Fat Joe’s Weight Loss: How Ozempic and Cutting Carbs Helped Him Drop 200 Lbs
The rapper said Ozempic helped curb his hunger and quiet 'food noise'
Despite shedding a life-changing 200 pounds, rapper Fat Joe has no plans to change the iconic moniker that made him famous. The hip-hop legend recently opened up about his health journey, emphasizing the importance of staying true to his larger-than-life personality—even as his physique has transformed. He credits his success in part to Ozempic and a low-carb diet. Keep reading to learn more about Fat Joe’s weight loss and how his approach can help you reach your own health goals.
What prompted Fat Joe’s weight loss journey?
At his heaviest, the “Lean Back” rapper said he weighed in at 470 pounds. But he began taking his health more seriously in 2000 after his close friend and collaborator Big Pun died from a heart attack at just 28 years old.
“I went to his funeral and I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge,” Fat Joe told Men’s Health. “And I’m looking at his little daughter. She was the same age as my daughter. I said, ‘You gotta lose weight; otherwise you outta here.'”
But even with his impressive 200-pound weight loss transformation, Fat Joe opted to keep his stage name the same. “My wife would kill me. She likes me being a big boy,” Joe joked with Us Weekly in 2024.
How did Fat Joe lose weight?
Besides his motivation to be there for his family, Fat Joe credits his weight loss to consuming fewer carbs and taking Ozempic to manage his diabetes. Those same tactics have helped him maintain a healthier lifestyle years later. Here, we dive deeper into why his strategies worked and how they can help you find success, too.
He limits carbs
While completely eliminating carbs isn’t practical, Fat Joe focuses on managing his intake with balance and moderation. “We just try to eat everything with the least carbs as possible,” Joe said. “So we try to stay away from the bread, the pasta, the rice. That’s the smartest way to eat.”
Part of that balance is scaling back on the portions when possible. “Like this morning I ate breakfast, I had this toast. I cut the corner off, ate it and kept it moving,” he shared in the Us Weekly interview. “Normally I would’ve ate the whole thing. But you know, that’s what we do. We cut carbs and try to be smarter.”
Reducing your carb intake can have a short-term impact on weight loss, mainly because it can help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. But it’s not ideal to cut them out entirely. Instead, Jennifer Habashy, NMD, MS, assistant medical director at Claya, suggests focusing on more nutrient-dense carbs like vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Why are these better for you? “These types of carbs have a low glycemic index, meaning they’re digested slowly and don’t cause rapid spikes in blood sugar,” says Habashy. “Balancing carbs with healthy fats and lean proteins can stabilize energy levels while supporting weight loss.”
He uses Ozempic for diabetes
Fat Joe also shared that Ozempic (a GLP-1 used to manage blood sugar for diabetics) has helped him keep the weight off. He’s dealt with diabetes since he was a teenager, but it’s unclear how long he’s been on the GLP-1.
“Ozempic says you may only have two pieces of your favorite stuff,” Fat Joe told Men’s Health of how the GLP-1 has dialed down his appetite, which has ultimately helped him with portion control and weight loss.
Think of it this way: “If you have to eat a whole plate of food to feel satiated, on a medication like Ozempic, about a third of the plate will do the trick,” says Cristina Del Toro Badessa, MD, a board-certified physician specializing in personalized and integrative medicine at Artisan Beaute. This allows for small indulgences without consuming too many calories, such as a taste of cake, a little bit of wine or a piece of bread.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. First For Women does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
