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Billy Gardell Reveals How He Lost 150 Pounds

Billy Gardell said it was about time. So he dropped 150 pounds! Gardell says, it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you are willing to do something one day…

Billy Gardell weight loss

Billy Gardell weight loss

Unique Nicole / Stringer via Getty Images

Billy Gardell said it was about time. So he dropped 150 pounds!

Gardell says, it doesn't matter how old you are. If you are willing to do something one day at a time, you can change anything.

At 53, Billy Gardell is feeling a lot healthier these days. In an interview the Mike & Molly alum talked to Entertainment Tonight about losing 150 pounds - he now "floats between 205 and 210."

"I think you got to find peace with yourself and at some point, look in the mirror and go you know, it's probably time to take care of you. Gardell, said. "So I'm a big believer that when you get it, you get it. It doesn't matter when. As long as you get it."

Gardell joked about the "little things" - one advantage is "the ability to shop at more clothing stores.  It's been a real gift, on top of all the health stuff." Gardell had  type 2 diabetes, he says it is now gone. "No diabetes, resting heartbeat went from 113 to 68. Walking around pretty healthy these days."

To try to stay healthy, Gardell said he asked his producers to put a weight bench and some adjustable weights in his trailer so he could exercise when he has the opportunity on set. As for his diet, the Bob Hearts Abishola star said, "I go small, but I eat very healthy. I eat like all the people I used to make fun of, to be honest." He isn't missing any of the foods he used to eat. He said he's had his fill, and now he's the place where he can have a couple bites of something decadent if he wants.

Gardell said he receives criticism no matter his weight: "...there's always people online that when I was heavy, they're like, 'You're too heavy.' And now it's like, 'Are you sick?' Can I just walk through the Earth please?"

Gardell told ET, "Self care is important, and I think I finally got there. My last vice I got left is I'm still smoking cigarettes, but I'm working on that one. I have a child, and as you hit 50, you start doing that dad math, like, 'If I can live 25 more years, then he'll be 40. So I want to be here for him," he noted.

Gardell revealed that he underwent a gastric bypass operation two years ago, after backing out twice before, because he "just coudn't wrap his head around it" at the time. "The only thing I would say is understand that the operation is not the end, it's the beginning."

He said asking for help is the thing people are most afraid of, but that's where strength is born. When you're strong enough to say, 'I can't do this on my own,' then the troops come up over the hill."

Congratulations to Mike and Carla Morning Show friend, Billy Gardell!

-Carla Rea

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Billy Gardell weight lossUnique Nicole / Stringer via Getty Images

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Billy Gardell weight lossUnique Nicole / Stringer via Getty Images

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Billy Gardell weight lossUnique Nicole / Stringer via Getty Images
Carla ReaWriter
Carla Rea is the morning show co-host on “The Mike and Carla Morning Show" on 96.3 KKLZ, in Las Vegas. She has been working with her partner and friend Mike O'Brian for the past 25 plus years. At KKLZ for 12 years. Carla Rea is a Gracie Award winner. She started out in talk radio, "when talk radio was still fun" Rea says. Prior to, and along with doing the morning show, Carla is also a comedian. You may have seen her on Conan O'Brien, Evening at The Improv, Showtime, or several comedy clubs across the country. Carla also worked as a light feature reporter at KSNV/NBC Las Vegas, going behind the scenes at various shows, and restaurants on the Las Vegas strip. As a content creator 96.3 KKLZ, Carla writes in a sarcastic, cheeky, unapologetic way on Las Vegas, movies, TV, celebrities, and this thing we call life.