekly injection, her binge eating worsened.
“I saw a doctor and they were like, ‘It’s 100 per cent because you went on Ozempic,’ because it was making me think I wasn’t hungry,” she explained. “I lost some weight. I didn’t want to be obsessed with being on it long-term, and I was like, ‘I bet the second I go off, I’m going to get starving again,’ and I did.”
“My binging got so much worse, so then I kind of blamed Ozempic,” Bader added. “I gained double the weight back after.”
Ozempic is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, although some of its side effects include weight loss. Ozempic – which is the brand name for semaglutide – works by mimicking a hormone that regulates appetite to create the feeling of fullness.
Recently, Ozempic has been trending on social media as many celebrities have been rumoured to use the diabetes medication as a quick weight loss fix. Due to its popularity as an “off-label” diet pill, the increased demand has sparked a global shortage of Ozempic, leaving people with diabetes who actually need the medication without it.
Over on TikTok, Remi Bader has gained a large following from her candid plus-size fashion reviews. The New York-native recently went viral when she revealed that a Long Island-based ranch wouldn’t let her ride one of their horses because of her weight.
In a video posted to her TikTok account last June, Bader shared footage of the ranch with text over it, which reads: “Shoutout to Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk for making me leave because I weigh over 240.”
“I’ve rode horses before and have never had this issue,” she wrote in the caption. “Please advertise this on your signs for the future.”
She emphasised in the comments how the ranch had failed to “advertise” their weight restriction and how “embarrassing” her experience there was.
“I don’t really need any opinions on this one,” she wrote. “It’s the fact of how it wasn’t advertised and how poorly it was handled. This was my experience not yours. It was very embarrassing to be told I need to leave alone, when everyone else got to stay lol.”
The TikTok star went viral once more when she called out Delta Air Lines for its lack of inclusive seating for plus-size passengers. In one video, which Bader posted to TikTok in early 2022, shows the model holding one side of the seatbelt, but struggling to buckle the other side of the seat’s safety belt.
“Delta. Figure it out!” Bader wrote in the text caption on the clip, adding in the caption: “And no I shouldn’t need to ask for an extender. It should just be easy! @delta.”
