Margaret Josephs admits diet and exercise are not behind her slimmer physique.
The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star revealed to People Tuesday that she’s lost 22 pounds by taking peptides and undergoing hormonal replacement therapy.
“It’s been life-changing,” Josephs told the magazine.
“And it’s not about being fat or skinny; it’s about every aspect of my wellness coming together.”
She added, “I wanted to feel healthy and get my body to a place where I’m supposed to be. I feel so lucky to have found something that’s really working for me.”
Josephs, 55, said she sought medical attention after she found it “very hard” to “maintain” her weight loss in recent years.
“I’d be working out, eating healthy, running around all the time and nothing — and everybody knows I don’t even drink alcohol, so that wasn’t it,” the fashion designer explained.
“I just wasn’t feeling my best self. I was feeling tired and sluggish. I struggled to find energy in the way I had in the past. I was dealing with some brain fog.”
Josephs’ physician assistant Jamie Gabel PA-C told People that he put the reality star on a wellness program that included hormone replacement, peptides to maintain her muscle mass and strengthen her joints, and a mixture of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
He said GLP-1 is utilized in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, and GLP-1 receptor Semaglutide is commonly sold under the names Wegovy, Rybelsus and Ozempic, the latter of which is known for being used as a “quick fix” weight-loss drug in Hollywood.
It is unclear whether Joseph’s cocktail contains Ozempic. However, the “RHONJ” star has been on her peptides since April 2022 and takes one daily, another shot five days a week and a third, once a week.
However, Gabel noted that his office does not use a “one-size fits all model” for all patients and also pointed out that the medications can cause “gastrointestinal-related” side effects such as nausea and constipation.
Josephs, for her part, is thrilled with her results and gushed to People, “I’m 126 pounds now, give or take a pound depending on the day, and I haven’t been that weight since I got married the first time in 1994.”
“It was the right cocktail for me,” she added. “My swelling has gone down in my arm. My skin’s gotten tighter. My bones stronger. I’m sleeping better, I have more energy.”
The “Housewife” – who is married to Joe Benigno – said she is also “very good sexually” thanks to the new hormones. In a previous interview with Page Six, Josephs also raved to us about the benefits of taking the peptides.
“I take stuff [for] my joints, my mental clarity,” she said in November 2022. “We’re not getting any younger and our minds are filled with so many things. Everyone’s so super busy. I don’t need anything extra to make me feel like crap.”
Josephs’ good friend Jennifer Fessler, who appears in a “friend of” role on “RHONJ, recently hinted that she took Ozempic to lose her own weight.
“I took peptides and I don’t know if you’ve heard of medications associated with [peptides] that help people lose weight,” she said on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
When Andy Cohen bluntly asked if she took Ozempic, Fessler replied, “You said it, I didn’t. But … whatever works, here I am.”
Although many reality stars are being more open about their weight loss tips and tricks, some maintain that old-school “working out” and “eating healthy” is their only method.
“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards has repeatedly slammed critics who have accused her of taking the drug and told Page Six in February that she is “frustrated” over the allegations.
“I had never heard of it,” the Bravolebrity explained. “I had heard of it when they accused me, but I’d already lost weight by the time I had heard about Ozempic, so it was really frustrating to me.”
Richards, who previously noted she revamped her diet by cutting out sugar, carbs and alcohol, concluded, “What I don’t want to get lost in this is that I want to be able to inspire people.”
