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Trista Sutter, Selena Gomez, Ellen DeGeneres and more stars have opened up about their unexpected illnesses and injuries — read more
“This @weightwatchers Ambassador is thrilled to announce that I’VE LOST 51 POUNDS!” the 48-year-old director announced on Instagram on Sunday, August 26.
He continued: “Six months ago from right now, I was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack I’d had the night before. When I went to my Doctor a week later, she told me ‘The best thing you can do for yourself now is to lose 50 pounds.’ Half a year later, I can report that I followed Doctor’s orders: I started at 256 and now I weigh 205.”
After noting this is the lightest he’s been since high school, Smith quipped, “My hope now is I can slowly lose another 10 with #weightwatchers and get down to my birth weight of 195!”
Shocking, indeed! Some celebs seek out extreme methods to shed pounds, while others transform with the aid of healthier methods. From Rosie O'Donnell's and Jordin Sparks' respective 50 pound weight losses to Biggest Loser winner Rachel Frederickson's whopping 155 lighter frame, see before and after pictures of celebrities' weight loss transformations.
The Clerks director also thanked his daughter, actress Harley Quinn Smith, whom he describes as a “little vegan astronaut” who “explored this meatless/milkless galaxy” ahead of him.
“Since I never wanted to see the inside of a hospital ever again, I simply copied the Kid,” he revealed. “So this wasn’t a diet: these results came from a total lifestyle change of eating solely plant-based foods (which is tough because I hate vegetables).”
Smith suffered the near-fatal heart attack on February 25 at a comedy show in Glendale, California. “I didn’t think I was having a heart attack,” the filmmaker exclusively told Us Weekly two months later. “I was sweaty, I thought I couldn’t catch my breath, I felt nauseated, but I didn’t think of those as heart attack symptoms.”
Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and Nutrisystem, oh my! For years, stars from Jessica Simpson to Valerie Bertinelli to Kirstie Alley have been lending their names and bodies to weight loss programs to serve as spokespeople. See some famous faces that have promoted weight loss brands.
Now that he’s on the mend, he’s grateful to his fans for their kindness and encouragement.
“Never underestimate the power of positive feedback: you folks telling me I looked better or healthier helped me stick with it,” he explained in the Instagram post. “An encouraging word can really make a difference in someone’s life and your compliments kept me going! And just look where I went!”