Celebrities get stared at (and often criticized) for their weight all the time. While it’s hard to think about what that can do to self-confidence, the one potential payoff is some serious admiration for their hard work.
Dropping five or 10 pounds doesn’t seem too hard. But when you’re aiming to lose at least 30 pounds, weight loss can get very challenging.
Many celebrities have exuded serious weight through diet and exercise over the years.
You may claim that celebrities have all the resources at their fingertips, but they still have to put in the work to lose weight the same as you. So why not adopt their star-powered suggestions and include them into your routine?
Here are the celebs who have dropped a lot of weight, plus how they did it:
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Adele
While the British singer is very private about her personal life, we couldn’t help but notice her much more trim physique in recent years.
According to Us Weekly, the 31-year-old songstress dropped 14 pounds earlier this summer after hiring a personal trainer. Us reports that Adelle has been doing 60-minute workouts that include cardio, circuit training, and Pilates—and her hard work is paying off. “She really desires to be healthy and set a good example for her son,” a source close to Adele told Us.
The legendary Adele has lost weight, but nobody knows exactly how much. And speculation is that she’s on the Sirtfood Diet, which has become widespread in the United Kingdom.
The Sirtfood Diet focuses on specific foods that activate sirtuin, a type of protein that may help with anti-aging. Adele hasn’t been exposed to this, although she has admitted to beating some bad habits, including smoking and drinking a bottle of wine a day. “I was trying to get some stamina for my tour,” she told Vogue. “So, I lost a bit of weight.”
Christina Aguilera
The Liberation singer and former The Voice judge dropped 50 pounds in 2015. Her secret: Taking time off from her busy schedule.
“Without the difficult production hours, Christina can concentrate on her music and her son and most significant on herself,” a source told People. “It’s astounding what having some personal time can do, not only for the body but also for the mind and the spirit. She has been trying new types of foods and searching for new methods of exercise. Not just for diet or weight, but also for her mind and well being and overall sense of good health.”
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson recently shared on her Instagram that she dropped 100 pounds in six months after giving birth to her daughter, Birdie Mae.
Simpson revealed that during her pregnancy, she tilted the scale at 240 pounds. How did she lose weight so instantly? Simpson worked with celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak, who gave the 39-year-old singer five things to concentrate on every day. This is to help her stay accountable.
Those things involved walking 12,000 steps per day, getting at least seven hours of sleep, savoring three full meals and two snacks daily, and performing circuit training workouts three to four days a week.
Simon Cowell
America’s Got Talent judge said that he dropped about 20 pounds to be healthier.
Since then, Cowell says he seems healthier and stronger. The purpose of his weight-loss journey? Cowell concluded that he needed to improve his lifestyle after he fainted and fell down the stairs at his house in 2017 due to low blood pressure.
Cowell says he has stopped eating dairy, wheat, and sugar and became a vegan as part of his lifestyle transformation. “I skipped out a lot of the stuff I shouldn’t have been eating and that was essentially meat, dairy, wheat, sugar—those were the four primary things,” he said in an interview with The Sun.
Drew Barrymore
In 2018, Drew Barrymore shared with her supporters on Instagram that she had dropped 25 pounds in three months.
The Santa Clarita Diet star said she worked with trainer Marnie Alton to improve her diet and exercise method. “This takes me so much work. Diet and exercise and struggling like a lion for it! Damn you genetics!” Barrymore wrote.
But through hard work and determination, Barrymore is looking better than ever.
Jennifer Hudson
Past American Idol contestant, singer, and actor, Hudson has been amazed on the red carpet and across award shows for years.
She dropped 80 pounds post-singing contestants and has kept the weight loss. According to Good Housekeeping, she pays close attention to what she puts in her body, making sure to have serving sizes small.
The sultry singer Jennifer Hudson lost an impressive 80 pounds and has kept it off for eight years. Her secret is portion control. “If you’re on a stern diet that says you shouldn’t have any carbs or this or that, your body won’t work the way it should,” the Dreamgirls explained on talk show Lorraine. “I know now that I can eat anything I want and still lose or keep my weight. It’s all about portions and balance.”
Jimmy Kimmel
Intermittent fasting is absolutely a trendy diet right now, but it’s also how talk show host Kimmel keeps his weight.
