Did Adele Have Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery?

While most people that lose a significant amount of weight that quickly usually have bariatric surgery, Adele has not had bariatric surgery. Do you want to know what she did instead? It was super simple. All she did was work out like a mad woman over a two-year period and attributes all of her weight loss to cardio, strength training, and other activity. She made it very clear last year that she lost weight while eating more, not less in her Vogue interview and on Oprah. 

But this is not how you should do it. At all. I don't recommend this method for weight loss. As a cardiologist and certified personal trainer that has been teaching weight loss for 20 years, there is a much, much better way.

How Adele Lost 100 Pounds and How You Can Do It Better!

It's no secret. Adele has lost over 100 pounds since 2019 and has kept it mostly to herself. She kept it off social media. She didn't do it to look good. She did it for her mental health.

As a cardiologist and personal trainer, I actually love this! Weight lifting has been shown in studies to improve depression, anxiety, and cognitive function! Adele states her anxiety attacks went away after she started working out.

She was having issues with anxiety due to the pandemic and her recent divorce from Simon Konecki. She didn't want people thinking she was spiraling out of control. She wanted to have a healthy mind by having a healthy body.

She did hire a personal trainer (Gregg Miele from Los Angeles) to help her achieve her new look, but again, it wasn't for looks. If you saw her previously at the Grammy Awards, you are in for a surprise.

How Did Adele Lose Weight?

Adele lost her weight mainly by working out 3 times per day. Yes, three times per day, not three times a week. If you have watched any of my videos and downloaded any of my free programs, you will see that I do not recommend this at all.

She also didn't really change her diet. She did not eat less. She actually ate more. She essentially created a calorie deficit with activity. Which can work, but it's not sustainable long term. I recommend creating a calorie deficit with food and caloric reduction, rather than trying to burn it off. See my article on, You Can't Outrun Your Diet.

Watch my Video on Adele's Weight Loss Transformation:

Adele's Weight Loss Mindset: Body Positive Mindset

Adele focused on getting her mind right first! A lot of women ignore this (men too) and want to lose weight at any cost. They will starve themselves and jeopardize their health in an attempt to "look good". They end up not losing weight, not getting healthier, being in poorer mental health, and not losing any weight.

As a cardiologist, personal trainer, and body builder I have also struggled with body dysmorphia and mental health. I have worked very hard to promote a body positive mindset. I often have brutal conversations with patients (and myself) about weight loss being more about feeling good and being healthy, than how you look. It's a really big deal to me. I designed an entire mindset course around the body positivity mindset to help others understand how to achieve this state of mind. Learn more about my Body Positivity Mindset Weight Loss Course.

Anxiety, Weight Loss, and Positive Mindset

Adele says embracing a healthy lifestyle wasn't because she had a goal weight in mind. “It was because of my anxiety," she told British Vogue. "Working out, I would just feel better." The singer also said that "it was never about losing weight, it was always about becoming strong and giving myself as much time every day without my phone. I got quite addicted to it."

Adele says she feels confident and body positive, and that's why she didn't want to share it. She told Vogue, "I don't give a flying fu*k. I did it for myself and not anyone else. So why would I ever share it? I don’t find it fascinating. It’s my body.”

Adele is also very aware of all of the negative comments that have surfaced due to her new look. “My body’s been objectified my entire career. It’s not just now. I understand why it’s a shock. I understand why some women especially were hurt. Visually I represented a lot of women. But I’m still the same person," she explained to Vogue.

But Adele says she will remain confident and body-positive, regardless of what the internet critics say. “People have been talking about my body for 12 years. They used to talk about it before I lost weight. But yeah, whatever, I don’t care,” she said. “You don’t need to be overweight to be body positive, you can be any shape or size.” Adele told Oprah, "it's not my job to validate how people feel about their bodies. I feel bad that it's made anyone feel horrible about themselves, but that's not my job. I'm trying to sort my own life out. I can't add another worry."

She also states that body image and body dysmorphia led to her terrible relationship with food and body image. She wanted a change, so that she could accept her body. I highly recommend taking my Free Weight Loss Mindset Course to help with body image and body dysmorphia. This will also help you prepare for a real weight loss journey and transformation. It will be your LAST transformation!

 How Did Adele Lose Weight?

It was a combination of a lot of exercise and a slight change in diet, but it's not what you think. We will go through her diet plan and workout program and discuss how it can be improved.

Adele's Diet

In her most recent interview, she says that she didn't follow a new fad diet. It wasn't keto, nor intermittent fasting, nor the sirtfood diet. If anything, she says she is eating more than she was eating before. Mainly because she was working out 3 times per day. More on that later.

