Ree Drummond, 52, Says "Small" Lifestyle Changes Helped Her Lose Nearly 60 Pounds
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At 52, Ree Drummond is feeling stronger than ever. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, The Pioneer Woman revealed she recently lost over 50 pounds.
Drummond was inspired to make healthier changes after “hitting rock bottom” one night while indulging in chips and salsa. “I thought that night, 'I am going to start tomorrow, I am doing something different,'” she said.
The Food Network star said her family played a huge role in helping her stay motivated in her weight loss journey. Drummond was working to get in shape ahead of her daughter Alex's wedding, and then when her husband Ladd was injured in an accident on their ranch, he became her source of motivation.
“[Ladd] was in his neck brace kind of immobilized, but he was training me in the living room telling me to get lower with my lunges and my squats,” she said. “He was like, ‘You’re not doing it right!' So he was sort of my unexpected trainer during that whole ordeal.”
And although Drummond said she’s never really “been a squatter or lunger” before, she’s feeling stronger than ever thanks to her new routine. “It’s really nice to just kind of feel the muscles that I thought were gone forever,” she said. “I feel great... I feel strong.”
“I feel great and that’s what matters,” she continued. “The scale was sort of a gauge for me that I was heading in the right direction. It was never about I have to lose this amount, it’s really about how I feel,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Drummond has been open about her decision to make some changes. In 2019, she wrote on Instagram that it took her “two full seasons” to achieve similar goals. Here’s everything we know about the Food Network star’s approach.
She added strength training to her routine.
Drummond gave her rowing machine a shout-out back in 2019, but more recently, she’s been all about taking walks around her ranch. Thanks to the company of her dogs and good podcast, it’s been an enjoyable form of exercise.
In a viral TikTok video, the celebrity chef added she started lifting weights—a key exercise for not only burning fat, but strengthening the entire body. Lifting weights has tons of benefits. It builds muscle, which ultimately helps you burn more calories at rest (i.e. even when you’re not exercising!). Plus, it’s a great stress reliever, improves posture, and even protects your bones and joints.
“It changes your whole outlook just having the routine of exercise in your day,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
She still enjoys foods she loves.
In the past, Drummond has admitted to drinking weight loss shakes, but that mentality is totally gone. Even though she’s eating fewer calories, she’s still loading up protein to ensure she feels full and satisfied in between meals.
And let’s be real, a pro chef isn’t going to stop eating her favorite foods entirely. She captioned the viral TikTok video, “Moving more and building muscle has been the key for me! I still love fries, though.”
Now, she’s just conscious of her portion sizes. “I still eat the foods that I cook my family. I still eat cake,” the celebrity chef said. “I just eat a Rhode Island-sized piece instead of a Texas-sized piece.”
Drummond has previously followed a low-carb diet, and even hopped on the keto train momentarily. “Last summer, I kind of dove into the keto world and enjoyed it,” Drummond told People in 2019. “It was a good exercise.”
But she eventually “settled back into a more sustainable, realistic way of eating.” Her experience did, however, influence her 2019 cookbook, The New Frontier, which is packed with “suggestions for how to lighten up an otherwise really carb-heavy dish.”
“More than any cookbook before this one, this really reflects my life in terms of what I’m eating,” she said. “Some days I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to use spaghetti squash instead of pasta,’ and the next day I eat, like, a big lasagna roll up with creamy shrimp scampi.”
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