'Office' Actor Sheds 50 Pounds by Giving Up Booze and Going Vegan
"Ghosted" star Craig Robinson recently revealed he lost 50 pounds from cutting out booze and going vegan.
There are many benefits of a meat-free diet, and weight loss is one of them. "Ghosted" star Craig Robinson (aka Darryl from "The Office") is the latest star to endorse veganism, recently revealing that it — along with an alcohol detox — helped him slim down in a major way.
"I lost a bunch of weight. I lost about 50 pounds," Robinson told Harry Connick Jr. during an appearance on his talk show "Harry." The 45-year-old explained that the weight loss and drastic diet change was kick-started by taking a break from booze. "I haven't been drinking. Since January I just put down the alcohol. I was going to detox," he continued. "I had heard — I don't know how true it is — but I heard you can regenerate your liver in six months. I was like, 'Let me see if I can go six months,' and I just haven't gone back."
Go, Craig! That kind of transformation is not easy and truly commendable.
Since alcoholic drinks are so high in calories — a four-ounce glass of red wine contains 95 calories, while a margarita can pack up to 550 — it isn't surprising that Robinson would lose weight from avoiding alcohol alone. But he didn't stop there. "[I'm] working out, and I've been trying this vegan lifestyle too. It's amazing," he said. "There are so many great vegan restaurant and dishes. It's much easier than I thought it would be."
While Beyoncé may have triggered a vegan revolution when she shed a ton of weight with a veggie-centric diet back in 2015, meat-free diets for weight loss aren't just another celebrity trend, they are actually endorsed by science. A recent study conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that those maintaining a vegetarian diet not only lose twice the amount of weight as meat-eaters, but they also speed up their metabolism by reducing intramuscular fat. Pretty darn cool, right?
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vegans tend to be thinner and have lower total blood cholesterol and blood pressure than even vegetarians. Another benefit? Marco Borges, diet consultant to Kate Hudson, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, maintains a vegan diet is good for your skin.
While going vegan can result in weight loss and other health benefits, you want to be careful to avoid developing a vitamin deficiency. You can't simply cut meat and dairy from your diet without replacing them with other foods or vitamins that contain B-12, zinc and iron. And if dropping weight is your intention, you need to be careful with calorie intake and maintaining nutritional balance — as with any diet.
While Robinson seems quite happy with his meat-free lifestyle, there is one dairy-based dish he admits to missing: macaroni and cheese. Can you blame him? Fortunately, there are lots of yummy vegan meal options: Here are nine simple four-ingredient recipes for easy vegan meals. Enjoy!
What Do YOU Think?
Are you surprised that Craig Robinson lost so much weight by ditching animal products and alcohol? Have you ever tried a meat-free diet? What health benefits did you notice?