Simon Cowell's Vegan Diet Helped Him Lose 20 Lbs.: 'I've Found It Quite Enjoyable'
Simon Cowell is showing off a svelte new figure — and it’s all thanks to his revamped, vegan diet.
The America’s Got Talent judge surprised fans with his trim physique Tuesday night on the red carpet, wearing a tight-fitting gray shirt and black pants.
Cowell, 59, has credited his weight loss to a strict vegan diet that saw him say goodbye to meat, dairy, wheat and sugar.
“I went to see this guy, who’s very well-known, and he said to me after doing some blood work, ‘You can’t have red meat, dairy, sugar, bread or gluten,’” Cowell recalled to Extra in March. “I’m thinking, what about alcohol? That’s all I care about. And he said, ‘Maybe not quite as much as you had before.’”
The American Idol alum took the doctor’s advice, jokingly comparing the diet to that of his son Eric, 5, whom he shares with girlfriend Lauren Silverman.
“It’s like the Eric diet because he actually, apart from ice cream, he actually likes water,” Cowell marveled. “I mean, who likes water? And his raw vegetables. So I’m on like, the Eric Cowell diet.”
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So far, he’s shed about 20 lbs. — and has yet to indulge in a cheat day, though he’s frequently tempted by pizza, he told the outlet in May.
Cowell told The Sun in April that he made changes to his food intake within 24 hours of meeting with the doctor, and has been strict in cutting out meat, dairy, wheat and sugar, things he “shouldn’t have been eating” anyway.
“I loved those comfort foods, that’s all I’ve eaten all my life. I love jam tarts, hamburgers, spaghetti Bolognese,” he told The Sun. “I can eat fish but this year I will go the whole way.”
The British star said he was surprised by how easy it was to adapt to his new diet, thanks to simple tricks like swapping his daily yogurt with almond-milk yogurt.
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“I can eat certain fruits, but not all fruits. You have to be careful because some fruit can have more sugar than a can of Coke,” he explained. “Once you get into a pattern I’ve found it quite enjoyable. It has helped me sleep and I wake up feeling less tired. I noticed a massive difference in how I felt in about a week.”
Cowell whipped himself into shape following a scary incident in October 2017 that he later said served as a wake-up call.
The star was rushed to the hospital after he fainted and fell down the stairs while trying to get himself a glass of hot milk during a bout of insomnia.
He later explained that his fall was due to low blood pressure.
“Sometimes we get a reminder that we’re not invincible and this was certainly mine. It was a huge shock,” he told The Sun. “I have got to really take good care of myself to sort that out.”
