Chrissy Metz spent decades being defined by her body. As a kid, her stepfather weighed her in the kitchen. At 11, she joined Weight Watchers. On her 30th birthday, she ended up in a hospital after mistaking a panic attack for a heart attack. For six seasons of This Is Us, she played a character whose weight was written into the plot.
On August 10, 2026, Metz made an announcement that surprised many of her followers. During a live appearance on TODAY, the actress confirmed she had started taking a GLP-1 weight loss medication and entered a paid partnership with telehealth company Ro. The news came roughly 15 months after she told the Daily Mail she had lost 100 pounds through strength training alone.
For Metz, the decision was neither quick nor simple. She resisted GLP-1 drugs for about six years. What changed was a combination of perimenopause, her father’s obesity-related health problems, and a friend who walked her through the medical research. The result is a health story that has stretched over 15 years and is still unfolding.
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How It Started: A Childhood Defined by Food Shame
Chrissy Metz was born on September 29, 1980, in Homestead, Florida. Her father served in the Navy, and the family lived in Japan briefly before returning to Gainesville, Florida. When she was eight, her father left.
Money was tight. Metz has said in interviews that there were stretches when the family could not afford food or electricity. Her mother, Denise, remarried a man Metz referred to in her 2018 memoir as “Trigger.”
The relationship with her stepfather shaped Metz’s relationship with food for decades. In her memoir, This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, she described physical and emotional abuse centered on her body. Trigger would stare at her while she ate. He joked about locking the refrigerator. When she was 14, he began making her step on the scale in the kitchen while he watched.
“‘Good God almighty!’ he yelled every single time,” Metz wrote. “The number then was about 140 or 130. Most of my friends weighed about ninety pounds.”
She described being hit, shoved, and slapped. The abuse did not happen to her other siblings in the same way. Metz later said she believed her weight made her a target.
“Why does my weight equate my worthiness?” she asked during a 2024 interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show. “As a 12-year-old kid, how do you reconcile that in your mind?”
Food became her emotional anchor. She ate in secret. She described it years later as “my crutch, the love to fill in the holes.”
Weight Watchers at 11
At age 11, Metz was the youngest person in her local Weight Watchers group. She has said she felt out of place and confused by the experience but did not have the language or the support system to push back against it.
The cycle of dieting, gaining weight, dieting again, and using food for comfort continued into her twenties.
The Panic Attack That Changed Everything
In 2010, on her 30th birthday, Metz went to the movies with family and friends. During the screening, she began feeling heart palpitations. She checked herself into a hospital, convinced she was dying.
Doctors told her she had suffered a panic attack.
“You can’t continue on this path,” they warned her, according to a 2025 interview with People.
Metz later called the episode her “breakdown.” But it also became a turning point. She began therapy, became interested in self-help and spirituality, and made a straightforward dietary change: she ate a 2,000-calorie diet and walked for 20 minutes each day.
In less than five months, she lost 100 pounds.
She has been candid about the fact that this initial loss did not stick permanently. Over the following years, her weight fluctuated as her life changed.
From 81 Cents to Kate Pearson
The years between 2010 and 2016 were professionally difficult. Metz auditioned constantly and worked sporadically, including small roles on My Name Is Earl and Entourage. In 2014, she landed a recurring role on American Horror Story: Freak Show as Ima Wiggles, a sideshow performer billed as a “fat lady.” The role was hard to accept personally, but it gave her a chance to work alongside actors like Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates.
When the audition for This Is Us came along, Metz has said she had 81 cents in her bank account.
She got the part of Kate Pearson, a character whose weight and body image were central to the story. The NBC drama premiered in September 2016 and became a cultural hit. Metz earned an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations for the role over the show’s six-season run, which ended in 2022.
The Weight Clause
Early press around This Is Us included reports that Metz’s contract contained a clause requiring her to lose weight if the storyline called for it. She later confirmed this was true but pushed back on the framing.
“That was a win-win for me,” she told TVLine in 2016. “Because it’s about health. We were going to do it. Why not have it in the contract?”
She has also said she was never pressured by the show’s producers in a way that felt harmful.
The 100-Pound Loss: Strength Training Takes Center Stage
In April 2025, Metz told the Daily Mail she had lost 100 pounds. This time, the method was different from her first attempt in 2010.
“I have always enjoyed strength training. I’ve always enjoyed lifting weights,” she said. “I don’t want to run unless I’m being chased.”
She began working with a personal trainer in Nashville, where she was based after the end of This Is Us. Her routine centered on resistance exercises, not cardio machines. She described a daily approach built around consistency rather than intensity, doing varied sessions and gradually increasing her capacity.
