For years, Billy Gardell made the same promise to himself: He was going to lose weight.
“Every year,” the former comedian said mike and molly. Star. “I would say I would start on Monday. Or the first of every month. Or New Year’s Eve. That’s always been my routine.”
Sometimes he’ll follow up, dropping dozens of pounds at a time and watching them inevitably crawl back to his 6-foot height. frame. By 2020, when his weight began to hover around 370-380 pounds, he developed type 2 diabetes and doctors warned him that his life was in danger. Then COVID-19 came.
“When the first wave hit, they had a list of high-risk conditions, and I had all of them,” Gardell said. “Being overweight, sleep apnea, smoking, type 2 diabetes, asthma… it really was a perfect storm. My blood levels weren’t coming back to normal, my blood pressure was elevated, type 2 diabetes and COVID – it was enough to scare me, ‘No matter what, I have to make a change.'”
He did make a difference. On July 17, 2021, Gardel underwent weight loss surgery, the first step in a life-long journey to change his relationship with food and finally take control of his health.
“It was actually a shift in how I thought about food,” Gardell said. “Food is fuel. It’s not a reward, it’s not a comfort, it’s not a drug. I have to transcend my emotional relationship with food.”
Since the surgery, Gardel, 56, has lost more than 170 pounds through regular exercise and a strict diet. “I fluctuate between 210 and 215,” the actor said. “It’s comfortable for me.” Even better, his health issues have gone away. “My diabetes is gone,” he said. “I feel strong. I have energy. Losing weight saved my life.”
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In 1987, Billy Gardell was a high school student
Gardell was born in Pittsburgh, a self-described “chubby” kid, but grew up in Pennsylvania and Florida after his parents divorced. Despite his passion for sports, his relationship with food became complicated by his teenage years.
“At 14 years old, I had a lot of responsibilities to support my family, and the second stepfather in our family was not a kind man,” he said. “I guess I added the extra weight as some kind of safety armor.”
At 17, Gardel left home to pursue her dream of becoming a stand-up comedian, performing in small clubs across the country and experiencing successes and failures.
“I use food to relieve my emotions and fears, and I use food to celebrate my victories,” he said. “You eat to take away your mood when you’re in a bad mood or to enhance your mood when you’re in a good mood, and both of those things are poison pills.”
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Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy Talk ‘Mike and Molly’
Over the years, Gardel tried various diets as he gained weight. “I tried everything, low-carb, keto, intermittent fasting — all of which work, by the way — but I just couldn’t stick to any of them. I just kept yo-yoing.”
For a while, this didn’t seem to be a problem. His stand-up career grew steadily—”The big guys are always funny,” he says—and in 2010 he landed a starring role opposite Melissa McCarthy in the hit CBS sitcom. mike and molly. The show, about a couple who fall in love at Overeaters Anonymous meetings, ran for six seasons and “changed my life,” Gardell said. “I’m a 350-pound romantic lead,” he exclaims. “Life is so weird.”
Three years later, he had greater success on television with the comedy Bob Harts AbisholaThe show tells the story of a man who falls in love with his nurse while recovering from a heart attack.
Michael Yarish/CBS via Getty Images
Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku on “Bob Hearts Abishola”
However, the extra weight inevitably began to take a toll on his health. In addition to his diabetes, he also developed joint and muscle pain that made mobility difficult. “I got so big and so still that it hurt to stand up,” he said. When he was in his 50s, he twice consulted doctors about weight-loss surgery because he was worried about his wife, Patty, and son, Will, now 22.
“But I chickened out both times,” he said. Finally, after facing a “full bingo card” of high-risk health factors during COVID-19, he knew he had to take action. “The only thing that’s not on that list is over 65, and that’s where I want to be,” the actor said. “I was desperate and wanted to make a change.”
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Four years later, Gardel credits his surgeon, Dr. Philippe Quilici, and nutritionist Teri Hlubik with making his transformation possible. “They’re a dream team,” he said. But he is also clear that he has a responsibility to keep the change going. This required a major shift in his perspective on food.
“Every change you want to make in your life starts with your ears,” he said. In weekly meetings with Hrubik—“almost like therapy”—he explored his emotional relationship with food, learned to replace the comfort of junk food with fuel for his body, and came to understand that he was worth the time and energy to stay healthy. “You have to learn to love yourself,” he said. “You have to look at why you react the way you do to food and heal it, and then love yourself enough to do something good for yourself.”
Maintaining weight requires persistence, and Gardel maintains a strict routine: a turkey sausage breakfast sandwich for breakfast, cheese and fruit in the afternoon, and a light meal without fried or high-sugar foods for dinner. He also makes sure to drink 75 oz. Drink water every day, take a daily multivitamin, fish oil supplement, and probiotics, and exercise three to four times a week. “It’s kind of like living in Groundhog Day, but it’s all worth it,” Gardell said.
He does allow himself the occasional splurge. “I could have a decadent bite or two if I wanted to,” he said. “At a birthday party, I took a forkful of cake just to taste it, and that was enough. Before I would have eaten a whole pizza. Now I can eat a slice and be satisfied.”
He also acknowledges that not every day is perfect — and that’s okay. “You’re never going to be perfect, but if you do it eight times out of 10, you’re going to win the battle,” he said. “My thing is meditation, I pray for consistency. I pray for gratitude, I pray for remembering what I’ve learned.”
As well as significantly improving his health – “I feel like I saved my life; I really did” – losing weight has helped Gardell discover “amazing” new experiences, like surfing and horseback riding. “I can sit in the middle seat of a plane now,” he said. “For a big shot, that’s a unicorn! I know it sounds silly, but I can walk into a store and buy a shirt off the rack. That one brings me so much joy, I can’t even explain it.”
Even better, his transformation brings him closer to Patty and Will, whom he calls his “secret strength,” cheering him on throughout the process. While none of them forced him to lose weight, they gave him a reason to get back in shape. “They want me to be here longer, God bless them,” Gardell said. “When a man knows what he’s fighting for, he’s capable of doing amazing things. And both of those things are worth fighting for.”
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