The Most Inspiring Celebrity Weight Loss Stories

Sometimes celebs need to lose weight, like us. Here are some inspiring celebrity weight loss stories, including Alec Baldwin, Jessica Simpson, and more!

Jennifer Holliday – 124 Pounds Lost

Hollywood Body Transformations

CBS

You might recognize singer Jennifer Holliday from her ’80s pop hits like “Am I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” However, what you probably didn’t know is that Holliday never retired! Instead, the singer actually continues performing today, but now as a gospel singer. In fact, in 2018, Holliday released an album of gospel renditions of her biggest hits, entitled Fresh Takes.

Holliday also has another interesting claim to fame: she’s one of the first celebrities to undergo gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. While it’s commonplace these days, gastric bypass surgery didn’t occur regularly until the 1990s! These days, Holliday maintains a low-profile while staying fit with diet and exercise.

Jordin Sparks – 50 Pounds Lost

Another American Idol winner makes the celebrity weight loss list! Jordin Sparks rose to fame after winning the sixth season of American Idol. To this date, Sparks remains the youngest winner in the show’s history, winning at the age of 17. However, the win wasn’t Sparks’ first brush with fame. You see, she’s actually the daughter of former NFL player Phillippi Sparks, who played for both the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

Hollywood Body Transformations

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It seems as though Jordin took a page from his dad’s book when she decided to shed off the extra pounds. While the singer adopted some small eating habits, Sparks lost the majority of her weight by merely hitting the gym every day. Today, she’s lost over 50 pounds and looks absolutely incredible!

Ashlee Simpson – 40 Pounds Lost

Jessica Simpson’s younger sister, Ashlee Simpson, followed in her sister’s footsteps nearly every step of the way. Not only did she become a reality show star and singer, just like Jessica, but Ashlee also had her own celebrity weight loss journey! You see, like her sister, Ashlee similarly suffered from a post-pregnancy weight gain. So, after her second birth, the younger Simpson went into hardcore weight loss mode, taking to social media to have fans keep her accountable.

Hollywood Body Transformations

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Today, Ashlee looks just as great as Jessica does! Like her sister, Ashlee consistently works out with a trainer and watches what she eats, even after losing the weight. We’ll have to wait and see if Ashlee needs to do it again, as she is currently expecting her third child with her husband, Evan Ross, the son of Diana Ross.

Jessica Simpson – 100 Pounds Lost

There was a time when Jessica Simpson was the poster woman for incredible looking pop stars. However, like so many parents, the singer needed a little celebrity weight loss after having a few kids of her own! So, she adopted a low carbohydrate diet and started resistance training. And, looking at the photos, it worked!

Celebrity Weight Loss Stories

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These days, the Dukes of Hazard star, now in her 40s, looks just like she did in her old music videos. These days, Simpson has also introduced smoothies, which she often shares on Instagram, and a daily exercise routine. According to her trainer, Harley Pasternak, Simpson does plenty of cable abduction and sumo squats to maintain her figure!

Hilary Duff – 40 Pounds Lost

Actress-turned-singer Hilary Duff became a teen idol thanks to her role on the hit Disney series The Lizzie McGuire Show in the early 2000s. Since then, she was gone on to enjoy a massive career in music as well as a successful clothing line.

Celebrity Weight Loss Stories

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So, it’s no wonder so many wanted to know the secrets of Duff’s post-pregnancy weight loss, which simply blew fans away. It’s hard to tell that the singer even had children. Thankfully, Duff has held nothing back! As she told InStyle Magazine, just a month after giving birth, she started hitting the gym and eating healthy once again. Before long, the actress lost over 40 pounds!

Lisa Marie Presley – Undisclosed Weight Loss

For every inspiring story of celebrity weight loss, you can find another of the opposite: one of sad weight gain. Unfortunately, the king of rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, passed away due to years of bad health and terrible eating habits. However, if there’s any silver lining to his story, it’s that it inspired his only daughter, singer-actress Lisa Marie, to avoid the same fate.

