Celebrity Weight Loss Stories and Transformations

Many people struggle with their weight today, which is why the weight loss industry has become so prominent. Although those who begin their weight loss journey may find the process and results frustrating, they should remember that there is always hope.

Melissa McCarthy had been on the heavier side her entire life, but as an adult, her weight started to affect her health – she wasn’t as mobile as she should be, and she had high cholesterol.

Jonah Hill is a popular comedic actor who is known for movies such as Superbad and 21 Jump Street. However, he struggled with his weight over the years. When his weight reached a dangerous level, his doctor suggested gastric sleeve surgery.

Seth Rogen is a well-known actor, best known for his roles in movies such as Pineapple Express and Knocked Up. He had fame and money, but he was still concerned about his weight and health.

Although Rosie O’Donnell was witty, famous, and successful, she never cared much about being thin. Eventually, she experienced a rapid weight gain and in 2012, had a massive heart attack. Her doctors told her that this heart attack almost killed her and that another one likely would.

Adele has always been known as an incredibly talented singer. The English singer and songwriter has made a name for herself in genres such as pop, R&B, and soul, just to name a few. However, she has been fighting a battle with her weight throughout her life. The issue was exacerbated when she was pregnant.

Many people know Kelly Clarkson as the American Idol winner in 2002. She hadn’t been familiar with the world of stardom beforehand, but after winning, she was quickly thrown into Hollywood, concerts, recording studios, and more. She ended up gaining quite a bit of weight because she was neglecting her health in this new lifestyle.

Al Roker has dealt with weight issues ever since he was very young. In 1990, he went through a gastric bypass procedure that helped him lose 150 pounds, taking him from 340 to 190. He did manage to successfully keep it off after this, but understandably, he gained weight again when he lost his mother in 2008.

Kirstie Alley is perhaps one of the most well-known celebrities who has a historic struggle with her weight. Over the years, her weight has fluctuated quite a bit. She would attempt many different tactics and diets, but they usually did not work, at least not in a way that would last. Eventually, she ended up joining the Jenny Craig system. This did ostensibly help her lose some weight, but when she took a break from the system in 2007, she did gain it back.

Many people know Jorge Garcia from his role on Lost, the popular show on ABC. They also know that he has always loved the food. In the past, he has talked about how he cannot resist his favorite foods. When he ended up getting his role on Lost, he needed to lose 30 pounds in order to play the role of Hugo. Although he did do this, his weight eventually went back up, and it kept going until it reached 400 pounds.

Oprah is well known for having succeeded in life and becoming famous despite having dealt with many struggles and obstacles in the past. However, even with all of her fame and influence, she did not have the time to focus on taking care of herself, including diet and exercise. As a result, she gained more weight than she would have liked.

Perez Hilton is best known for his gossip about other people, mainly celebrities. However, when he gained a substantial amount of weight, people started talking about him.

Rebel Wilson is an Australian comedian who is most prominently known for playing the character Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect franchise. She often was known to use her size as a punchline to a joke, but that mindset changed when she set out to lose weight.

Lisa Riley is known for projects such as Loose Women and Emmerdale. She has been overweight for a large portion of her life, but she impressively decided to make a change when she started experiencing weight-related health issues.

John Goodman is perhaps best known for his role as Dan, the husband of the titular character on Roseanne. This character has reprised his role on the spinoff, The Conners, which is still airing now. Though on the original series, a big part of Goodman’s claim to fame was playing an obese character, Goodman knew that his health needed to start taking priority.

Aretha Franklin made such a name for herself as a musical artist in the 1960s that many people still see her as a household name today. She is known for her amazing voice and has had an incredibly successful career. However one of the downsides of fame was that she did not get enough sleep, which ended up having significant negative effects on her health. She needed several surgeries in 2010.

Theresa Caputo, who is 56 years old, is probably best known as a medium on Long Island Medium. She has said that her weight has been a long-time struggle for her, but she ended up making a big transformation after all of this time.

Thirty-three-year-old Amber Riley is best known for her role as Mercedes on Glee, the popular show on the Fox Network. She has always loved her body, although she was never considered thin. However, she decided to lose weight when she found out that she was having health problems.

Most people know that Tyra Banks is a famous supermodel. However, she is also known as one who has not stayed very thin over the years. She has always been very supportive of the body positivity concept and did not care about others’ judgments. Even though she knew she was gaining weight for months, she did not work out, as she told Shape magazine.

Miranda Lambert is a country music singer who used to be married to Blake Shelton. After releasing her sixth album in 2016, she decided to lose some weight. She was only a size 8, and was simply  looking to shed the few extra pounds.