She also tried Pilates for the first time (documented on her Instagram in July 2025), adding flexibility and core work to her schedule.
By August 2025, she made her position on the broader conversation clear in an interview with People: “I know skinniness doesn’t equal happiness. I just want to be health-positive. I never said I wanted to be the face of body positivity.”
When asked at the time about Ozempic and GLP-1 medications, she gave a diplomatic answer and declined to say whether she would consider them.
August 2026: Metz Announces GLP-1 Use
A year later, she changed her mind.
On August 10, 2026, during a segment on TODAY, Metz announced that she had started taking a GLP-1 medication and partnered with Ro, a direct-to-consumer digital health company that provides GLP-1 prescriptions through telehealth.
She told TODAY she had been skeptical of the drugs for roughly six years, going back to when they first entered public conversation during the COVID pandemic. What shifted her thinking was a conversation with a friend who walked her through the research, followed by a clearance from her own doctors.
Three factors weighed on her decision:
She was entering perimenopause and wanted to get ahead of potential metabolic changes. Her father had experienced obesity-related health complications, and she worried about a hereditary pattern. And decades of diets, group therapy, and other approaches had produced only temporary results.
Chrissy Metz spoke exclusively to E! News about what changed her perspective on GLP-1 medications for weight loss while discussing her partnership with telehealth company Ro. https://t.co/6m8FCk15LJ pic.twitter.com/xDP0VK3UFO
— E! News (@enews) August 10, 2026
What the Medication Changed
In interviews with both TODAY and People in August 2026, Metz described one specific change that hit her hardest: the “food noise” had stopped.
“It’s so nice not to be obsessing about what I’m going to have every minute, even as I’m still consuming the meal,” she told People. “I just vilified food for so long because I was taught that it was bad, and you shouldn’t eat this or that.”
She said she had not believed other people when they described food noise disappearing on GLP-1 medications. Once it happened to her, she recognized how much mental space her relationship with food had occupied for her entire life.
“It’s a whole lifestyle change,” she said on her TODAY appearance.
She did not name the specific GLP-1 medication she was prescribed, and she did not say when she started it. Ro’s website confirms that Metz is a paid partner.
Her Response to Critics
Metz anticipated backlash. She addressed it directly.
“I know people are going to be judgy,” she told People. “It doesn’t matter, because like I always say, they’re not in my life. They’re not in my doctor’s notes. They’re not in the hereditary issues my family has.”
She also encouraged people considering GLP-1 medications to speak with their own doctors first. “Nothing is for everybody, and I think it’s important to be skeptical about anything we consume, put in our bodies, watch, listen to,” she told TODAY.
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Strength Training Continues Alongside Medication
One day after the GLP-1 announcement, on August 11, Metz posted an Instagram Story from bed. She flexed her arm for the camera, showing visible muscle definition.
“You know, I love all my blips and blops and my flips and flops, but she’s making progress on the strength training journey,” she said. “She’s making progress. We like progress. That’s my progress report.”
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The short video was part humor, part proof of concept. GLP-1 medications carry a documented risk of muscle loss alongside fat loss, which is why the World Health Organization recommends strength training for anyone taking them. Metz’s decision to continue resistance training with a personal trainer aligns with that guidance.
She has not set a target weight. “I’m just a regular old girl who is trying her best,” she told TODAY.
Broadway and Beyond: Where Metz Is Now
Metz’s weight loss story is running in parallel with one of the busiest stretches of her career.
Broadway Debut in & Juliet
On June 16, 2026, Metz made her Broadway debut in & Juliet, the jukebox musical built around Max Martin’s catalog. She plays Angélique in a limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre through September 13, 2026.
The role requires dancing, singing, and performing eight shows a week. Metz told Playbill that the experience made her feel “proud of myself for the first time in a long time.”
“I was too shy, afraid of my own shadow,” she said of her younger self. “It was something I always wanted but never thought that I would do, especially because I didn’t go to some wonderful musical theatre school or program.”
Music was Metz’s first creative love, even before acting. She originally thought she would end up on Saturday Night Live before her career moved toward drama. In & Juliet, she gets to perform songs she grew up listening to.
Upcoming Screen Projects
Beyond Broadway, Metz has several projects in various stages:
The Hunting Wives (Netflix, 2025): A thriller series based on May Cobb’s novel. Metz appeared in the first season alongside Brittany Snow, Malin Åkerman, and Dermot Mulroney. A second season has been renewed and is set to premiere in 2026.
Apple TV+ crime series (untitled, based on Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna novels): Metz was cast in July 2025 alongside Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, and Bill Camp. She will play a struggling single mother whose children go missing.
She has also mentioned new music currently in the works.
