'Pritzker Reveals He’s Lost 80 Lbs. with GLP-1 After Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis'

 Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s slimmer appearance has been the subject of speculation for more than a year.

This past February, during an interview with Vox, he was asked a pointed and personal question: Had he tried a GLP-1 drug for weight loss?

Pritzker, a Democrat in his second term who has been public about his lifelong weight struggles, declined to answer, saying he didn’t believe people should have to reveal that information. He called it “a hyper-personal question” and said he didn’t want to normalize that line of questioning.

But since that day, things have changed for the 61-year-old married father of two. In addition to losing 80 lbs. over the past two years, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune has decided that it’s time to be more candid about his personal journey.

“I came to the conclusion that it would be helpful to others to hear why I went on a GLP-1 and what the effect has been for me,” Pritzker tells PEOPLE. “It’s been tremendously beneficial.”

And while he admits his weight loss alone has been life-changing, it was actually a serious medical condition that caused his doctors to suggest he consider a GLP-1.

His story starts with his father, Donald, who, according to Pritzker, struggled with high triglycerides, high cholesterol and high blood pressure — all major risk factors for heart disease. When his dad died of a heart attack in 1972, at age 39, Pritzker was just 7 years old.

Pritzker knew from a young age that he needed to monitor his blood pressure, blood lipid levels and other vital signs — and for the past 20 years, he’s taken a statin to keep his cholesterol low.

But about three years ago, at age 58, Pritzker’s bloodwork results suddenly showed an alarming change. His glucose levels were surprisingly high and he was diagnosed as prediabetic. To bring down his levels, he was told he had to adjust his diet and start exercising regularly — changes he had attempted in the past.

“Those are things I’ve been trying to do my whole life,” he says, “but I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to give it an extra old college try.’ ”

“There isn’t a well-recognized diet that I haven’t tried,” he adds, including keto, the Atkins diet and being a vegetarian.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023.

Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty

Despite his best efforts, Pritzker still wound up falling back into his old ways. And when he was officially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about two years ago, his doctor told him he’d need to start taking insulin, a medication that helps control glucose levels in people with various types of diabetes.

That was a true wake-up call for Pritzker. “I immediately said, ‘I don’t want to be on insulin,’ ” he recalls. “‘If I have to go on insulin, I want to come off of it as soon as possible.’ ” 

Pritzker’s doctor said he would likely have to take insulin forever but suggested that, in addition to the medication, and the ongoing changes in his diet and exercise, he begin taking a GLP-1.

“So I did all that and I was seeing success,” Pritzker says. “The food noise had gone away. I was exercising every day.” Fortunately, he also didn’t experience any side effects, which can include fatigue, nausea, constipation and headaches.

GLP-1 medications were initially developed and prescribed to help manage blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes and, more recently, to induce weight loss by suppressing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness, according to the National Academy of Medicine. 

“After a little while, my glucose level went below the diabetic line, and even below prediabetic,” he says.

He remained on insulin for about a year and a half. Once his glucose levels had returned to normal and his weight was under control, his doctors said he could stop taking insulin.

“That’s really why it went from being a very private matter to me to deciding maybe it’s okay to share that,” Pritzker says. “I thought sharing that with other people might make a difference.”

He stresses that anyone considering a GLP-1 should speak with their doctor first.

“I’m not suggesting that I’ve found the magic cure,” he says. “It’s that I’ve seen some real success from a health perspective. In addition to getting off insulin, I’m losing weight and feeling more energetic and eating better.”

Even so, he admits the journey isn’t over. He still works to maintain a nutritious diet, and he walks at least four miles a day. The difference now is that he enjoys it.

“I feel better when I’m exercising,” he says, “like it’s not a chore.”

He says that’s a big change from what exercise has been like for most of his life.

“At some point, when you become overweight, it just becomes a lot harder to do,” he says. “But now I’m hiking with my son and playing tennis with my daughter, and walking every morning.”

“The idea that I feel better,” he adds, “that I might be around longer and maybe even see grandchildren someday means a whole lot to me.”

https://people.com/illinois-gov-jb-pritzker-is-taking-a-glp-1-exclusive-12126177