She didn't specify any special diet brand. She went out of her way to say it was not the sirtfood diet. She says it is all due to working out three times per day. When she turned 30, she was unhappy and didn't want to let it go any further. Finally, on her 32nd birthday, people on Instagram got to see her transformation!

Adele's Workout

Adele's fitness routine includes working out three times per day. She starts out with weight lifting in the morning. She then hikes or does boxing in the afternoon. In the evening she will do some type of cardio circuit. When she was speaking to Oprah Winfrey she said really got into deadlifting and that really helped. I actually love this! Heavy compound weight lifting is something I prescribe to my patients all the time. This helps increase lean body mass, which helps increase metabolism, which helps with long term weight loss sustainability.

Is Adele's Work Out Exercise Routine and Program Right for You?

This is the big elephant in the room. Working out three times a day is just not sustainable. Not one bit. For the vast majority of us, working out once a day is not sustainable. Not even a little bit.

I teach long term sustainability. Adele herself admitted that what she did was not for everyone when she said, “I was basically unemployed when I was doing it. And I do it with trainers". And then said this routine is “not very doable for a lot of people.”

If you watched my video above, you will understand my philosophy. Sure, you can create a calorie deficit with exercise, but what happens when you can't exercise as much? Let's say you do like Adele and start working out 3 times per day and start eating more. What happens when you can only work out once a day and are still eating more? Or now you can only work out a few times per week, and are still eating more? You will gain the weight back.

In my weight loss book and weight loss courses, I emphasizes that you should try to create a calorie deficit first with diet. Cut your calories first. Exercise is just bonus.

Further, long term studies have not shown significant weight loss with exercise. You lose weight for 2-3 months, then gain it all back., In fact, 33-67% of people gain back more weight than they lost. This is not the outcome we want.

Exercise for Fitness, Not Fatness

Exercise does, however, improve cardiovascular outcomes, hypertension, diabetes, inflammation, and cholesterol. It may not cause weight loss, but it does improve health, even if you don't lose weight. This is why I tell all my patients and clients to chose an activity they enjoy and do it because they enjoy it, not because they think they are going to lose weight.

If you start an exercise program thinking you are going to lose weight, you will be sorely disappointed. This is why I say to exercise for fitness, not fatness.

Is Adele's Weight Loss Regimen Good For You?

Adele's program is great for her, but likely not sustainable long term. She will have to learn to eat within her calorie limit. Like most people who go on extreme diet and fitness programs, she will likely regain most of her weight if she doesn't have a strategy to come off this properly. Extreme weight loss strategies like this is one of the main reasons people can't lose weight permanently and gain it all back. This takes hard work but is very hard to maintain.

More important than exercise is actually creating a calorie deficit with food (diet). No fitness journey should begin without a diet overhaul. You don't have to avoid foods you love, just eat less of them. This doesn't mean you need a meal plan either those. That's also quite restrictive and difficult to maintain.

Adele's workout routine is a great start and does include some compound movements that I prescribe to my patients all the time (squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, and hip thrust). Everyone should start there and do some cardio for health. Heavy compound weight lifting increases your lean body mass, which will increase your baseline metabolism. This is the single best thing you can do.

If you want to grab my free workout routine with the exact daily schedule, video demonstrations of all the exercise and a video of me explaining why this works, grab it here: Free Workout Exercise Weight Loss Plan

Overall Grade for Adele: A-

Overall, Adele did a great job with her weight loss journey and transformation. Most importantly she made choices that worked for her and her mental well being. The only issue will be long term sustainability. Can you continue to work out three times per day with a brutal circuit training cardio session to end your day? Forever? Only she can answer that and right now she is having too much fun and enjoying it to care what we all think!

Final Thoughts on the Adele Weight Loss Diet

Adele doesn't specify that she restricted her diet in any way. In fact, she says she loves McDonald's and would eat there multiple time per day. She loved the McNuggets. As long as you keep your calories in check, you can eat whatever you want to achieve weight loss. If you are losing weight, food quality doesn't matter as much. If you are not trying to lose weight and are overweight or obese, then you should make better food choices. The research on this is clear. You can lose weight eating only Twinkies if you control your caloric intake, and your health markers all get better.

Studies on heavily restrictive diets have not shown good long term outcomes. You should follow a diet plan that feels the least restrictive to you. If she can do this long term, and it's not a quick fix weight loss plan, then more power to her.

If you want to learn more about sustainable, long term weight loss without restrictive diet plans, you need to grab my Actual Weight Loss book. I cover all of these topics in depth and even give you a free exercise program with video demonstrations as well as a comprehensive diet strategy based on science and research!

If you want the short cut, grab my 5 Step Quick Guide to Weight Loss. It's a two page cheat code to weight loss!

Grab my Actual Weight Loss book for more leading edge weight loss and heart health advice!

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