Reality Star Who Dropped 50 Pounds Shares Her Controversial GLP-1 Tip

Getty Images Emily Simpson has found a new way to approach taking GLP-1 drugs after shedding roughly 50 pounds.

The Real Housewives of Orange County star, 50, revealed to Us Weekly on Friday that she no longer takes the breakthrough weight-loss medication every week.

Instead, she waits until she feels the pounds creeping back on.

“I do still [use a GLP-1, but] not as much as I did,” Simpson told the outlet.

“I use it now to just kind of, like, maintain.

So I’ll go a few weeks and not use it, and then I’ll feel like I’m starting to gain weight, and then I’ll use it again.” Simpson previously followed a far more regimented routine, injecting the medication weekly for about 12 weeks.

“Now, I just [use a GLP-1] every few weeks—I guess what they call microdosing, or whatever,” she said, noting she is on “kind of, like, a maintain kind of system now.” “Microdosing” GLP-1s has become a buzzy weight-loss practice, but it is not an actual medical term.

Dr.

Amanda Velazquez , director of Obesity Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, said there is no evidence that shows taking low or intermittent doses of GLP-1 drugs provides sustained weight loss or broader health benefits.

The drugs exploded in popularity for weight loss in the early 2020s, with shortages prompting some patients to experiment with stretching out their prescribed doses.

Doctors also caution that repeatedly going on and off the craving-curbing drugs may have unintended consequences for patients.

A Penn Medicine study published this year found that overweight mice repeatedly taken off and restarted on semaglutide rapidly regained weight during the breaks and were unable to return to their previous lowest weights after restarting the drug.

Simpson, though, is not relying on injections alone.

The Bravo star said she still eats burgers and ice cream with her three children, but has stopped absentmindedly snacking throughout the day.