Billy Gardellhas at all times been candid about life in a bigger physique. Lengthy earlier than he grew to become a family title on the hit sitcom “Mike & Molly,” the actor and comic overtly joked about his dimension onstage and onscreen, whilst his weight crept into harmful territory. On the peak of his profession, he was celebrated for his humor, appeal, and relatability, together with his portrayal of Mike Biggs, a police officer who meets his future spouse at an Overeaters Nameless assembly. However behind the laughter had been years of well being struggles, yo-yo weight-reduction plan, and mounting medical points that finally pushed the 56-year-old towards a dramatic life change. After years within the highlight and a lifetime of battling his weight, Gardell has now shed greater than 170 kilos and says the transformation has utterly reshaped not solely his physique, however his future.

For Billy Gardell, the turning level got here in the course of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a second he now credit with saving his life. “When the primary wave hit, they usually punched up that checklist of high-risk situations, I had all of them,” he advised PEOPLE. “Obese, sleep apnea, smoker, sort 2 diabetes, bronchial asthma… It was actually the proper storm.”

The conclusion hit laborious. His blood strain was rising, his diabetes was worsening, and the numbers from his lab work had been changing into more and more alarming. “Between my blood numbers not coming again good, my blood strain going up, sort 2 diabetes, and COVID, it was sufficient stuff to scare me to say, ‘Come hell or excessive water, I’ve acquired to make a change.'”

That change got here on July 17, 2021, when Gardell underwent gastric bypass surgical procedure, a call he’d averted twice earlier than. Three years later, he calls it nothing lower than life-saving. “My diabetes is gone. I really feel sturdy. I’ve power. Shedding weight saved my life.”

Billy Gardell says his difficult relationship with meals started in adolescence, when his dad and mom divorced, and he all of a sudden felt accountable for the family. “I had a whole lot of duty heaped on me at 14 to assist present for the household, and the second stepfather that we had in the home was not a form particular person,” he shared. “I believe I placed on this further weight as some type of security armor.”

Leaving dwelling at 17 to pursue stand-up comedy introduced new pressures and new emotional habits. He started “medicating” his “feelings and fears” with meals, but in addition used it to have a good time his successes. “Each of these issues are poison capsules,” he admitted.

Like many, Billy Gardell tried almost the whole lot in the marketplace. “Low-carb, keto, intermittent fasting,” he mentioned. “And by the way in which, all these issues work, however I simply could not keep in keeping with any of them. I used to be on a yo-yo factor.”

Even whereas starring reverse Melissa McCarthy on the hit CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly,” the place he grew to become a romantic lead at 350 lbs, Gardell says the burden now not matched the life he needed. “I had gotten so large and so stationary that it damage to face up,” he recalled. The concern of not being round for his spouse, Patty, and son, Will, pushed him nearer to surgical procedure every time, till COVID lastly compelled him to behave.

After surgical procedure, Gardell adopted a brand new life-style centered round conscious consuming and constant motion. He says the largest shift got here from altering the way in which he thought of meals. “Meals is gasoline. It isn’t reward, it isn’t soothing, it isn’t remedy,” he defined, noting that breaking his emotional attachment to consuming was important.

As of late, his routine is structured however lifelike. He begins his mornings with a turkey sausage sandwich, adopted by cottage cheese and fruit within the afternoon, and ends the day with a lightweight dinner freed from fried or sugary meals. He stays hydrated with roughly 75 ounces of water every day, takes multivitamins, a fish oil complement, and a probiotic, and works out three to 4 occasions every week to take care of his power and power.

Even with the self-discipline, Billy Gardell does not deprive himself. He permits room for infrequent treats, like “a forkful” of birthday cake or a single slice of pizza when he desires one. The stability has paid off as he now fluctuates “between 210 and 215.”