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Who doesn’t know Gabourey Sidibe? Besides her incredible acting skills in the movies like Precious (2009), Gabourey Sidibe bagged the headlines for her unbelievable weight loss. She had diabetes type 2 when she was 300 pounds. She also had diabetes, anxiety, and depression.
What motivated her to undergo a weight loss journey?
What changes does she make to her diet and lifestyle for losing weight?
Let’s find out how Precious star lost 150 pounds in a short period and surprised everyone around.
Who is Gaboury Sidibe?
Gabby Sidibe was born on May 6, 1983, in Bedford Stuyvesant. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, was professionally an R&B, while her father, Ibnou Sidibe, was a cab driver. She has twin sisters and two brothers as siblings.
She first came into the limelight with America’s Got Talent. She rose above many bullying and body shaming in her past life due to her plus size. Proving to the world that being a plus woman is not a mistake, she bagged many notable roles in the industry and achieved new heights.
Gabourey Sidibe Childhood
As a child, she struggled through a lot of negativity in her life when her parents were divorced. She was 12 years old at that time. In an interview, this oscar-nominated actress revealed that she was once beaten up by her father and called up as fatso.
He always reminds her about her obesity and often humiliates her for this. ‘I always pretended that I am okay with this, and it helped me practice my acting skills,’ she mentioned.
She was bullied constantly by her elder brother as well. Even in her school, everyone made fun of her. After divorce, She shifted to Harlem with her brother and mother. Her aunt – Dorothy Pitman Hughes, became a great source of inspiration in Harlem.
She had no interest in acting in her initial days and took up the receptionist job.
The actress mentioned, “I suffered from an eating disorder, depression, and bulimia throughout my life. She always told me, ‘get the thick skin when I complained about my mother.’
How Did Gabourey Land Her Role In Precious?
When she attended NYC City College, she became passionate about acting. Fortunately, she was selected for Precious’s 2007 audition. Lee Daniels noticed her first and approached her for the lead role in Precious. It was a role of an illiterate and obese teenage mom enrolled for a particular education project. Lee deemed her fit for this role, and that’s how Gabourey Landed in Precious.
The book has been known previously as Push, based on the Sapphire novel, and focuses primarily on young women who struggle with poverty and physical and sexual violence.
It was also praised at Cannes Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. Oprah had never received distribution for the movie, but she helped promote it through Lionsgate Entertainment. The name was changed to avoid confusion between the film and Push.
What Motivated Gabourey to Lose Weight?
Once, an actor told Sidibe to leave the industry as this space so images conscious. She further added that Women who are overweight or obese face discrimination in every aspect of their lives. Men often reject them because of their appearance.
People judge them based on their physical appearance, mainly when they belong to the entertainment industry. Friends and relatives also ostracize them.
Some people even try to force them into dieting and exercise programs. Most women do not want to be labeled as being unattractive or fat. Many women are ashamed of their bodies and feel that they need to change themselves to fit society’s standards.
How did Gabourey Sidibe Lose 150 pounds So Quickly?
Shortly after 33-year old Empire Star learned she had type 2 Diabetes, she consulted the bariatric surgeon Dr. Bradley Schwack, who recommended gastric bypass surgery for weight loss. This surgery removes almost 50% of a woman’s stomach to reduce her capacity. Consequently, she won’t have the power to overeat food or feel complete.
Actress Gabourey Sidibe confirmed that she went under a knife but stated that the surgical procedure was not easy for him. It took time to get her surgery going to perform the system properly.
She mentioned, ‘My brain chemistry changed as I want to adopt healthy eating habits to lose weight. The surgery helped to limit my hunger.
She also underwent gastric sleeve surgery that essentially helped in changing her life.
Post-surgery, she loved her incredible transformation. She was much more active on social media, sharing her posts with sexy outfits like tight pants and armless tops. After surgery, she lost almost 50% percent of her weight, coming down to 150 pounds.
How does She Maintain After Weight Loss Surgery?
After getting under laparoscopic bariatric surgery, you must maintain your body weight by switching to eating healthier. Many people mistake switching back to unhealthy foods leading to massive weight gains.
But she maintained her new weight by making a couple of changes in her lifestyle as follows:
Avoiding Junk Food
Gabourey Sidibe talked about how she was so fond of burgers and soda that she essentially used them to source her diet. She avoided all the trans-fat and excessive salt intake post weight loss. She included healthy foods like saltine crackers, veggie chips, and hummus.
Junk food is the ’empty calories with minimum vitamin and mineral sourcing to your body. These are carb-rich food that induces weight gain.
Reducing Sugar And Salt in The Diet
Other processed foods such as pasta, pastries, cakes, and cupcakes are full of salt and sugar than excessive weight gain. For a healthy weight loss, one must cut down the carbs by reducing the intake of salt and sugar in the diet.
Sticking to Eating Schedules
The way what you eat matters. Similarly, when you also eat matters. A healthy breakfast in the morning keeps you charged for the day. It would help if you tried to fix your meal schedules and stick to them. Also, late-night munching induces weight gain. Gabourey started taking 6-7 small meals a day with plenty of water just 20 minutes before the meals.’
Portion controls
It is one of the most popular weight loss techniques that help cut down your calorie intake. The more significant the meal portion, the higher the calories. Sidibe consulted her trainer and nutritionist to understand the proper meal portions.
Gabourey Sidibe Diet Plan
Gabourey Sidibe’s diet is a diet regimen that involves combining herbal and organic foods. These foods have gained popularity over the past few decades because of their effectiveness in helping weight gain.
Gabourey Sidibe’s weight loss diet primarily consists of vegetables or fruit found at local supermarkets and contains an abundance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Gabourey Sidibe Lost Weight After Surgery.
In 2017, Gabourey Sidibe discusses how her weight loss process helped her achieve a lower weight. She confirmed she had undergone bariatric surgery for weight loss. The public noticed. Sidibe’s comment that she lost weight was disturbing. How do you lose weight with no noticeable consequences? They feel this is something worth mentioning, says Gabourey.
Gabourey Sidibe Exercise Plan
Gabourey started with light exercises such as Versaclimber, treadmill, and stair stepper to make her body adjust to these exercises. Along with eating healthy, such a workout helped her lose weight fast.
Gradually, she moved into an intense exercising regime for 30 minutes three days a week. She included barbell curl, leg press, lat pull down, squats and lunges. In 2017, she also posted a picture doing aerial yoga.
Conclusion
In Sifibe’s memoir, Just My Face, Try Not to stare, she revealed how she decided to undergo bariatric surgery in May 2016 after diagnosing Type 2 diabetes. Weight loss is a long-term phenomenon that needs to adopt healthy eating habits and consistent exercising. Cutting down the sugar, salt and junk food essentially helps lose weight.