Harvey Fierstein Lost 120 lbs. on Zepbound: 'Being Fat Is Not a Choice'

After gaining weight during the Covid-19 pandemic, Harvey Fierstein says he’s now lost 120 pounds — all thanks to weight loss medication.

In typically irreverent Fierstein fashion, the Broadway icon, 70, joked that his emaciated appearance was due to “drugs” – before saying he had been taking the weight-loss drug Zepbound, with Page six.

“I was skinny before, that’s the sad part,” he said. “I was skinny, I was fat, I was skinny, I was fat.” Fierstein told the paper that he gained weight during the Covid-19 pandemic, explaining: “I considered it my off years.”

“I existed on the screen of my Zoom,” he says Hair spray the alum said. “So I wrote my autobiography, [2022’s I Was Better Last Night.]”

Harvey Fierstein in April 2022.

Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

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However, post-Covid, Fierstein says he’s up to 310 lbs. — which led him to seek help from the injectable drug Zepbound, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year to treat obesity. Like Mounjaro, Zepbound is the brand name for tirzepatide, which helps with weight loss by reducing appetite and improving the way the body breaks down sugar and fat.

“What’s different is what the drug actually does for you, which is: I don’t feel like I’m on a diet,” Mrs. Doubtfire said the star. “I feel like a normal person. I can go out to dinner with friends and not have to eat every piece of bread on the table and then not go out for ice cream when I’m done with dinner.”

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Harvey Fierstein in New York in June 2024.

Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty

Weight loss drugs like Mounjar are now available through Eli Lilly’s Telehealth platform

“I know what it’s like to be full like a normal person,” said Fierstein, who explained that he gained about 15 pounds. after stopping the drug, and has since remained stable at about 200 lbs.

“People don’t understand that being fat is not a choice,” he said. “It’s something your body isn’t capable of and it’s causing your body to malfunction.”

“I’m a big believer in that,” he said.

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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education