Yahoo Lifestyle Ricki Lake, 55, Shares How She 'Worked Hard' For 'Amazing' 35-Pound Weight Loss
Ricki Lake, 55, says she feels the "best" ever after losing 35 pounds.
She just posed in a dress from 2007.
The former talk show host and her husband made a commitment to lose weight naturally together.
Ricki Lake is feeling better than ever.
Recently, the 55-year-old shared that she’s the “healthiest” and “fittest” she’s ever been, after losing more than 35 pounds without the help of weight loss medications.
“It's so funny that because when you're in your 50s, you're supposed to be going sort of down. It's all downhill from here,” the former talk show host said in a May 9 interview with People. “I feel the opposite. I feel the healthiest I've ever felt—the fittest—and I have a beautiful partner that I share my life with. I pinch myself every day.”
But Ricki explained that she's “worked hard” to get where she’s at. “I am not superhuman, but I am someone that when I set my mind to something, I for the most part do it,” she said. “I have a lot of willpower. I've been big, I've been skinny. I've been 260 pounds; I've been 120 pounds.”
“It’s really about feeling as good as we can for as long as we can,” she added.
Recently, Ricki showed off her weight loss on IG, posing in the same white dress she wore for the 2007 premiere of The Business of Being Born. In the snap, she smiles for the camera in a garden, wearing the white dress with black detailing, paired with a matching set of black stilettos.
"Oh, this old thing?? Just had it hanging around 🥰" she captioned her post. "Originally wore this dress to the Business of Being Born world premiere in 2007 and now here I am wearing it again in 2024!"
Ricki first revealed her weight loss in February, telling her followers that she's been feeling "amazing" and "strong" thanks to her lifestyle changes.
The journey first began on October 26th, 2023, when Ricki “made a commitment to myself to get healthier,” noting that her husband Ross decided to do the same. “Together we have each lost 30+ lbs,” the Hairspray actress wrote in the caption of her Instagram post, which included shots of she and Ross on their "daily hike," as well as a screengrab from a weight tracker. “I really want to share, because we did this without relying on a pharmaceutical. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)”
But Ricki’s weight loss didn’t happen overnight. Here’s what she’s shared about her journey.
How did Ricki and her husband lose weight?
Ricki married attorney Ross Burningham in 2022, and the couple decided to lose weight together. “If I pinpoint one thing that was not working in our lives, is that we were carrying this extra weight,” she told Good Morning America in early May.
So, in late 2023, Ricki and her husband began intermittent fasting, following the keto diet, doing Pilates, and tracking their sleep. Their hard work has paid off: Ricki has lost 35 pounds and Ross has lost nearly 40, she told GMA.
Ricki also told People that she likes to hike the mountains near her home in Malibu, California. “I hike them with my dog and my husband every morning,” she said. “It's meditative for me and it gets your heart rate going, it gets your metabolism going and it's really been a game changer.”
"This is a lifestyle change. I’ve made this my job. And it's become my joy," she told GMA. "Like, I just, I love it. I think it's safe to say I'm in the best shape of my life."
"I say, 'This is what happy looks like,'" she added. "I could cry. I'm so happy. I'm so happy."
Ricki didn’t take Ozempic or other weight loss drugs.
A doctor initially suggested that Ricki go on medication to help her slim down. But she told GMA she was initially "reluctant" about using a weight loss drug, sharing that she wanted to "give it a go on my own."
"[My doctor] was saying you weren't going to be successful without it, is what he said to me," she told GMA. "And I like a challenge. And I like proving people wrong. And so, it pissed me off."
Ricki pointed out that she and Ross aren’t pre-diabetic—many weight loss medications can also be used for diabetes management—but “both of us felt like we wanted to at least try and do it on our own.”
That said, the Daytime Emmy winner “was a bit worried” about trying to lose weight naturally due to “being 55 and in perimenopause,” so she wasn't sure if her “body would not drop the pounds like it had in the past.”
She now feels “the best I can remember.”
Ricki seems like she’s in a happy place right now, telling GMA that “I feel the best I can remember feeling in my life.”
"I have this new marriage and I'm so blissfully happy with this amazing man—my perfect man," she said.
In her initial Instagram post about her weight loss, Ricki said she's “so, so proud” of what the couple has accomplished together. “I feel amazing. I feel strong 💪,” she wrote. “Suffice to say this is the healthiest way I’ve lost weight in all of my years.”
Keep up the good work, Ricki and Ross!
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