Many of you might remember Gabourey Sidibe from her debut in Precious, and the actresses’s acting skills have only gotten better as the years go on. But what many people might not remember is that she embarked on an inspirational weight loss journey, which included getting stomach surgery in 2017. While she’s been quiet on this journey for a while, it’s most obvious when you hit up her social media, where she’s been posting more recently to show off her slim curves.
Starting off at 300 pounds, Gabourey has lost over 150 pounds after her surgery. In January 2020, she took to social media and fans were delighted to see her on her fitness journey as she balanced on her knees on an orange yoga ball. Gabby Sidibe has been bullied about her weight for years, not unlike the protagonist in Precious. But today, she’s reached an inspiration place in her transformative weight-loss journey. Here’s how she get there.
Writing a memoir on her struggles
She wrote a memoir titled This Is Just My Face and opened up about her journey toward fitness, and what brought her there. In 2017, she received laparoscopic bariatric surgery after unsuccessfully trying to tackle the major weight loss on her own. After struggling with depression and bulimia, she made the big decision. She says the medical procedure was not an “easy cheat” towards weight-loss, but that she had tried literally every other solution. The actress started dieting at the tender age of 6.
The procedure involved her stomach in half. As a result, her doctor revealed that her hunger and capacity to eat would be limited, so it wasn’t just like a BBL or liposuction — she had to keep up the hard work long after surgery, and due to recent evidence on her social media, it’s clear that she has. The surgery was all about changing her relationship with food, and she succeeded in that.
In the memoir, she also shared that both she and her big brother were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and that this surgery helped with the risks and side effects related to the disease. Surgery wasn’t the only move she made — she also greatly reduced the intake of meat from her diet, which helped.
Meeting her boyfriend
Along with her weight-loss, her relationship with Brandon Frankel also motivated her weight loss journey and keeps on motivating it. At the end of 2019, Frankel took to social media, calling Gabby his “queen” and listing a lengthy paragraph about her most beautiful attributes. At the end of 2020, they got engaged, and it looks like these two are headed for happily ever after. The joy in her smile from their posts together gives us the feels for reals.
Self-acceptance and self-love
She’s been quoted as saying that it took her years to realize that everything about her “is all beautiful” and that there’s nothing ugly about her. Gabby says that the reason for surgery wasn’t aesthetic. It was so she could walk around in heels more comfortably, and be able to do a cartwheel or walk upstairs without pain.
Self-love is truly the key to happiness — even if you get loads of plastic surgery and do everything you can to change your appearance, if low self esteem and a lack of self respect and self-love is there, you’ll never see yourself as beautiful — even if you look like a Victoria’s Secret model. As they say: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And you’re the only beholder whose opinion matters, at the end of the day!
Brushing off the haters
The haters will always be there, but so will her millions of supportive fans, encouraging her and singing her praises from the rooftops. It just takes a quick google search or look at comments in articles about her to see how startlingly cruel people can be. She’s been harassed on Twitter and Instagram, as well as being crucified for her wardrobe choices and body — especially when it came to the 2014 Golden Globes Awards. Fortunately, she takes what these strangers say with a grain of salt, and as she put it on Twitter, “To people making mean comments about my GG pics, I mos def cried about it on that private jet on my way to my dream job last night. #JK” Touche, Gabby!
Taking the reins on her life
As she’s lost weight she’s gained confidence, and is now about to take Hollywood by storm with her love for directing. She directed an episode of Empire once that ended up being successful and burned a fire within her for future directing gigs. We can’t wait to see what projects she works on next — and what her wedding looks like!
