Amy Schumer hit post on an Instagram Reel this week — a casual, home-video style clip filmed by her 6-year-old son, Gene — and used the opportunity to make something very clear: Yes, she did lose weight (and at 50 pounds, her weight loss is even more than people speculated). But no, she didn’t do it for vanity
She did it “not to look hot, which does feel fun and temporary,” she wrote in text over the video. “I did it to survive.”
In the Reel, Schumer also clarified a handful of the things the internet loves to speculate about: no, she doesn’t get Botox or fillers; yes, she’s had plastic surgery “over the years;” yes, she uses Mounjaro; yes, she’s aware that people are talking about her face, her weight, her marriage. She said she had a “disease that makes your face extremely puffy that can kill you,” adding, “the internet caught it, and the disease has cleared.”
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She ended by saying “sorry for whatever feeling it’s giving you that I lost that weight,” and shared that she’s now “pain free” and can play tag again with her son
Schumer and I are close in age (she’s 44), and she has publicly discussed her endometriosis. And while I don’t know the specifics of what she’s going through medically, her message hit for me — in the way things only start to make sense once you’re 45-ish
When I was younger, I used to believe the goal of fitness was thinness. Dieting was about shrinking, optimizing, polishing — an endless chase to look better. (Hey, I came of age in the ’90s — the era that celebrated waifishness and Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow dominated the cultural conversation around beauty.)
That’s a pretty common worldview when you’re in your 20s and early 30s, before life (and kids, in my case) completely reorganize your priorities. I didn’t yet understand that health is something you fight for, nurture, and sometimes cling to. Back then, the goal was just to look good
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But now I’m 48. I have 11-year-old twins. And the things I pay attention to — stamina, bone health, physical strength, hormone shifts — matter in a way I wasn’t capable of appreciating before. I don’t work out to squeeze into a dress; I work out because I want to keep up with my kids and stay strong long enough to enjoy the life I’ve built
So when Schumer says she lost 50 pounds to survive — not for vanity, not for applause — I actually believe her, though this is something I would have found impossible to truly believe 20 years ago, if I’m being honest. It’s the kind of clarity that comes with time, perspective, and a few hard-won miles on the odometer
She also mentioned she’s in perimenopause and is happy to share what she’s going through. Oh, same, Amy. Same. Welcome to the club where health isn’t so much just an aesthetic choice but a daily practice, where “feeling good” is far more meaningful to quality of life than merely looking it, and where most people (and certainly all men) really just don’t get what you’re going through
But we do get each other
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Alesandra Dubin Creator
Alesandra Dubin is a Los Angeles-based journalist specializing in luxury family travel. She also covers lifestyle and entertainment news, with 20+ years on related beats for top-tier media outlets.
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