The Weird Eating Habits That Helped Jimmy Kimmel Drop 25 Pounds

Celebrity | Television

The Weird Eating Habits That Helped Jimmy Kimmel Drop 25 Pounds

Celebitchy / ABC

Lately, it seems like Jimmy Kimmel is everywhere.

When he's not hosting the Oscars, he's making us all tear up with updates about his son Billy's heart condition.

And in between, he manages to find time to be an accidental viral video star, or to shoot the breeze with Ellen DeGeneres.

But with Kimmel constantly on our TVs and computer screens these days, it's easy to forget just how different he used to look.

"I had no sense of what a normal serving was."

By his own account, Kimmel grew up as a binge eater, with a love for greasy food like pizza and chicken wings.

He blames his love for food on growing up with an Italian mother, and on living in Las Vegas - where the streets are lined with all-you-can-eat buffets.

But Kimmel says he never watched his waistline, or even owned a scale until he bought one on a whim in 2010.

When he stepped on, he was stunned to see he weighed 208 pounds.

Kimmel with guest Matt Damon in 2008.ABC

Around the same time, TV host Dr. Oz teased Kimmel for his size during an appearance on his show.

The next day, Oz called Kimmel back to tell him he was serious.

"I'm worried about you. You're a young man. You have to take care of yourself," the doctor told him.

"You know what?" Kimmel told Men's Journal about the intervention, "Dr. Oz shouldn't care more about my health more than I do."

Crash Diet

Kimmel's first attempt to lose weight was dangerous and severe, but the TV host explains that "there's no dipping my toe in the water" for him.

"I'm all the way in," he explained.

That meant limiting himself to "two protein shakes and a very small dinner every day" for two months.

Afterwards, Kimmel "eased up," moving to a strict 2,000-calorie-per-day limit.

The crash diet helped Kimmel shed weight quickly, but these days he has a more relaxed - but still bizarre - diet plan.

Five and Two

These days, Kimmel relies on what's known as a "Five and Two" diet to stay at his current weight - 182 pounds.

But he insists he was doing the trendy diet before it even had a name, after being inspired by a documentary about fasting in India.

Kimmel today, pictured with his son Billy.ABC

The basic idea behind the plan is that Kimmel eats whatever he wants five days a week - including treats like pizza.

But on his two "fasting" days, Kimmel starves himself with less than 500 calories.

He gets by Mondays and Tuesdays on nothing but coffee, pickles, egg whites, apples, peanut butter, and oatmeal.

It's an intense plan, but Kimmel says he relies on the extreme fasting because he can't stand exercise.

"I just hate it."

Under Pressure

Like other male celebrities who have gone through dramatic changes, Kimmel admits he "definitely [feels] pressure to keep slim."

"I don't want to be the guy who lost weight and gained it all back," he admits.

"But it's hard. Sometimes I'll gorge and gain nine pounds in a weekend somehow, and I get bummed about it."

Ironically, Kimmel's diet may be to blame for his bad moods and binge-eating.

Experts say that side-effects of five and two diets include irritability, anxiety, and dehydration.

It's definitely not for the faint of heart. Hopefully Kimmel can stay healthy, because we don't want him to be in the hospital like his son anytime soon!

What do you think of Kimmel's risky weight loss plan?

[H/T: Men's Journal]

I write about all sorts of things for Shared, especially weird facts, celebrity news, and viral stories.