Weight loss experts are asked constantly about the weight loss of the Oscar winning Dreamgirls actress and former American Idol TV star Jennifer Hudson. Jennifer Hudson's 80 pound weight loss is so extreme that some people have even started wondering if she has had bariatric or lap band weight loss surgery. How did Jennifer Hudson lose so much weight?
Before Jennifer Hudson lost weight, the Season Three American Idol star was best known for her big voice. Wearing a dress size 16 at her heaviest weight, Hudson's big singing voice wasn't exactly surprising. While Hudson wasn't skinny at the start of her career, she carried her weight gracefully and wasn't exactly "fat" either. These photos from 2015 show the huge difference in her body size then and now. Jennifer Hudson is not just thin, she's skinny!
Like many overweight women, in interviews Hudson discusses the effects that wanting to be skinny and thin had on her overall outlook and "diet mentality" even before she lost weight. Hudson wanted to be thin long before she lost weight but wasn't finding any long term weight loss success. Hudson realized in retrospect that depriving herself of her favorite foods and beating herself up mentally was the wrong approach to successful weight loss. Even though she "hadn't had pizza in over 10 years," she still wasn't getting the weight loss results she wanted. Many overweight women fall into this same pattern of flawed thinking, refusing and depriving themselves of foods they love but still failing to lose weight and keep it off. So how did Jennifer Hudson lose over 80 pounds and keep it off?
How did Jennifer Hudson lose weight? Did she have bariatric or gastric bypass surgery like American Idol judge Randy Jackson? According to the Dreamgirls star, being asked whether she had bariatric surgery to lose weight is one of the most insulting questions she's frequently asked. In a recent Huffington Post interview, Hudson says that "people somehow try to find a way to try to discredit you" if you lose weight and will immediately try to write off the effort and work you put into it, saying, "Oh, they had surgery." In a 2012 interview with Oprah, Jennifer Hudson did admit to having plastic surgery during the shooting of Dreamgirls, but not to lose weight. "I actually had to get my dent right here injected because it was affecting the lighting," Hudson admits, pointing to her lips. While she will admit to cosmetic surgery, Jennifer Hudson claims she has not had weight loss surgery.
So if Jennifer Hudson did not have weight loss surgery, what diet did she use to lose the pounds and keep them off? "Weight Watchers works if you work it," Jennifer Hudson claims, and has even become the spokeswoman for the famous weight loss plan. Instead of depriving herself of her favorite foods like pizza and "chocolate chip cookies," she followed the "everything in moderation" diet plan that Weight Watchers is known for to lose almost 100 pounds.
In 2014, Hudson parted ways with Weight Watchers and will no longer be a spokesperson for the weight loss program, famously saying, "My skinny ass is done with Weight Watchers!" Jennifer Hudson has kept the weight off for several years, but let's hope she can continue to avoid weight gain on her own. Hudson has admitted that the most difficult part of her weight loss is maintaining the weight, not losing it. "How can I get back to my target weight, and let go, and not fall off the plan?" she says. Maintaining weight loss is difficult for many women who lose motivation once they achieve their goal. While weight fluctuation is normal for women, let's hope that Jennifer Hudson stays healthy and keeps whatever body size that she is happy with.