Fans Rally Behind Gayle King After She Posts a Candid Instagram of Her Pandemic Weight Gain

Fans Rally Behind Gayle King After She Posts a Candid Instagram of Her Pandemic Weight Gain
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From Prevention

  • Gayle King, 65, opened up about gaining weight during the coronavirus pandemic.

  • The CBS This Morning co-host shared photos of her scale and weight progression on Instagram.

  • Fans rallied behind King, sharing words of encouragement and their own struggles.


Gayle King is keeping it real. In a recent Instagram post, the CBS This Morning co-host opened up about gaining weight during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, King shared a bunch of photos of her scale, displaying how the number slowly grew higher throughout the year. King’s weight began at 159.2, eventually progressing to 172.2.

She referred to the weight gain as a “crisis” in her caption. “The weight struggle is real! Fatter than I’ve been in long time... and scared to get a pedicure (big sigh),” she wrote in the caption. “Swipe left for the way we were ...ideal weight, says doctor, is 163... not happening anytime soon.”

Photo credit: Instagram
Photo credit: Instagram

Fans rallied behind King with words of encouragement and stories of their own struggles in the comments.

“Don’t beat yourself up! Be kind to yourself because you know you can guide yourself back on healthier paths. You got this!” one person wrote. “Your body is keeping you alive during a pandemic. Be forgiving of it! ❤️” chimed in another.

“Gayle I can certainly empathize so hard to keep COVID pounds off,” someone commented. “The main thing is you’re safe and healthy. I personally think you look fantastic!”

Other fans applauded King’s vulnerability. “Thanks for sharing honestly. For being real,” another wrote.

In June, King opened up about how she’s been coping with the pandemic in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. She explained that she is “feeling the wear and tear of the heaviness” of the year, and it had been taking a toll on her health. “I cannot sleep, I feel a constant state of worry and angst,” she said.

In March, King told ELLE she’s been trying to keep up with exercise, even though it’s been tough. “I’ve been reading this book about the joy of movement, and I do think there’s something to that,” she said. “I’m not saying I like working out. I’m just saying I do it. I do the treadmill, I do the elliptical, and I do weights. But I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh my god, I love it.’”

King is not alone. In a poll of more than 1,000 WebMD readers, nearly half of women and one-quarter of men reported gaining weight “due to COVID restrictions.” The uptick on the scale can be caused by a lot of things that are now out of our control, like working from home, feeling more stressed, and having less access to a gym.

“So you’ve gained weight,” Elyse Resch, a nutrition therapist, told The New York Times. “So what? You’re alive. We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have.”

If you want to keep moving during the pandemic, she recommends shifting your perspective. “Exercise connotes something you have to do,” Resch said. “You want to take out the sense of doing it for a purpose like weight loss or keeping muscle on.”

Instead, do whatever movement feels good for your body—whether that’s simply going for a walk or making time for yoga after work. Hey, we are still in the middle of a pandemic, after all.


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