Ricki Lake says she’s “living [her] best life” after losing 40 pounds without any help from Ozempic or other weight-loss drugs.
“I started October 26, 2023, and went on this journey,” Lake, 56, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly while promoting her collaboration with Stone Road Farms for her Ricki Lake & Bake cannabis line.
The Hairspray actress explains that she began by “following a very strict keto diet” that included intermittent fasting and hiking outside “every single day” with a weighted vest.
Since October 2023, Lake has also done Pilates “four days a week,” which contributed to her losing 40 pounds and keeping it off.
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“I did not go on any drug because I wasn’t prediabetic,” she says, noting, “There’s nothing wrong with those drugs. They’re actually game changers for so many people. But for me, I did not want to be reliant on a drug if I could help it.”
Instead of using Ozempic or similar GLP-1 medications, Lake shares that she did her “own thing” that was “very specific.”
“I wore a glucose monitor. I wore my Oura ring [which tracks health data]. I prioritized sleep and overall, a low-stress lifestyle. And it worked,” she reveals. “It continues to work.”
Before speaking with Us, Lake says she did a two-mile hike and took a Pilates class, which is her norm.
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“I took what was once a chore, you know, every day having to work out and get on the elliptical and hate every minute of it,” the former Ricki Lake talk show host continues. “Now it’s a privilege and a joy to be able to move my body, to not be in pain, to see the results [and] to fit in my size 4 jeans.”
Lake rose to fame for playing Tracy Turnblad in 1988’s Hairspray, who she once proclaimed was “pleasantly plump.” Since then, she’s had many ups and downs with her weight.
In 2007, she was Us Weekly’s cover star after losing more than 100 pounds — even giving Us an Instagram shoutout on February 26, 2024, in the same Norma Kamali red bathing suit she modeled for the photo shoot 17 years prior.
“I literally put the bathing suit on for me,” she tells Us. “I was like, ‘I wonder if I could still pull this off?’ Because I’ve kept it [off] all these years. I’ve loved that bathing suit! And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I look good!’ In some ways I think I look even better than I did then.”
Lake reveals, “For 17 years I’ve kept all the clothes from way back then. And I was like, ‘Why am I doing this to myself? I’m in my 50s, I’m never going to get in great shape like that again.’ And sure enough, they all fit me. In fact, some of them I had to take in and have made smaller.”
“It’s thrilling. I’m not going to lie. It’s the best feeling in the world to have put in this hard work and to be able to feel good in my skin,” she continues. “And to be able to share with the world that I did this. I set my mind to this and look what I’ve done. And then on top of that, I’m just so healthy. I’m so strong. And I just want to keep feeling this way.”
Three years after Lake covered Us Weekly in her bathing suit, she revealed her 130-pound weight loss on Good Morning America. She confessed during the December 2010 appearance: “Being fat worked, and I think that was what was confusing for me for a long time in my career. Through my adolescence and, you know, later teenage years, I got bigger and bigger and bigger. I had the worst, the worst eating habits.”
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Then when the mother-of-two joined Dancing With the Stars for season 13 in 2011, Lake lost even more weight. At the time, she exclusively told Us that DWTS didn’t “feel like working out,” but she was “covered in sweat” after every rehearsal.
More than a decade later, Lake tells Us she continues to make her health a “priority” and gives herself all the tools to succeed. “I don’t go out late at night like my friends. I have DJ friends, they’re going out at midnight, and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry. I cannot get there,’” she says with a laugh. “I am way asleep by, like, 8 p.m.”
The former talk show host shares that she goes to bed early and wakes up to workout before the sun rises. “I hike every single day, weather allowed. But even in the rain, I’m just out there [at the] crack of dawn with my dog and usually my husband,” she adds.
Lake notes that over the past year it’s been a “mind flip” where working out is no longer a “chore” but rather something “I love doing.”
She gushes: “I love slowing down and looking at nature and moving my body, getting my heart rate up, getting a sweat on.”
The actress — who teased to Us that she’s working on a lifestyle cookbook that documents her health journey — has also leaned into cannabis to unwind and avoids added sugars.
Last month, Lake announced her collaboration with Stone Road Farms in California for her Ricki Lake & Bake products, which are available in stores in the area.
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“I obviously believe in this medicine, and in Stone Road’s brand and what they’ve built,” Lake said in a press release in December 2024. “It is so aligned with where I am in my life, and I’m so happy to be bringing this out.”
Outside of growing her own weed, Lake tells Us she drinks cannabis at night with her husband, Ross Burningham, before going to bed.
“It’s low in calories. Wine has sugar in it and calories,” she explains. “I’ve recently lost a bunch of weight, and I really prioritize just keeping everything in check. I’d rather have my cannabis drink, which is, like, 40 calories. And still get that nice buzz.”
For more information on Stone Road Farms’ Ricki Lake & Bake, check out their website. Pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now, for more details on Lake’s health journey.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
