Raven-Symoné has been in the spotlight since she was just four years, her first big role as Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show. She became a certified teen star through the 2003 sitcom That’s So Raven and, though she’s still in the spotlight, has evolved in many ways since her days as a child actor.
One of the saddest parts of Raven’s journey in Hollywood is the pressure she’s felt from an industry that tried to regulate her body size, encouraging her to either lose or gain weight to suit their own interests. Raven has lost weight in the past, shedding a significant 70 pounds in 2011, but she didn’t feel comfortable opening up about her weight loss then. Now, having lost 30 pounds in three months in 2021, Raven is sharing her process and beliefs with the world. While her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday has helped her on her weight loss journey, the actress has relied on another method to shed the pounds.
How Did Raven-Symoné Lose So Much Weight?
Raven-Symoné has changed a lot since her days on the Disney sitcom That’s So Raven. She made headlines in 2021 when she shed 30 pounds in just three months. The star has since opened up about exactly what she did to lose the pounds.
In an interview with HollywoodLife, Raven revealed that the main secret behind her weight loss success was intermittent fasting. This involves frequent fasting for a set period of time before returning to consuming calories.
Raven explained that she fasted for a minimum of 14 hours a day, between dinner and the next breakfast, to help get rid of the weight. She “stops eating at a certain period of the day and no snacking, including waiting until the next day to eat, instead of just gorging all day long.”
Additionally, the actress and former host of The View changed the actual food she was eating too, opting for low-carb choices and sticking to whole foods rather than processed foods.
In an Instagram post shared with her followers, Raven elaborated on her weight loss diet, admitting that she didn’t “eat any bread” and typically consumed lean proteins and vegetables instead.
Part of Raven’s weight loss also came down to her mindset, as she didn’t torture herself by setting an impossible target weight to reach. "I didn't set out with a visual idea of what to look like," she said to HollywoodLife.
"I don't feel that I'm ever going to say, 'This is how I'm supposed to look,' because when I get to a certain weight, I always find happiness within myself, whatever what size I am."
Did Raven-Symoné Gain Her Weight Back?
In her interview with HollywoodLife, Raven talked about her previous journey with weight loss, confessing that she has “had a lot of different weight transformations” in the past.
While the star has maintained her healthy lifestyle so far, she has previously gained back weight after losing it.
According to Majic 102.3/9.7, Raven notably lost weight after That’s So Raven ended. However, rather than being encouraged to continue to pursue a healthy lifestyle, she was shamed and pressured into gaining her weight back.
“I feel like when I lost my weight, big-girl season came,” she said (via Majic 102.3/9.7). “There’s so many big girls that are now famous. And I was over here, starving …”
Raven went on to explain that she was made to wear a fat suit for the 2011 ABC series State of Georgia because she had become too thin for the role of Georgia.
“ … They had me wear a fat suit because they said I wasn’t the size they wanted me to be.”
What Does Raven-Symoné Eat Now?
Raven appears to be happy with her body transformation, but that doesn’t mean she’s returning to her old habits. She is still continuing with her intermittent fasting and low-carb eating plan.
“I’m still understanding the science of food within my body, which is very important and which is why I lost my weight. I’m still not subscribing to the standard American diet, which has made a mockery of the human body and created the obese epidemic that is our world today,” she said in her HollywoodLife interview.
“I continue to understand and learn about insulin resistance and what it means for people like me. And I continue to fast because it’s how humans are supposed to eat.”
In a 2021 interview with Good Morning America, Raven went into more detail on how she copes with fasting for longer periods of time, sometimes not consuming any foods for up to three days.
“I drink a lot of water and I drink a lot of electrolytes, and I’ll have some bone broth now and then depending on if it gets difficult,” she revealed, adding that she wants to become as healthy as possible. “But I have a goal in mind, so that’s what keeps me sustained. I want to make sure my body is healthy and prepared to deal with old age.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGifqK9dmbaledGarZ6mXajGrrvNnmSlp6OaerixyKCfrWc%3D