Wow! Way to go, Mike!
Comedian Billy Gardell may have a little problem these days — fans are way less likely to recognize him! The actor gained fame for playing opposite Melissa McCarthy on the longrunning sitcom Mike & Molly from 2010 to 2016. But you wouldn’t know it to look at him next to the posters now!
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Last year fans started to take notice that Billy was losing a LOT of weight. Last September he revealed he’d undergone “bariatric weight loss surgery” in an effort to save his own life. He’d gotten over 370 lbs during the Mike & Molly days, but he didn’t make a serious effort at changing until he got diabetes. However, he told ET, it was COVID that really pushed him to lose the weight:
“At first I developed Type 2 diabetes, and then I went on a medication for that for about a year and start taking care of myself better. I lost about 30 pounds. But then COVID hit. and when they punched up all the markings that made you ‘at risk,’ I had all of them except ‘over 65.’ I had a full bingo card.”
After the surgery, Billy got serious:
“And then I just changed everything I did. I want to be clear — [getting surgery] was a very personal choice. I’m not telling anybody to do it. For me, that’s what I needed to do, but it’s just a tool. The real battle is still in [the mind], because people get this big again. You have a small window to change the way you live, the way you eat, the way you exercise, and so far I’ve been able to do that.”
Now the standup is down 160 lbs! On the set of his current sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola, the actor told ET‘s Kevin Frazier recently he revealed he’s “between 205 and 210.” Wow! On his journey happening later in life, he says:
“Self-care is important, and I think I finally got there. I think you got to find peace with yourself and at some point, look in the mirror and go, ‘You know, it’s probably time to take care of you.’ And I didn’t get that note early on. But I’m a big believer that when you get it, you get it. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you get it.”
And it worked! He revealed his Type 2 diabetes is “gone” — zero markers for it anymore! Not only that, his resting heartrate has almost HALVED! He expressed:
“No diabetes, resting heartbeat went from 113 to 68. Walking around pretty healthy these days.”
Obviously the surgery was the big starting point — as he says, “the operation is not the end, it’s the beginning.” So how does he maintain the health? With “small but very healthy” meals.
“I eat like all the people I used to make fun of, to be honest. I’ve got my fill and now I’m at the place where I can have a Couple bites of something decadent if I want.”
Wow. We’re so glad it all worked for him. And it’s even helping him be a better dad to his 20-year-old son! He explained:
“I have a child, and as you hit 50, you start doing that dad math, like, ‘If I can live 25 more years, then he’ll be 40.’ So I want to be here for him.”
He added:
“I’ve been an example in a lot of good ways for my child, but I feel like it wasn’t a good example of health for him. And so I want him to see that it doesn’t matter what age you are. If you are willing to do something a day at a time, you can change anything. That’s the message I wanted him to get.”
It’s a message everyone who looks at Billy is going to get from now on! For more, see him in action a couple months ago on The Rich Eisen Show (below)!
[Image via CBS/The Rich Eisen Show/YouTube.]