Timeline: Chrissy Metz’s Weight and Health Journey
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1980 | Born September 29 in Homestead, Florida |
| ~1988 | Father leaves the family; mother remarries stepfather “Trigger” |
| ~1991 | Enrolled in Weight Watchers at age 11 |
| 2010 | Panic attack on 30th birthday; hospitalized. Loses 100 lbs in under 5 months |
| 2014 | Plays Ima Wiggles on American Horror Story: Freak Show |
| 2016 | Cast as Kate Pearson on This Is Us; had 81 cents in her bank account at time of offer |
| 2018 | Publishes memoir This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today |
| 2022 | This Is Us ends after six seasons |
| April 2025 | Tells Daily Mail she has lost 100 lbs through strength training |
| August 2025 | Tells People: “I know skinniness doesn’t equal happiness” |
| June 2026 | Makes Broadway debut in & Juliet as Angélique |
| August 10, 2026 | Announces GLP-1 medication use; partners with Ro |
| August 11, 2026 | Posts Instagram Story showing muscle definition from strength training |
What GLP-1 Medications Actually Do
For readers unfamiliar with GLP-1 drugs, here is the basic science.
GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1. These medications mimic a hormone the body naturally produces after eating. The hormone signals the brain that you are full, reduces appetite, and slows gastric emptying (meaning food stays in the stomach longer).
Originally approved for type 2 diabetes management, several GLP-1 drugs have since been approved for weight loss. The most well-known brand names include Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro (which targets both GLP-1 and GIP receptors).
According to Ro’s website, the average weight loss in one year for people on GLP-1 medications is 20%, compared to roughly 3% for diet and exercise alone, based on a clinical study involving non-diabetic patients with obesity.
Side effects can include nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort, and in rare cases, more serious complications. The FDA warns that GLP-1 medications may carry a risk of thyroid tumors and should not be used by people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.
A common concern with GLP-1 weight loss is muscle loss alongside fat loss. The World Health Organization recommends that patients taking these medications include resistance training in their routine to preserve lean muscle mass, which is exactly what Metz has been doing with her Nashville-based trainer.
Why This Story Resonates
Metz is far from the only celebrity to announce GLP-1 use in recent years. But her story carries weight (no pun intended) for specific reasons.
She did not come to this from a starting point of vanity. Her relationship with food began in childhood abuse. The shame around eating was not something she developed on her own; it was enforced by a person who had authority over her. That context matters when people read about her decision.
She also resisted GLP-1 medications publicly for years. When she announced her 100-pound weight loss in 2025, she credited strength training. When asked about Ozempic, she sidestepped the question. Her eventual decision to try the medication came with the kind of candor that makes it harder to dismiss as a marketing play, even though a brand partnership is involved.
For fans who watched her as Kate Pearson on This Is Us, the arc feels familiar. Kate’s storyline included weight loss surgery, body shame, and the emotional cost of being seen primarily through the lens of her body. Metz lived a version of that same story off-screen. The difference is that Kate was a character written by someone else. Metz is writing her own version now.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much weight has Chrissy Metz lost?
In April 2025, she confirmed losing 100 pounds through strength training. She previously lost 100 pounds in 2010 after a panic attack. She has not disclosed how much additional weight she has lost since starting GLP-1 medication.
Is Chrissy Metz taking Ozempic?
She confirmed in August 2026 that she is taking a GLP-1 medication through a partnership with Ro. She has not named the specific drug.
Why did Chrissy Metz start taking GLP-1 medication?
She cited perimenopause, a family history of obesity-related health complications (particularly her father), and years of unsuccessful diets. She was skeptical for roughly six years before deciding to try.
Is Chrissy Metz on Broadway?
Yes. She made her Broadway debut in & Juliet on June 16, 2026, playing Angélique at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Her run ends September 13, 2026.
Did Chrissy Metz have weight loss surgery?
No. She has consistently said she did not have gastric bypass or any other surgical weight loss procedure.
What does Chrissy Metz’s workout routine look like?
She trains with a personal trainer in Nashville, focusing on weightlifting and resistance exercises. She also does Pilates, walking, and dancing (through her nightly Broadway performances). She has said she prefers lifting weights over cardio.
What is “food noise”?
Food noise is the term used to describe a persistent mental preoccupation with food, meal planning, and eating. Metz said her GLP-1 medication reduced this significantly, allowing her to think about other things.
What upcoming projects does Chrissy Metz have?
She is performing in & Juliet through September 2026, has a role in an upcoming Apple TV+ crime series based on Lars Kepler’s novels, and Netflix renewed The Hunting Wives for a second season.
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Last Updated on August 17, 2026 by 247 News Around The World
