Recently, RHONJ newcomer Jennifer Fessler’s Ozempic use led to her hospitalization.
She has taken the blame and continued to take the semaglutide. To her, the weight loss is worth the health risks.
But taking a life-saving diabetes medication for luxury weight loss is not just about the person receiving the injections.
Fellow RHONJ cast member Danielle Cabral said as much, condemning the Ozempic trend. The resulting shortage of the drug has hit close to home for her.
Page Six‘s live taping of Virtual Reali-Tea on Wednesday featured Jennifer Fessler and Danielle Cabral — and one polarizing topic.
“I was with somebody today, a very dear friend of mine, who actually needs [Ozempic] for medical reasons,” Danielle shared.
“And,” she lamented, that friend “cannot get it because of this stupid, bulls–t behavior.” By which she means the use of semaglutides (most famously Ozempic) as an appetite suppressant for weight loss.
“But she can’t get it, she can’t get it,” Danielle then reiterated.
That is not the only issue with Ozempic use. But the documented shortages on at least two continents (including ours, by the way) highlight how the increased demand has created scarcity.
Even if semaglutides truly were a “miracle drug” for weight loss without possibly dire consequences, the effect upon the people who need it to live is a horror.
Danielle said this while seated right beside Jennifer Fessler.
Jennifer uses a semaglutide (not Ozempic, but colloquially, it is, in the same way that adults in the ’90s talked about “xeroxing something” even if they weren’t using the Xerox brand).
Before Jenn could say anything, Danielle emphasized that people should stop creating this shortage and instead “run on a f–king treadmill.”
Danielle did remember that Jennifer has also made this controversial use of this medicine. She quickly added: “Not you, Jenn. Sorry.” Most of us have been there in some form or another.
Jennifer did accept her apology. And then she explained: “I mean, I’ve been running on a treadmill for 55 years. So, I’ve been trying. I’ve been tortured.”
She went on to share that her weight and her relationship with food have been a “mind f–k” for her entire life.
“… this is the first time in my life that I’ve had some relief,” Jennifer expressed.
According to her, she once weighed 223 pounds at her “highest.” In context, I think that we’re meant to interpret that as being a lot. (I haven’t been her height since I was 12 we might as well be different species)
Jennifer said that she had tried “everything” to control her weight. “I was a raging bulimic,” she then admitted.
“I wasn’t obese when I joined [‘RHONJ’], but trust me…” Jennifer went on.
She described: “my head spins, my bingeing, my cuckoo-ness around food has been excruciatingly painful.”
After decades of disordered eating, Jennifer expressed: “This is the first time I’ve gotten some freedom around it.”
We absolutely sympathize with Jennifer. Our culture’s vicious beauty standards and body-shaming, especially towards women, have exacted a harsh toll.
For evidence, look no further than Jennifer continuing to take semaglutides even after an impacted colon put her in the hospital.
But that doesn’t mean that this is a solution. Just like bulimia, taking these injections is a weight loss tactic and a health risk that does not address the underlying issue. This one just happens to be more socially acceptable.
However, Danielle also missed the mark when she brought up the treadmill.
The twisted appeal of semaglutides is that they offer something that works more effectively than exercise.
Over time, the human body adapts to a caloric deficit and weight loss decreases. (Because, unlike our society, your body does want you to store energy)
So, no, the answer isn’t a “f–king treadmill.” The answer is something much harder — body-acceptance and maybe even body-love.
Make no mistake — everyone deserves to live in a body that makes them happy. But if it’s not safely possible to change the body, then maybe changing the mindset is the best recourse.
Maybe there is an easy answer out there. But between Jennifer’s hospitalization and the lab rodents who got thyroid cancer from taking them, semaglutides don’t seem to be the solution.