Gabourey Sidibe

She looks tremendous!

Literally, tremendous.

I wonder how much weight she lost, in total?

Girl is looking GOOD.

And she didn't make a big fuss about it, like that stupid cow OPRAH.

Thankfully, she realized she needed to make a change.

Look, fat people, it CAN be done!

I'm happy for her. She looked grotesque before and would not have lived to see 40.

Wow. She’s lost almost as much as i have on my journey!

Gabby actually has pretty good taste in fashion, so she's probably loving the transformation.

Better to expand the wardrobe, than the waist line.

That picture at R2 is pretty fucking amazing.

She doesn't look like the same person.

She's a beautiful woman. After her weight loss surgery, she started working with a nutritionist and a trainer.

Good for her for choosing to live a healthy lifestyle and for putting in the work necessary to do so.

Good, good for her.

[quote] and for putting in the work necessary to do so

That's a huge part of it.

If she's not careful, she could gain the weight back, like Carney Wilson or Ricky Lake.

This is clearly a DataLounge first. A thread about a plus size woman of color that is not evil or bitchy, but complementary.

Couldn't she have done it without the weight loss surgery?

She's putting that Empire money to good use.

Gastric bypass surgery, personal trainer, nutritionist, and a new wardrobe.

She probably has had or will have skin removal surgery at some point, and that's going to cost money.

"As Sidibe pointed out in her memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, she didn’t want to face the same fate as her brother, who now has Type 2 Diabetes. So when she lost and gained back 60 pounds, surgery was an easy option.

“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half,” she wrote in her book. “This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier. I’ll take it! My lifelong relationship with food had to change. The surgery wasn’t the easy way out. I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”

“I just didn’t want to worry,” Sidibe added to People magazine. “I truly didn’t want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely [would] worry all the time about losing my toes.”

[quote]She's a beautiful woman.

Let's not go off the deep end.

[quote] Couldn't she have done it without the weight loss surgery?

Probably not.

It's nearly impossible to be able to start exercising, at the weight she was at.

If you watch the 600 pound life show, they have to start with dieting, to show that they're serious. That's the first motivator. Then they have the surgery. After that, they have to continue to show progress, through diet and exercise. If they are successful, then they become candidates for skin surgery.

It's a long, grueling process, which is why R8 is exactly right about "putting in the work." It is most definitely WORK.

She was a major bitch even when she was fat so I can't imagine how insufferable she must be now when she actually looks kind of presentable.

She's a radiant beauty now!

Another before and after.

[quote] She was a major bitch even when she was fat so I can't imagine how insufferable she must be now when she actually looks kind of presentable.

Maybe the transformation will make her nicer.

Part of her being a bitch could have been that she was unhappy with herself.

she's a very good actress

Whatever!

She's still no Tom Holland.

I loved her in Coven.

Good for her. It's great to see someone look healthier. Glad she took her potential health issues seriously.

[quote] I loved her in Coven.

I forgot about that!

Does her weight loss mean that she can no longer be Queenie? She won't look the same.

Queenie was one of my favorites in Coven.

But she died permanently in Hotel I believe

I have no idea who she is, but good for her nonetheless.

She came back for AHS Cult R26, if I'm not mistaken.

Sorry not AHS Cult. I meant AHS Apocalypse.

In the final episode, the Billy Lourde character warned her not to stay in that hotel, thereby saving her life.

So she changed history for Queenie, which means she is still alive.

I think Queenie's death was reversed in Apocalypse.

Great progress for her. Hopefully she is the healthier person she wants to be. Given her talent it should also help her get more acting gigs.

Can only imagine the loose skin plopping out after the spanx come off.

Would Gaby have enough loose skin for a very special vagina cape?

Gurl, stay away from the bread.

Is she smaller than Oprah now?

I wonder if Oprah is jealous?

When you lose a thousand pounds and now the only thing everyone notices is that you have an unpleasant looking face.

Her arms! She looks like she has never exercised in her life. If she would just do moderate cardio she could build some muscle and then have the excess skin removed.

I am happy for her. She deserves to have a happy, healthy life.

Of course she went the easy route and had most of her stomach removed. I don't admire her. Anybody can lose weight when they cut out most of their stomach. And she's still big as a house.

I liked her better when she was fatter, now she just looks like a typical fat person

Dear Gabby is so precious to me at any weight. Mo'Nique still gotta lose the pounds and the fucking attitude.

--Oprah

Twins!

Damn, Oprah needs to lose a few!

She’s still morbidly obese. Hope she can eventually get to a healthy weight.

[quote]Of course she went the easy route and had most of her stomach removed. I don't admire her. Anybody can lose weight when they cut out most of their stomach. And she's still big as a house.

