TikTok star Remi Bader opened up about his past experience with Ozempic as diabetes drugs became the internet’s new diet trend.
The 27-year-old influencer appeared in Amanda Hirsch’s latest episodeNot skinny but not fat podcast, where she talked about being prescribed the diabetes drug “before it was all the rage.”
“I’m, like, almost annoyed that it’s this trendy thing now, when I went on this for real issues,” Bader, who has 2.2 million followers on TikTok, told Hirsch.
The plus-size model explained that her doctor recommended she try Ozempic, shortly after it was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2020, for her problems with pre-diabetes, insulin resistance and weight gain.
However, the Victoria’s Secret ambassador said she had mixed feelings about Ozempic because once she stopped taking the once-a-week injection, her binge eating got worse.
“I saw a doctor and they said, ‘It’s 100% because you took Ozempic,’ because it made me think I wasn’t hungry,” she explained. “I lost weight. I didn’t want to obsess over staying there long-term, and I was like, ‘I bet the second I leave, I’m going to starve again’ , and I did.
“My bulimia got so bad, so I kind of blamed Ozempic,” Bader added. “I regained double weight afterwards.”
Ozempic is an antidiabetic drug 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 a feeling of fullness.
Recently, Ozempic has been trending on social media as many celebrities have reportedly used the diabetes drug as a quick fix for weight loss. Due to its popularity as an “off-label” diet pill, increased demand has sparked a global shortage of Ozempic, leaving people with diabetes who really need it without it.
On TikTok, Remi Bader has gained a large following thanks to his more outspoken fashion reviews. The New York native recently went viral when she revealed that a Long Island-based ranch won’t let her ride one of their horses because of her weight.
In a video posted to his TikTok account last June, Bader shared footage of the ranch with text on it, which reads, “Thank you Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk for sending me away because I weigh over 240”.
“I’ve ridden before and never had this problem,” she wrote in the caption. “Please announce it on your signs for the future.”
She pointed out in the comments how the ranch failed to “announce” her weight restriction and how “embarrassing” her experience was.
“I don’t really need opinions on this one,” she wrote. “It’s the fact that there was no publicity and it was mismanaged. It was my experience not yours. It was very embarrassing to be told that I had to leave alone, when everyone else had to stay lol.
The TikTok star went viral again when she called out Delta Air Lines for its lack of inclusive seating for plus-size passengers. In a video, which Bader posted on TikTok in early 2022, shows the model holding one side of the seat belt, but struggling to buckle the other side of the seat belt.
“Delta. Understand it!” Bader wrote in the text caption of the clip, adding in the caption, “And no, I shouldn’t need to ask for an extension cord. It should be easy! @delta.”