Michelle Obama showed off a bold - and seemingly slimmer - new look as she posed in a photoshoot over the weekend, with speculation swirling around her potential use of weight loss drugs. The former First Lady, 61, has spoken at length recently about her style and self-expression after releasing a fashion memoir at the beginning of November titled The Look. The author and podcast host's fashion choices have been lauded by many with some claiming she has recently been flaunting a slimmer figure and implying she has used weight loss drugs such as Ozempic.

Obama looked laid-back in the new shoot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, sharing behind-the-scenes footage on her social media. In the clip, she confidently posed in a dark gray collared tee with a slight V-neck and distressed blue jeans . She completed the look with a thick brown leather belt that matched her brown suede boots, while a wind machine dramatically blew her hair back. Obama showed off her toned arms in the tiny tee, with a flash of her taut stomach seen in her high-rise jeans. She looked relaxed and confident, with people taking to social media to discuss her slimmed-down look.

'Do any of you have any idea how Michelle Obama suddenly lost all this weight at 61, which is also a difficult age for a woman to slim down?' one user asked on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Ozempic - just like everyone on The View who suddenly decided to "get healthy." I'm not knocking it - but for Christ's sake - be honest about it!' someone else responded. 'Yes she has the Ozempic look,' agreed another. A fourth person wrote: 'Is it me, or does Michelle Obama appear to be on semaglutide for weight loss?' 'So who's responsible for "trapping" Michelle Obama into that Ozempic weight loss? Who is she trying to emulate now?' snarked another. Pictured: Michelle Obama in 2016.

'Annie Leibovitz has always known that a photo can do more than preserve a moment — it can say something,' Obama captioned the post. 'Her book Women did exactly that, expanding how we see women and the lives they lead through her lens. It was an honor to be photographed by Annie for the new edition, capturing the many ways women are showing up today. 'I hope you'll find it as inspirational as I do,' she concluded the post. Rumors first started to circulate over the mom-of-two's figure in March, after Meredith Koop, her stylist, uploaded a picture of Obama looking noticeably thinner.

In 2022, Obama candidly opened up about her struggles with menopause, revealing that she suffered with severe hot flashes and 'creeping' weight gain that left her unable to fit into her clothes. The author admitted she had a hard time dealing with some of these symptoms, specifically saying her weight gain 'slowly creeped' up on her, which forced her to be 'more mindful' about her diet and workout regimen. Recently, Obama has been speaking at length about her style and feeling comfortable in her body. Pictured: Former US firsdt lady Michelle Obama applauds next to her official White House portrait after it was unveiled in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 7, 2022. 

She opened up about the role fashion has played in her life and how her time on the world stage during Barack's presidency shaped how she represented herself in a limited podcast series titled IMO: The Look. In past episodes, she admitted there was immense pressure to do 'really, really well so that the next folks will have a chance' and 'get it right,' in case they impacted how minorities would be treated in positions of leadership in the future. The former First Lady then spoke about how this impacted how she chose to dress, describing it as a 'role' she played. 'A lot of my fashion choices, as we talked about in The Look, were about using the language as a way to send a message about beauty, about culture, about the American spirit, about inclusion,' she mused. 'So you know, I had a role,' she explained. 'And now that I'm out of that role, fashion is about me, it's selfishly completely about what I like and what I want to do.'