People bitched and moaned because she was too "fat" and now that she has lost and weight it's "not enough" and "not the right way."

She has a personal trainer and a nutritionist and unlike some other people who have had the surgery she has [italic]managed to keep it off for three years[/italic] so far so good for her.

Instead of being the size of Jupiter, she is now the size of Saturn.

She still can't be a bitch.

I'm really happy for her! She wasn't "just" fat, she was truly one of the unhealthiest celebrity cases I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure, she would have suffered severe health problems very soon, so I don't care if she was "cheating" or not - there's a point where it's not about doing it "right" anymore, just about surviving, basically. I hope her weight loss encourages her to continue her journey and get into a normal weight range.

R44 three years is actually normal for the surgery. It is ten years later that she will likely be fat again.

I don’t mind Gabby. Obviously the roles available to her are very limited but she’s worked constantly and is humble.

Is Gabby a lesbian?

Just wondering. She's best friends with Jussie, and also never been linked with a guy.

A fat girl is friends with a gay guy?

She's looking great! All that sagging skin will need to be taken off, eventually. I admire her.

Gabourey has a trainer and access to the kind of support that will help her keep the weight off. It is difficult--it takes a lot for a body's set point to readjust itself, but she's doing it for her health, which tends to have a better prognosis than doing it for other reasons.

I had a friend who had the surgery to control her diabetes and the weight's stayed off, but she didn't weigh as much in the first place and her eating issues weren't as major. You get people who get the surgery and then binge--even though it's extremely *painful* to do so. That's a psychological issue there.

"Well, that's a load off!"

Good for her.

LOL R54

Of course R51. This way they can share caftans.

The thing I don't get is fashion bloggers (and other gems of Twitter) cheering her on back in the day, saying how FABULOUS (always, though not exclusively, used in conjunction with fat celebs) she looks, when she was obviously clinically obese and a clear and present danger to herself. Enablers, the lot of them.

They're now doing the exact same thing to Metz.

It’s an attempt at being politically correct R58. They don’t want the backlash any negatively may generate.

You’re absolutely correct in that they are enablers.

Isn't that showbiz, though?

Be that as it may, R58. I still think that Gabourey has a great sense of personal style.

I especially love how she embraces her African heritage.

Maybe people were just responding to her fashion sense, and not necessarily her looks. There IS a difference, you know?

She certainly dresses worlds better than Chrissy.

What's great about Gabourey is that she really tries to make the best out of what she has to work with.

Her styling here is definitely on-point. Head to toe.

She looks good. I'm glad she is getting her health under control and wish her well on her journey.

R48, Weight loss from just the surgery usually maxes out at around 18 months. At this point her weight is a result of her diet and exercise regimen or rather the fact that she hasn't gained it all back. If she loses more it will be related to that. Some people gain all of their weight back within 6 years but that's because they stopped worrying about their diet and exercise.

R59, There's a whole market/industry for plus sized women. Sometimes it's not being "PC," it's because they think she is dressed well for her size. A huge chunk of Christian Siriano's fame is based on the fact that he doesn't shy away from dressing larger women well.

The one time I remember backlash from her styling was when Karl Lagerfeld shot her for Bazaar before she lost weight. People generally seemed to feel like he was mocking her or didn't have any clue what to do with her.

Queenie!

[Quote] Some people gain all of their weight back within 6 years but that's because they stopped worrying about their diet and exercise.

Are you talking about people who've had half their stomach removed? Or ones that have had less extreme procedures?

I really like her a lot. I think she’s a beautiful person no matter what.

I LOVE GABOURAY DONTSITONME!!

Good for her. I wonder if they'll ever do a film adaption of the sequel to Precious/Push. The main character in the book is her son and Precious appears briefly in the beginning of the book before succumbing to AIDS.

I'm actually glad Queenie's death (as well as Misty Day's death) was undone in Apocalypse. People were pissed when she was easily dispatched in Hotel.

[quote]People were pissed when she was easily dispatched in Hotel.

Apparently Emma Roberts was supposed to be killed in "Hotel" (there are even articles with her talking about how excited she was to return) but she had to drop out of shooting last minute and Ryan asked Gabourey who did it.

She agreed to use one of the three episodes of other shows they let her do away from Empire to do it. (She used the other two for Difficult People which she once was a recurring on until Empire upgraded her contract to regular and she chose that show.)

She's still one of his favorites.

The girl was smart to foster relationships with Lee Daniels and Ryan Murphy. They'll both keep her working as long as she wants.

Is Gabby really a bitch?

I think she's sarcastic. But surely gay men understand a fat woman with a sharp tongue?

Rofl, here she is appearing on WWHL with Andy Cohen.

She seems pretty annoyed with Jussie Smollett. Then again, who could blame her?