Fat-Shaming and Interventions: Why Gordon Ramsay, Oprah and 8 Other Celebs Lost Weight
Find out what inspired celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, Oprah, Jimmy Kimmel and Meghan Trainor to get into the best shape of their lives!
Overview
Sneak a peek at Gordon Ramsay, Oprah Winfrey and Khloe Kardashian's before-and-after photos and you'll feel instantly inspired by their weight-loss successes. But the driving force behind their diet and fitness motivations, albeit equally inspiring, aren't always so obvious. Why an individual decides to lose weight is often as important as how they go about doing it: Scientific studies have determined that motivation plays an integral role in long-term weight loss. With reasons ranging from being ridiculed by others and getting revenge on an ex to being the healthiest possible individual for their future children, these are the reasons 10 celebrities chose to lose weight — and keep it off.
1. Gordon Ramsay Was Fat-Shamed by His Wife!
Gordon Ramsay lost a whopping 56 pounds after a fat-shaming incident involving his wife. When the celebrity chef started packing on the pounds after winning his third Michelin star (in 2001), his wife of 22 years, Tana, told him he was getting "fat." Having peaked at 252 pounds, Ramsay took the statement as his wake-up call.
"I looked like a sack of sht," he told the Daily Mail in a recent interview. "I look at the pictures and think, 'How did Tana stay around?' Because Tana has gotten better-looking and more gorgeous. And there she is, getting in bed with a fat f*k." To achieve his mission of getting back in shape, Ramsay hired a personal coach and started training for Ironman competitions. He completed his first in 2013 and continues to take them on. Needless to say, he still looks great!
Read more: 7 Celebrity Diet Secrets
2. Oprah’s Intentions Shifted and the Weight Came Off
Oprah Winfrey has been brutally honest about her decades of struggles with her weight, trying practically every diet and workout under the sun. The personality has finally found peace with her weight, losing 42 pounds and keeping it off. The secret? Her weight-loss intentions shifted.
"When the weight started to come off, I needed to get clear on my intention. I could lose weight to fit a dress size or attend an event or to make other people like me. But I couldn't keep it off for those reasons. I always put the weight back on," she told Weight Watchers magazine. "This time I changed the intention to, 'I want to be the healthiest I can be — physically, emotionally, spiritually.' So the process and purpose of losing shifted for me. It was easier, because my intention was clearer." As usual, Oprah's advice is spot-on!
3. Jimmy Kimmel Was Confronted by Dr. Oz
For most of Kimmel's life, he didn't even know how much he weighed. "I grew up skinny — my first driver's license had me listed at 6-foot-1 and 136 pounds — so for a long time I had it in my head that I was skinny," he wrote in a recent essay for Men's Journal. But feasting on his mother's Italian cooking and those all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffets (he grew up in Sin City) resulted in rapid weight gain.
In 2010, he finally bought a scale and was shocked to see he weighed 208 pounds. Soon after, Dr. Oz appeared on his show and expressed concern about his health. "You know what? Dr. Oz shouldn't care more about my health more than I do," he thought at the time. He eventually lost 25 pounds and has kept it off permanently, attributing the weight loss to intermittent fasting.
Read more: 13 Strange Celebrity Diets
4. Meghan Trainor Did It for Her (Future) Kids
Trainor recently dropped 20 pounds for the sake of her future spawn. "One day we'll have kids," the newly engaged star (who has a case of the baby fever) revealed to E! News. "I want to be the healthiest I can be for those kids." She also gives major credit to her fiance, Daryl Sabara, for transforming her outlook on health and fitness and her newfound "obsession" with exercise. "He's changed my entire life. He cooks for me and taught me how to cook," she gushed to "Entertainment Tonight." "He taught me how you can feel better if you eat healthier and exercise, even mentally." How cute, right?
