Mindy Kaling says her weight loss is not due to ‘vanity reasons’

Mindy Kaling has addressed her dramatic weight loss following years of online scrutiny.

Fans have long speculated that the actor and producer has used Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has become highly popular with celebrities and influencers for its weight loss side effect.

In a new interview with Bustle, the 46-year-old said she began her weight loss journey when she realized she needed to “live at least 20 more years” for her three children: Katherine, eight, Spencer, five and Anne, two.

“Do I wake up every day being like, ‘I look amazing and I’m so gorgeous’? No, unsurprisingly, but I truly feel so healthy,” she said. “When I was younger, I would want to lose weight because of vanity reasons. Now I want to lose weight or have lost weight because I want to stave off things like diabetes.

“I had it on both sides of my family, and trying to avoid those kinds of things will, I think, help longevity for me, and that’s my goal.”

The Office alum also said she understood the criticism she has faced for losing weight in recent years.

“It’s sometimes no fun when one of your favorite actors loses weight. You have an idea of what they were like when you grew attached to them, and it made them endear themselves to you,” she added. “Of course, it’s never a joy to be scrutinized, but also I truly understand it, as someone who consumes pop culture.”

Still, Kaling said she has “very specific rules” for what she shares publicly, including setting boundaries around conversations regarding her body and family. She has largely kept her children out of the spotlight and has never revealed the identity of their father.

During a 2023 interview with Allure, Kaling was asked what she would say to fans who “feel like they’ve lost an ally” during her fitness journey.

“It’s not super exciting for me to talk about my body and how it’s analyzed. So I think I’m just not going to get into it because it takes over the conversation unfortunately and people take it so personally,” she responded.

The Mindy Project star has spoken previously about her inspiration for losing weight. “I grew up without parents who worked out. They were trying to establish themselves in this country and they did not put a premium on their own health and working out,” she told E! News in 2022. “So, I think it’s been great to show my kids that part of my life.”

Of her diet and exercise regime, she told Prevention in 2024 that she aimed for 15 to 20 miles of walking a week and ate lots of leafy green vegetables and only a small amount of red meat.

“I really try to implement [my eating plan], not when I have all the time in the world, but especially when I feel stressed out, because that’s when I feel like I make a lot of my big health mistakes,” she said.

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