NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has revealed stunning weight loss, and made clear that he’s not done yet, after saying he was previously struggling with just going up the stairs.
The 51-year-old NBA analyst spoke to Entertainment Tonight and shared that he has lost a total of 55 pounds, currently weighing in at 351 pounds — within striking distance of his 345-pound weight when the Lakers won an NBA championship in 2000.
“I was getting chubby and couldn’t even walk up the stairs,” Shaq said. “I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror. I was like, ‘I’m gonna lose 20’ and then I was trying to lose 20.”
“I’ve got a five-pack now so I’ve got seven more packs to go because I want to take my shirt off on Instagram,” he added, jokingly.
O’Neal admitted that he’s set a “crazy goal” for himself and said he’d really like to get down to “between 315 and 330” where he has a “12-pack,” the outlet noted.
In March, Shaq spoke to People magazine about his weight loss journey, revealing at the time that he’d lost 40 pounds after deciding to make a lifestyle choice, changing what he was eating and working out.
“I wish I would’ve paid more attention to it,” O’Neal said. “I was such a mental warrior that none of this stuff mattered to me. … I didn’t really take it seriously until I looked in the mirror six, seven years after I retired. I looked terrible. I had no definition and basically I was fat. I was really fat.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
Shaquille O’Neal Reveals 55-Pound Weight Loss: ‘I Couldn’t Even Walk Up the Stairs’ https://t.co/9FtKJAYQhP
— People (@people) September 1, 2023
At the time, Shaq said he was feeling “really good” and has “more energy” after dropping all that weight.
“I get to do stuff that I haven’t done,” O’ Neal told the outlet. “And it helps you discipline yourself much more. I eat about four or five times a day, but four of those meals used to be junk meals.”
In December, the retired professional basketball star told ET that he was making his health a priority, “It’s all about eating right.”
“I didn’t know what the difference between a carb and a protein, at 50 years old I never knew,” he added. “So, he was saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that, more vegetables, my iron’s low. And once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped.”