Chrissy Metz is best-known for playing Kate Pearson in This Is Us. The role has brought her a lot of love and recognition. 

In fact, Metz has previously shared that many people had approached her, saying her work in the drama series had helped them through tough times.

The actress relates a lot to her character, especially with Kate’s struggle with weight and body image.

Metz spoke about it when talking to The Hollywood Reporter back in 2017.

“Here was this woman who was actually dealing with weight. Not like, ‘Oh my God, I gained a pound,’” she said. 

“She was a real woman who was really struggling, and all I could think was, ‘Oh my God, I’m Kate.’”

Chrissy Metz’s Struggle with Her Body Image

Throughout the years, Metz has been very candid about her struggle with her weight and body image. She has also shared about her attempts at weight loss and the results they yielded.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Metz revealed she had always been chubby.

“I was born chubby,” she said. “And as I got older at different times in my life, I was thinner or more active or playing sports, but I was definitely always a chubbier kid.”

Chrissy Metz got candid about her struggles with body image and weight loss in her memoir

Chrissy Metz got candid about her struggles with body image and weight loss in her memoir (Source: Twitter)

One reason for her gaining a lot of weight growing up was her family’s attitude towards food. Metz said food was really loved in her family. Furthermore, she saw many parts of her life related to food as a bonding time.

Wanting to be skinny like her friends, Metz went to Weight Watchers when she was 11. But, noticing that she was the youngest person in the room, she felt incredibly awkward.

Another instance that made her embarrassed about her weight was her interactions with her stepfather. In her memoir titled This Is Me, Metz shared her weight resulted in a strained relationship between her and her stepfather.

“My body seemed to offend him, but he couldn’t help but stare, especially when I was eating,” she wrote. “He joked about putting a lock on the refrigerator.”

Metz added he “shoved, slapped, and punched” her when she was a teenager. He also weighed her at regular intervals and mocked her over the results.

Though these incidents resulted in her struggling with her body image, she told Columbian in 2018 that she and her stepfather had reconciled.

She shared he had apologized and that she had forgiven him. Metz further noted that he was more of a father to her than her biological father was.

Weight Loss Journey

Metz’s weight had gone back and forth throughout her life. But a panic attack in 2010 made her serious about weight loss.

Just before she was about to attend her 30th birthday party planned by her husband, she experienced palpitations.

“I’m like, ‘What is this? Am I dying? What’s happening?’ It was really scary — really, really, really scary.”

Metz skipped the party and rushed to the hospital. There, she learned it was a panic attack but reminded her to watch her weight as it played a major role in her well-being.

In the following five months, Metz lost over 100 lbs. While she did not reveal how much she weighed after the weight loss, she shared what she had done to achieve the result.

“All I did was eat a 2,000-calorie diet and walk 20 minutes a day,” she told People.

Since then, she has been very active in promoting a positive body image for people of all sizes. Metz has also stated that whether she loses weight in the future or not, it would all be as a choice for her health and not because she found the body type attractive.