January is unsurprisingly the most popular time of the year to start a weight loss journey following a very indulgent December – and we love getting healthy eating and workout tips from the A-listers who have visibly shed pounds over the years.
Gayle King, 68, famously dropped almost 30 lbs (28 to be exact) back in 2016, and was very open with her fans about how she did it. And although she candidly told fans that she put on a few pounds over lockdown (who didn’t?) one of her most recent swimsuit pictures proves that she is in the best shape of her life. The picture she posted of herself in a black swimsuit in Cancun with her niece over Thanksgiving weekend (below) has left fans in awe, which makes us think she knows a thing or two about how to bounce back into shape.
How Did Gayle King Drop Almost 30 Lbs?
The CBS Mornings host confessed that she dropped almost 30 lbs in 2016 by following in her good friend Oprah Winfrey's footsteps and joining Weight Watchers. Oprah, 69, who has recently gone on her own epic weight loss journey, has been a long-time Weight Watchers partner and board member. According to Money.com, Oprah bought a stake in Weight Watchers for $43.5M back in October 2015, and that investment is now worth more than $400 million. Wow!
King told fans that she went from 184.5 pounds to 156.8 pounds after she joined Weight Watchers, and involved them in her weight loss journey by regularly sharing pictures of her scale with them.
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We love how she keeps it real, as she did also admit that she gained seven pounds during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially over lockdown. We assume King used some of the diet and exercise tricks from her 2016 weight loss to shift the pounds she gained over lockdown.
Gayle King Credits A Combination Of Cardio And Strength Training
Gayle previously told Oprah that she works out for an hour, five to six times a week – but it's the type of exercise that is the important factor where weight loss is concerned. She told her friend that she does a combination of cardio and strength workouts, reiterating that cardio hasn't helped her burn calories in the same way that building muscle has.
"Before I was doing cardio, cardio, cardio. And I wasn't losing weight the way I'm losing now," she said. "Jim [Karas, her trainer at the time] said to me that building up muscle really does burn calories faster. For me, that's been the case," she added.
She Doesn't Actually Love Working Out
King also confessed that she doesn't actually love working out, but she enjoys the way it makes her look and feel. She previously told Elle: "I try to figure out a way to get some kind of exercise. I've been reading this book about the joy of movement, and I do think there's something to that."
"I'm not saying I like working out. I'm just saying I do it," she added. "I do the treadmill, I do the elliptical and I do weights. But I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Oh, my God, I love it.'" We love an honest celeb who keeps it real!