He obeys the 5:2 method, meaning two days a week he eats less than 500 calories, he told Men’s Journal. At his heaviest, Kimmel weighed 208 pounds, and now he swings around 182.
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks dropped an impressive 50 pounds in 18 months after embracing the American Idol title.
She revealed to Redbook that improving her lifestyle came down to concentrating on healthier choices than dropping a size. She began walking more and, ultimately, started exercising with a trainer). She only eats when hungry (not just because she felt like it) and keeping an eye on serving sizes.
Jordin Sparks also knew that to lose weight, she required to modify her diet, so she questioned everything she put in her mouth. “Ask yourself, ‘Am I really hungry, or am I having this because it looks good?'” says Sparks, who snacks on high-fiber fruit now rather than cookies.
If Pilates isn’t your thing, that’s okay. Listen to recording artist Jordin Sparks, who at 16-years-old, was introduced to the world through her journey on American Idol.
Today, she’s married and is a first-time mom to son Dana. Over the last few years, she’s focused on making herself healthier by losing 50 extra pounds from her frame over a year and a half.
“The key was finding exercises I enjoyed. If you don’t, you won’t stick with it,” she told Redbook. Sparks fancied doing a form of Zumba called Sensazao.
John Goodman
At his heaviest, Goodman weighed approximately 400 pounds. When he realized how heavy he was, he chose to make a change.
His first step to weight-loss: skipping out alcohol. Then, he picked up his diet, eating lean meats, fruits, veggies, and protein shakes, and finally hired a personal trainer. He’s dropped (and kept off) more than 100 pounds.
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson has been open about her 37-pound weight loss with her fans, which she credits to following The Plant Paradox by Steven R. Gundry.
The Plant Paradox is a lectin-free diet, where you exclude foods like beans, legumes, whole grains, and some veggies from your diet. Dr. Gundry says these foods hold lectin, a naturally occurring protein in many plant-based foods that produce inflammation.
Clarkson says she began following the diet for medical purposes, though, not explicitly dropping weight. “I did it for this autoimmune disorder that I had, and I had a thyroid issue, and now all my levels are back up. I’m not on medication anymore because of this book,” she told Today.
Well, not quite, but Kelly Clarkson says her 37-pound weight decline is thanks to following the book by Dr. Steven R. Gundry.
The newest coach on The Voice also said that she has a thyroid condition that she’s been treating and has helped with her weight loss.
Jonah Hill
No stranger to press incorporating his weight loss, Hill first dropped news-worthy pounds in 2014. But then he gained 40 pounds for the movie War Dogs in 2016.
Last year, he started dropping pounds again, showing off an even fitter body than before. According to InTouch, he credits some of his weight loss to cutting back on beer, but it looks like he’s doing something precise in the gym, too.
Jonah Hill was looking to slim down after his role in the film War Dogs. He sought out the help of his 21 Jump Street co-star, Channing Tatum, who gave him the number of a nutritionist he could work with. “He gave me the number of these guys and I went to this nutritionist,” Hill revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show, “And the doctor was like, do me a favor; write down what you eat every day and email it to me at the end of the day.”
Besides the slip-up of inadvertently emailing his food diary to musician Drake, it looks like his dedication paid off! Hill now lost 40 pounds.
Janet Jackson
Going on tour demands a particular level of physicality—and Janet makes it look easy, even at 52.
Her trainer, Paula Sybliss, explained to E! News that they began prepping for life on the road (to shape up) just six weeks after Janet gave birth to a daughter, Eissa, in January 2017. Thanks to weight training (not to mention hours spent dancing on stage), Jackson lost 70 pounds.
Kelly Osbourne
Lots of celebs go on Dancing with the Stars and, likely because of the intense practice schedule, drop a few pounds. Osbourne is one of them.
Since 2009, she has lost 70 pounds and has managed to keep it off.
According to Self, she works out with a trainer to stay in shape, doing at least 30 minutes a day of cardio. She also improved her diet and now has her fattiest meal in the morning.