Celebrity Weight Loss Stories

ABC News

“My father’s side is totally not healthy, and they have shorter life spans,” Presley, 46, told PEOPLE. “So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to play it safe and try to be as healthy as I can be.'” When Lisa Marie noticed she had gained a few pounds, she quickly adopted a vegan diet and started working out regularly. Now, she says she feels better than she did in her 20s!

Jennifer Holliday – 124 Pounds Lost

You might recognize singer Jennifer Holliday from her ’80s pop hits like “Am I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” However, what you probably didn’t know is that Holliday never retired! Instead, the singer actually continues performing today, but now as a gospel singer. In fact, in 2018, Holliday released an album of gospel renditions of her biggest hits, entitled Fresh Takes.

Hollywood Body Transformations

CBS

Holliday also has another interesting claim to fame: she’s one of the first celebrities to undergo gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. While it’s commonplace these days, gastric bypass surgery didn’t occur regularly until the 1990s! These days, Holliday maintains a low-profile while staying fit with diet and exercise.

Jojo – Undisclosed Weight Loss

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Hollywood Body Transformations

Pop singer JoJo became a teen idol back in the early 2000s thanks to a few hit singles, as well as film and television roles in hits like RV. However, the pressure that can bring at a young age definitely affects child stars. In JoJo’s case, it was a few extra pounds. Her record label at the time, though, told her to get rid of the weight.

“So, I was 18 and I was told that if I didn’t look a certain way that they wouldn’t put out my music,” Jojo said later. The company assigned her a nutritionist who put her on hormone supplements, along with an HCG diet. For those not in the know, the HCG diet consists of consuming only 500 calories per day – which is quite controversial! Thankfully, JoJo since has found a much better work team, leaving those painful memories behind.

Nelly Furtado – Undisclosed Weight Loss

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Celebrity Weight Loss Stories

Singer Nelly Furtado first gained recognition thanks to her debut album, Whoa, Kelly! In 1996, which spawned numerous hit singles. Ever since, she’s remained a hitmaker, even today. However, despite her enormous success, Furtado vanished from the spotlight for a few years, in the mid-2010s. According to a recent interview with the singer, she actually suffered a nervous breakdown on stage!

While taking a mental and physical break, it seems that Furtado also decided to lose some weight. In her recent comeback photos, fans saw the singer looking even more incredible than she did when she left! Reportedly, Furtado achieved her celebrity weight loss goals by adopting the Fab Abs diet.

Jennifer Hudson – 80 Pounds Lost

After winning the third season of American Idol, singer Jennifer Hudson has enjoyed a successful career as both a pop singer and actress in musicals. However, ten years ago, the singer started a different, but just as difficult, journey: one of celebrity weight loss.

Hollywood Body Transformations

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Today, Hudson has lost over 80 pounds, all thanks to, in her own words, “portion control.” In fact, Hudson has now become a star spokesperson for the diet company Weight Watchers! As a celebrity face for WW, the singer is not only available to tell others what helped her but also to inspire others to take the first step! Hudson’s best advice: “Out of sight, out of mind.” If there’s food that temps her, she simply throws it away. What a simple plan to follow!

Wendy Williams – 50 Pounds Lost

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Like any good talk show host should, Wendy Williams remains open and honest with her show audience whenever possible. Of course, that includes her weight loss struggles! Over the past few years, Williams has taken her talk show audience on her weight loss journey. Sadly, like so many others, the host could not seem to find a routine that she could stick to.

However, that all changed when, according to Williams, she conquered the root cause of her weight issue: self-control. That’s the key, the host says. Now, she’s finally had some tangible results – she’s lost 30 pounds! As a result, she’s happier than ever and no longer focused on losing weight, but just living healthy.

Queen Latifah – 20 Pounds Lost

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Rapper and actress Queen Latifah made it big back in the 1980s when her first hip-hop album sold incredibly well. She was only 19 at the time! Since then, Latifah’s made the jump into acting, becoming a worldwide star. Then, in 2008, she made another change, becoming a spokesperson for the weight-loss brand Jenny Craig. On their plan, she lost 20 pounds!

Like so many other celebrities’ weight loss stories, Queen Latifah also combined her diet with lots of exercises! She hits the gym five to seven times a week, favoring the elliptical or treadmill. Now, the fit, new Latifah is back in the studio, working on a new album.

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