Anthony Anderson is a popular actor, writer, comedian, and game show host. He also did not make a secret of the fact that he loved food. However, when he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, he knew that he needed to make a change.

Many people know Susan Boyle as the woman who surprised everyone, both judges and the audience, on Britain’s Got Talent. They did not expect much from her when they saw her on the stage, but she turned out to have one of the most beautiful voices they had ever heard. Part of why they negatively judged her was because of her appearance, which she was not too focused on at the time. She appeared to be struggling with her weight, but at the time, she cared much more about advancing her singing career.

Michael Moore is another well-known personality who had a weight problem. However, in order to get healthier, he didn’t take as extreme of an approach as many others. Moore decided to focus on his diet and just move around more in general, without a concentrated effort to exercise more.

Chrissy Metz is currently starring in the hit TV show This Is Us. The show has been tackling the weight loss struggles of Chrissy’s character Kate and the actress’s contract even requires her to be losing weight. 

Khloe Kardashian was never really concerned about her weight. However, when she divorced Lamar Odom, she saw that her ex-husband started dating again immediately. This pushed her to start caring about her weight.

Claire Richards became famous because of her role in Steps. She has struggled with body image and weight issues for a large part of her life. She dealt with eating disorders, such as bulimia. Richards would alternate between starving and overeating/purging. She had times when she would lose 50 to 80 pounds and then gain it right back.

Paula Deen is a well-known celebrity chef who has always been known to be indulgent in her cooking and eating. However, she ended up with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in 2011, and she knew she needed to make a lifestyle change.

Mo’Nique had struggled with weight issues for a long while before deciding to make a change. When she decided to do so, however, she was extremely successful.

Drew Carey is a comedic actor who has further gained fame with his role on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Though a lot of his claim to fame was in his large size, which became the subject matter of multiple jokes on The Drew Carey Show, he realized that it was important for him to do something about his health when he became a parent.

Ricki Lake is known as a talk show host, as well as the actress who played Tracy in Hairspray in 1988. Although she will always be known as the one who took the role of this overweight teen, she decided that she wanted to take control of her weight. 

Dr. Dre is well-known for his contributions to the music and rap industry, with his real rise to fame being in the 1980s. He lived a very decadent lifestyle, which is common for famous rappers; however, in his case, his lifestyle included a lot of unhealthy foods, including sweets and alcohol.

Jennifer Ellison is a 38-year-old actress who was having some trouble with her weight. She decided to try the Cambridge diet, which limits one’s calories to 800 per day.

Tom Arnold had a role on the popular TV show Roseanne, which was on in the 1980s and 1990s. He was also married to Roseanne Barr, who was the lead actress on the show. Though he was overweight, he did not pay much attention to his health until 2013, when his son was born.

Gabourey Sidibe gained a huge amount of support after a wonderful performance in Precious. She had many fans, had become very famous, and even got nominated for an Oscar. However, she was also having health problems that were a result of her weight.

Wendy Williams had never been truly happy with her weight, but she started trying to get fit during a recent four-year period. However, this led to frustration when nothing that she tried seemed to work, and diet and exercise plans would lead to no success.

Jennifer Hudson is known for her beautiful singing voice. She has achieved a great deal of success throughout her career, and she has done so partially because she always prioritizes her work above everything else. However, this meant that her health was not always a top priority, which caused her to gain a significant amount of weight.

Janet Jackson has always been very health-conscious, but she ended up putting on more weight than she thought was ideal over the years. It was actually causing her to have some health problems, so she made the active choice to make an effort to regain her fitness.

Chaz Bono underwent a gender reconstruction surgery and then started to quickly gain weight. This was because of a combination of an unhealthy diet, not enough exercise, and the hormonal imbalance due to the recent surgery. He ended up getting very stressed out by it, and that was when he decided to make a change.

Roseanne Barr is a popular comedic actress, best known for the show on which she was the titular character. After a gastric bypass surgery that she needed for health purposes, she lost about 200 pounds.

Many people know Ruben Studdard for his amazing singing voice, as he was the winner of American Idol‘s second season. However, his success did not prevent him from having health issues, which he had because of an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise. When his weight went up to 462 pounds, he decided to go on The Biggest Loser.

Graham Elliot is a famous celebrity chef who is best known for his role as one of the original judges on Masterchef US. Over the years, his weight went up to 400 pounds, at least partially because of the fact that he was surrounded by delicious food on a daily basis.

Adam Richman became famous via a show called Man vs. Food, where he was known for his ability to eat huge plates of greasy, unhealthy meals. Thus, it is not much of a surprise that he struggled with gaining weight.

Rachel Frederickson was the winner of The Biggest Loser in 2014, weighing 105 pounds by the end of the show, as opposed to her original 260 for a total weight loss of 155 pounds!