ONTD

9:40 pm - 02/18/2013

Chaz Bono: How I Lost 43 Lbs. – and Hope to Lose More

chaz

Chaz Bono's 2013 has gotten off to a healthy start!



The former Dancing with the Starscontestant, 43, has already dropped 43 lbs. since announcing his public mission to lose 50 lbs.beginning in mid-November.

He's now upped his goal to dropping a total of 80 lbs.



"I've been sticking to a really strict diet," he tells PEOPLE. "It's not any type of starvation thing. I'm just cutting out a lot of stuff and eating primarily protein and vegetables and fruit."



Bono, who weighed 250 lbs. pre-diet, first addressed his goal publicly with Dr. Travis Stork on an episode of The Doctors, after being approached by the show to get help.



"That episode was the most uncomfortable I've ever been on television in my life," Bono admits. "I had been wanting to lose weight. It was something I had been trying to do and failing at. This opportunity just kind of came in, and my initial reaction was 'absolutely not.' And after that, the more I thought about it, I realized I've been wanting to deal with this issue and somebody's willing to help me do it, so I decided to throw my pride away and get help."



The initial weight-loss process actually wasn't too challenging. He shed the pounds with the help of exercise and the Freshology delivered-meal plan.



"It hasn't been that long, but when you're a guy and you've got a lot of weight to lose, the initial stuff comes off pretty easily," says Bono, who'll return to The Doctors Wednesday to show off his weight loss. (check local listings). "You start to see results and you want to keep going. It's not to say you don't have cravings sometimes, but I'm very happy with how I'm looking and feeling. Especially when I'm traveling or I have to go out to eat or whatever, it's actually kind of easier than I thought to [eat healthy], so that's been good."



But now, the pounds aren't coming off as easily.

A Challenging Plan

"It's getting harder," he explains. "I'm just kind of at a little plateau right now, which I think is pretty normal, according to my doctor. The weight was falling off at first, and now it's just coming off slower. The smaller you are, the harder it is to lose weight. The last 10 or 20 lbs. are really hard to get off. I would like to lose more than that. I'm still dropping, but I'm just not dropping like I was in the beginning, which was about 4 lbs. a week."



Despite the lull in his weight loss, Bono is continuing along strong with his journey.



"There haven't really been any bad parts to this so far, except certain stuff that I miss eating," he says. "But ultimately, I would much rather look and feel better than eat those things. Everything else has been really great. I feel better and when I look in the mirror, I like what I see better."



But when it comes to offering guidance to others going through the same thing, Bono will steer clear.



"I don't want to ever be that guy [to give advice]," he says. "I've struggled with weight my whole life. I don't ever want to be the guy to say, 'Just do this.' For me, it was finally getting to a place where I was willing to do whatever it took to deal with this. When you get to that point, then whatever way you choose to do it, it's going to work."



And Bono is adamant about keeping it off.



"I'm willing to kind of never eat the things I like again," he said with a laugh. "Never say never, and I know it happens a lot, but I really want to do everything I can to avoid gaining it back. I'm not going into it thinking I'm going to do that. I'm going into it thinking I'm too old to [expletive] around with that. I need to keep my weight down, moving forward, in order to be healthy."

Source

He's looking good.
soavantgarde 19th-Feb-2013 02:52 am (UTC)
damn, good for him. I've gained so much weight since I moved back home, I've been lamenting about it for months but still haven't got off my ass to do something about it.
lillylilacs 19th-Feb-2013 02:55 am (UTC)
ugh, ikr. I just graduated in december and have moved back home and it is so hard to eat well when the house is filled with delicious snacks that I never ever keep in my apartment because I have no self control.
soavantgarde 19th-Feb-2013 02:59 am (UTC)
yep, my mom does not know how to shop health consciously at all, it's so annoying

when I lived by myself it was so much easier to control how/when I ate, and now she gets offended if I don't come eat dinner right when it's done or if I don't like something she's cooking

I've gotta work something out though because I'll probably be living at home at least through the next year or so :(
kwikimart 19th-Feb-2013 03:48 am (UTC)
You should just start buying your own food and cooking for yourself or taking what you need and eating earlier.
Make it clear that it's just the way you eat and you don't want to try and make everyone eat like you.
Don't judge their habits and make sure you help out with the cooking a lot too.

I moved back a year ago for a few months and it was the worst!

If I thought I was lazy before....

SMH I ate so much, it was ridiculous and my mother doesn't understand eating reasonable sizes, she has to fill the entire plate and she thinks not eating red meat everyday is some kind of diet.

Love my fam but I'm glad I don't live at home anymore lol.
soavantgarde 19th-Feb-2013 03:57 am (UTC)
I do try and buy my own food/control what I eat for breakfast and lunch, but I'm used to eating a lot later than she is (they eat at like 5, I used to eat at 7/8 at school) and I get home from work later, so she'll usually be cooking. I've tried telling her and I've offered to cook a few times a week and it's definitely gotten better, but it's still definitely worse than it was in college!

can't wait until I can move back out again.
kwikimart 19th-Feb-2013 04:12 am (UTC)
Stick to your guns bb.

It might be smart to start cooking meals on the weekend or the night before so it's ready to warm up the next day.

It will improve but I think what helps is just a frank talk with your mom about the fact that you're an adult and you really appreciate everything etc but she needs to understand that you're not a kid and let you do things your own pace.

Well, I hope it works out anyway, stay strong and be comforted by the fact that you're not the only one your age in a similar situation!
soavantgarde 19th-Feb-2013 04:15 am (UTC)
definitely, thanks for the advice! :)
nicenicegirl 19th-Feb-2013 06:19 pm (UTC)
my parents are the same way. it's like a child's dream in their house there is SO MUCH junk food. i've tried talking to them about not eating all of it, but it goes in one ear and out the other(my father has high blood pressure and cholesterol and my mother is borderline diabetic you'd think they would work on this!)

and then she'll complain about how she's overweight and how she can't seem to lose any weight and how her 3 walks a week don't do anything to help her with losing weight.
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