Sherri Evonne Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) is an American comedian, actress, and co-host on the ABC daytime talk shows, The View. Sherri Shepherd has been battling her weight for years. After losing a whopping 30 pounds since her 2007 debut on The View, she began to see the weight creep back on. Rather than surrender, she made a public vow in May to get herself swimsuit-ready.
“This is my marathon,” Sherri, 42, says — and it looks as if she’s winning the race. The talk show co-host and star of Lifetime’s upcoming sitcom, Sherri, has lost 41 pounds in total, dropped 10 dress sizes and cut 10 inches off her 5′1″ frame. And in a new, exclusive interview and photo shoot with OK!, Sherri reveals what inspired her to go public with her pledge — and exactly how she did it.
“I lost weight last year and started gaining it back because I wasn’t exercising,” Sherri explains in the new issue of OK!. “I said to my producer, ‘Why don’t we do something where I tell people ‘Let’s do it together!’ and maybe [up the ante with] a bathing suit.’ The minute I said that, I was like, ‘Gosh, I should take it back because I really want M&M’s!’ But I had to do it. Then all of sudden I had all these people doing it with me. I’d Tweet about going to the gym and how hard it was, and followers would write and say, ‘Sherri, I’ve lost two pounds!’ I thought, ‘Okay, people are getting into this.’”
To help get her into swimsuit shape, Sherri enlisted the help of trainer Don Scott — who she refers to in her Tweets as the “Evil One” — and he spared certainly didn’t give her any slack because of her celebrity. “What I hate is when trainers say, ‘Okay, lets do 15,’ and then you get to 15, and they go ‘10 more,’ She recalls about her time in the gym. “It has taken every mental thing I have to get to 15, so don’t put another 10 on me!”
Now Sherri’s focus is on maintaining her weight, without the trainer. “It’s just mandatory that I find something I like that I can really keep up,” she explains. “I just started this trapeze class that strengthens the arms, and tennis I love. I’m taking salsa lessons.”
In addition to her time in the gym, Sherri — who openly admits that she’s “not a cooker” — slimmed down with the help of delivered meals from Fresh Diet, including Turkey & Green Salsa Quesadillas, Pan-Seared Sea Scallops with Ginger Jerk Sauce, Salad Niçoise and Cinnamon Pear Cheesecake. “It’s freshly cooked and they delivered it in the mornings so I would just eat that,” Sherri explains. She had to stay away from some of her favotites. She told People Magazine about foods that are now off limits:
“Cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, milk shakes, Pinkberry – everything!” she says. “He told me I have to take the skin off the chicken. If I ate my leg with the skin, I couldn’t have anything else.”
But even with all this great food, there were still times when desire’s seductive head would pop up. “Sometimes I just said, ‘I don’t want tilapia anymore; I can’t even deal with salad. I want M&M’s and Ruffles,’” she confesses. “But the difference was I was gonna get back up and go to the gym and keep my commitment. I never once felt like I deprived myself.”
Sherri Shepherd says her son was the primary motivation for her recent weight loss and her determination to embrace a healthy lifestyle. “The View” star reveals her dieting and exercise secrets.
“I have a four-year-old I had at a late age,” “The View” co-host told Chris Cuomo on “Good Morning America.” “My mom passed away at 41 from diabetic complications — I want to be here for my son.”