Khloe Kardashian
This Kardashian sister isn’t worried to share how hard she pushes it in the gym—but that love of fitness only evolved in the past few years. “If you were to ask me five years ago if I ever saw myself being totally in love with fitness and health, that I would be an influence to many others, that I would be the impact that others needed to find their way—I would’ve laughed in your face,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Me? The chubby one? No way! But now I can’t see myself ever quitting!” That’s one of the reasons she said she dropped more than 30 pounds after having baby, True in April, according to People.
Kirstie Alley
A longtime spokesperson for Jenny Craig, Alley has begotten her ups and downs in weight. She dropped more than 100 pounds in 2011. Though she gained some of it back, just last year, she has dropped another 50 pounds.
She told People that she gave up some of her trigger foods, like sugar cookies and brie cheese. Plus, she counts calories. She also moves more now, often touring her bike around town.
Melissa McCarthy
For this funny actress, dropping weight was all about thinking a little less. “I quit over-analyzing, over-thinking, over-doing anything,” she told CBS This Morning.
“I just stopped constantly being worried about it and I think there’s something to kinda releasing up and not being so nervous and stiff about it that, bizarrely, has worked. I could’ve decided that out before 44, but whatever.” The now 48-year-old reportedly lost 75 pounds, according to iHeart radio.
When Melissa McCarthy was training for Spy, she lost some of the extra weight she was carrying without even thinking about it. The comedian found out that it was a great move to approach the rest of her weight loss. “I think there’s something to kinda loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that, bizarrely, has worked,” she told Life & Style.
Missy Elliott
The singer-rapper, 47, recently posted on Instagram, recognizing two simple diet tweaks to helping her shed a few: no more soda or juice (just water!) and trimming back on carbs, namely bread.
According to People, she was also diagnosed with Grave’s disease. It is an autoimmune condition concerning the thyroid, which can be managed through diet and exercise.
Randy Jackson
Determined to manage his obesity and diabetes, Jackson got gastric bypass surgery in 2003. While that helped him thin down after trying tons of different diets, he found a few ways to keep the weight loss since then, he told WebMD.
He learned to pay more attention to hunger signs for beginners and began formulating healthier recipes of foods he loved. He also got a treadmill for his home, so he would be able to walk every day.
Rosie O’Donnell
After experiencing a heart attack in 2012, O’Donnell set out to seriously drop some weight.
According to ABC News, after attempting a few diets, she chose to get gastric-bypass surgery in 2013. Since then, the talk show host went from 240 pounds to 176 pounds.
Sam Smith
Since 2015, Smith has kept a nearly 50-pound weight loss. He told the Today Show that he had an unhealthy connection with food but found a plan to stick with a healthier lifestyle. “My relationship with food has just completely transformed,” he said on the show. “During the process of this album [‘In the Lonely Hour’], I just was becoming bigger and bigger and bigger.” Since then, he’s only slimmed down.
Sharon Osbourne
Another Osbourne weight-loss victory story, Sharon got lap-band surgery back in 1999. The Talk host did drop 100 pounds post-surgery but chose to have the band removed in 2006, telling the US that it made her sick. Since then, she’s fought with her relationship with food, but she says the Atkins diet has worked for keeping her trim and healthy.
Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt might look like an action superhero today, but just several years ago, he shifted the scale at around 300 pounds.
In discussion with Men’s Journal, Pratt shared that he had dropped 60 pounds to get in shape for Guardians of the Galaxy. Pratt said he had weighed around 300 pounds when he was playing Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation. To get in shape, Pratt worked with personal trainer Duffy Gaver and nutritionist Phil Goglia to discard the pounds. His workouts incorporate P90X, running, swimming, and boxing.
Earlier this year, Pratt also reported that he followed the Danial Fast, a 21-day diet that includes prayer and fasting. Like a vegan diet, the Daniel Fast lets you eat only foods from a seed, like vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
When asked by a fan for his secret, he said, “If you just cut the crap out of your diet, and if you consume an hour a day doing something physical that will make you sweat, six months will pass by, you will feel mentally, physically, spiritually better—it all is tied together.”
Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah has always coped with losing weight, but when she became a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, she dug more than 20 pounds–and kept it off.
In a 2010 interview with People, the Girls Trip star replied, “I don’t diet. I kind of keep everything in balance, exercise, and eat right. I eat a bunch of vegetables and lean meats, and I drink a whole lot of water.” Today, Queen Latifah is looking fitter and is feeling healthier than ever.