At the age of 26, Gabourey
Sidibe was cast as the lead role in Lee Daniels’ 2009 film Precious with no acting credits to her name. She played an overweight, abused, illiterate teen, pregnant with her second child in New York's Harlem.
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Her performance in this gritty film won her much admiration and acclaim, and she went on to be cast in American Horror Story, as well as Empire (also by Daniels) and Difficult People, both of which she's still starring in now.
The Oscar-nominated actress is now 34 and has been on a mission to
lose weight for a while now. She revealed earlier this year that she underwent stomach surgery to help her shed some pounds after years of
natural efforts showed no results. She underwent the laparoscopic bariatric surgery 18 months ago but hasn't revealed how much she's lost, until now.
"You take the stomach, which is actually about the size of a football, and you staple and remove 80 percent of the stomach," bariatric surgeon Dr Bradley Schwack explained to Inside Edition.
She's been determined to lose weight after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and says she's now very proud of her body. But it's not just thanks to the surgery – the star has been hitting the gym
hard. Each month she's showing more and more progress, becoming stronger, fitter and losing excess fat from her body.
Here she is in September 2016, already showing huge progress:
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In March this year (note the comment about the torturous corset):
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Working out in June this year:
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And this September:
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And finally, here's her most recent progress pic:
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It's an incredible transformation, from the overweight 26-year-old the world met eight years ago, to this fabulous, confident and absolutely determined version of herself now. But funnily enough, the actress doesn't really like people commenting on her weight loss journey, telling Refinery29 how since 2015 after everyone noticed she was losing weight, "people have been saying, ‘Congratulations on your weight loss!’ It doesn’t rock me."
"It just annoys me because I’m just like, don’t congratulate me on that. If you’re going to congratulate me on my weight loss, also congratulate me every time I pee. Congratulate me every time I’m burping. Because my body actually has nothing to do with you, and I don’t really need your support for it."
Still, Sidibe has always been positive about her body and has documented her dedication to the gym as well as the results she's seeing on Instagram. She's always been very open about her body and has stayed strong in the face of
body shamers by loving herself no matter her size.
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In her recently published memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare, she wrote:
"I could lose weight. That is a fact. But I am dope at any and every size. I am smart. I am funny. I am talented. I am gorgeous. I am black. I am fat. Sometimes I’m a bitch. At all times, I am a bad bitch. (The word bitch is pretty confusing, right?)."
And she hasn't just made an incredible transformation in terms of her weight – the actor is also making waves with her own creative projects too. As well as starring in several other projects after Precious, she wrote her memoir and recently made her directorial debut with the short film, The Tale of Four.
Eight years ago, Sidibe was an unknown 26-year-old actress who landed a role of a lifetime. Now, she's killing it in more ways than one – as well as still bring a superb actress, she's now an author and director who is dedicating her time and efforts to becoming the healthiest she can be. Huge respect, Gabby.