5. Jennifer Hudson Got Pregnant — and Nobody Even Noticed!
Jennifer Hudson had no problem with her swerving size-16 curves — until she was pregnant with her son, David. "I thought, 'Hold on. Why doesn't anybody know I'm pregnant?'" she told Self. "And I wanted to set a good example for my son. Right after I had him, I began trying to change things." The singer never learned to "eat right and be healthy" as a child and "wanted to" for him. She ended up dropping 80 pounds by joining Weight Watchers and engaging in outdoor exercise like jogging, cycling, basketball and tennis as well working out in the gym.
Read more: 8 Celebrities Share Their Fitness Secrets
6. Khloe Kardashian Wanted to Get “Revenge” on Her Ex
Khloe struggled with body-image issues for most of her life, but it was her failing marriage to Lamar Odom that got her butt in shape for real. "I was having a hard time with Lamar. It was toward the end of our union, and there was so much drama I needed a release," she told Women's Health. "At first it was so hard. It was baby steps, but I started feeling so much better." Her transformation (she dropped a whopping 40 pounds by eating right and becoming obsessed with the gym) inspired her to create her body-confidence show "Revenge Body," helping other people turn their lives around with health and fitness.
7. Chris Pratt Lost a Movie Role Because He Was “Too Fat”
After gaining weight in his early Hollywood years, Pratt auditioned for the role of a lifetime in 2011's "Moneyball," but lost out on the part because of his weight. "That was the first time I heard someone say, 'We're not gonna cast you — you're too fat.' So I decided to drop the weight, like in wrestling," the former high school athlete told Vanity Fair.
"I couldn't afford a trainer, so it was all running and crash-dieting and cutting alcohol." His subsequent shape-up (he shed 60 pounds for his role in "Jurassic World") thrust him into action-hero roles, and he is now one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Alas, it's difficult to win against public opinion: Instead of being shamed for being too fat, he now gets trolled for being thin!
Read more: 16 Celebrity Weight-Loss Successes
8. Melissa McCarthy Stopped Giving an F
Melissa McCarthy struggled with her weight, until she just decided to stop stressing out about it. "I truly stopped worrying about it," McCarthy said during an interview with "CBS This Morning." "I stopped overanalyzing, overthinking, overdoing anything. I kinda went back to when I was pregnant, and I just stopped constantly being worried about it. And I think there's something to kinda loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that, bizarrely, has worked. I could've figured that out before 44, but whatever." And, FYI, stress can lead to weight gain, according to several studies. Maybe learning how to chill out a bit like Melissa could kick-start your weight-loss journey as well.
9. Gabourey Sidibe Was Diagnosed With Type-2 Diabetes
"Precious" star Sidibe, who struggled most of her life with depression, anxiety and bulimia, underwent weight-loss surgery in 2016 after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. "I just didn't want to worry," the actress told People about her decision. "I truly didn't want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely [would] worry all the time about losing my toes."
After having the surgery, she changed her eating habits and started working out with a trainer. "I did not get this surgery to be beautiful," she wrote in her memoir about her motivations. "I did it so I can walk around comfortably in heels. I want to do a cartwheel. I want not to be in pain every time I walk up a flight of stairs."
Read more: Celebrities' Fave Foods While Dieting
10. Kelly Osbourne Signed Up for “Dancing with the Stars”
After leaving rehab in 2009, Osbourne replaced drugs with food and packed on the pounds. "I'm an emotional eater. When I get upset, my diet goes out the window," she told Shape. Enlisting for "Dancing With the Stars" quickly taught her how bad her diet was. "I'd fill up on french fries and pizza all day and wonder why I wasn't losing weight. In the very beginning, I kept getting sick during rehearsals because I was eating such terrible, fatty food and feeling so exhausted."
Her dance partner, Louis van Amstel, taught her about getting energized through eating right. She ended up losing 20 pounds on the show. Once it was over, she put a few pounds back on before beginning a regular exercise regimen. Osbourne ended up losing another 30 pounds (the "right" way) and has been healthy ever since.
What Do YOU Think?
Are you surprised by what motivated these celebrities to lose weight? Which celebrity inspired you the most? What factors have motivated you to lose weight? Let us know in the comments section.