Tag Archives: ellen degeneres

Justin Wiseman’s 420 Pound Weight Loss Story – “Rosie O’Donnell was My Beacon of Hope.”

justin wiseman rosie o donnell

Just when I thought my life was over, I found a whole new beginning, maybe your ending is really a brand new start.  ~ Justin

Recently Justin Wiseman joined the ladies on The View where he finally got to hug Rosie O’Donnell. After exchanging messages on Twitter about their mutual weight loss struggles, the two bonded. Justin credits Rosie with inspiring him to lose weight. Now he’s paying it forward by tackling the childhood obesity epidemic.

More from Justin and his amazing 420 pound weight story in his own words –

Tell me when your weight struggles began. My struggles began well before I was consciously aware of what I was doing. By the age of five I weighed 100 pounds.

What habits specifically led you to gain weight? I was a food addict pure and simple. Food was my whole world. Every time I ate, I ate to the point of being Thanksgiving-stuffed. That feeling was my high, my pure bliss.

justin wiseman before after

What caused you to realize you needed to change? I had a gut feeling I was going to die soon, which was confirmed by a doctor. I had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, my sugar was running in the 500s every day. It was so high that sugar was crystallizing on my skin. I had non-obstructive sleep apnea, the weight on my chest was causing me to stop breathing over 200 times a night and my oxygen was dropping below 60. I had high blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol, and was even suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. The cirrhosis was causing me to retain massive amounts of fluid.

How did you lose the weight? I looked into weight loss surgery, but at first I was too unhealthy to qualify. I started slowly by making healthier choices and following a lower carb diet. I ate a KFC grilled chicken almost every day. Over 6 months I lost 130 pounds. Following that initial weight loss, I had gastric sleeve surgery to reduce the size of my football-sized stomach. After that I followed the Atkins Diet.

What diet and exercise methods did you employ? At first I couldn’t do much. I could barely get up and down. The very first exercise I did was to dance in my living while Ellen was dancing on her talk show. Slowly I was able to do more.

Did you have any “ah ha” moments along the way? Yes, the first of many was when I started planning my own funeral because I didn’t think I could do lose the weight. The are so many people around the world who are given a death sentence and would do anything to live, but here I was willing dying. How selfish. I also realized how much life I had missed out on and how much I wanted one day of complete freedom before I died.

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Stephanie Magrisso Lost Over 110 Pounds. Next Goal – “Onederland”

Stephanie Magrisso This week I’m privileged to introduce you to a woman whose story just makes me smile. Stephanie Magrisso has lost over 110 pounds, and she’s still working toward her goal weight.

She may be struggling with a weight plateau, but she’s smiling every step of the way thanks to her motivational techniques, including the life lesson she learned by watching Ellen Degeneres. This is Stephanie’s true weight loss story.

Fat has just always been my life.

Stephanie’s struggle with weight started when she was too young to realize there was a problem, but the bullying and name-calling by her peers quickly caught her attention. As a child, she admits eating too many TV dinners and McDonalds meals. When she was old enough to make her own decisions, she became an emotional eater and presumed the destiny of her weight would be determined by genetics, since she had family members who were also overweight.

Having someone I could relate to made a huge difference

A new friend entered Stephanie’s life and made an immediate impact on her. “I met one of my now best friends.  While she was nowhere near as overweight as I was, she had some weight to lose, and she did.  Suddenly I had a friend I could talk to about it, who really understood the struggle.”

Instead of relying on one diet to achieve her goals, Stephanie found several techniques that not only helped her lose weight, but also kept her in the right frame of mind.

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The Ellen DeGeneres Happiness Diet: 7 Ways You Can be Adorably Healthy and Joyful, too!

Want to radiate health and happiness like upcoming Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres? Here are seven lifestyle habits that the reigning comedy queen prioritizes in her life!

1. Eat Lots of Veggies.

Ellen follows a vegan, or at least primarily plant-based, diet. She went completely vegan after learning more about the sources of meat products, but has recently reintroduced sustainably-sourced eggs. She offers her thoughts on easing into plant-based eating here.

ellen cooking

2. Laugh. 

It’s no secret that Ellen isn’t short on the giggles, so there must be some connection to this and her radiant joie de vivre. Laughter has been shown to clinically lower blood pressure and heart rate, promote weight loss, and reduce stress. 

Ellen laugh

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Experts Agree, Sitting in a Sunlighten Sauna Offers Vast Health and Weight Loss Benefits

Is it possible to sit perfectly still and manage to lose weight and even improve your health? A 2024 study from the University of British Columbia* says it’s so, specifically with the use of a Sunlighten sauna. This 2024 study found that when the Sunlighten sauna was used three times a week in 20-minute sessions, the user lost weight and reduced waist circumference (which is often a better determination of overall health than scale weight).

sunlighten logo

Another study conducted at the University of Missouri at Kansas City** found that 30-minute sessions three times a week in a Sunlighten sauna even lowered the user’s blood pressure. And still, more research hails the benefits of consistent sauna use.

One study showed that using a sauna every other day for two weeks was associated with increased fat metabolism and lower cholesterol,” reported Dr. Jessica Wu, Daily Glow’s Dermatology Expert. She explained that the heat produced by the sauna will obviously make you sweat, and that if you sweat enough, “you will temporarily lose water weight.” As well, since heat reduces appetite, she explained that some people may have less of an appetite after a session in the sauna.

So what is this Sunlighten sauna that seems to be changing the health of its users? It’s not your typical sauna, as the results clearly show. There are no hot rocks or steam, instead, Sunlighten uses Solocarbon far infrared heat – which is the same type of energy that is naturally produced by the sun. (more…)

20 Celebrity Men and Women Who Practice Meditation in Hollywood

When we think of alone time, we often picture ourselves shopping without chasing children, having a quiet pedicure, or simply lying in the bathtub uninterrupted. For some truly quality alone time, you don’t have to go much further than inside your own mind. Meditation is a contemplative state where by you silently remove yourself from the physical and the present to reflect, increase clarity, and find a more serene or deeper state of consciousness.

It’s an ancient practice, often associated with yoga, that’s becoming increasingly popular in our scattered, harried, pressure-cooked society. Business professionals use it to decompress after a tough meeting or even find their center before heading in to the bull pen. Men and women alike use meditation to strengthen their minds, reduce stress, and even attain that “me time” that is so necessary.


It’s something Julia Roberts’ character in Eat Pray Love grappled with during the pray portion of her journey at an Indian ashram. But in real life, celebrities are embracing it seemingly with ease for a vast many reasons.

For instance, Richard Gere says a meditation practice helps him to stay grounded amongst the excess of Hollywood life. Eva Mendes credits meditation for helping her mine her best creativity, according to Well and Good. And Gisele Bundchen, who delivered her second child at home this month, has called meditation the source for her post-baby weight loss.

“A regular meditation practice creates mindfulness. Being mindful helps keep us from feeling distracted and impatient with life when things don’t go our way,” said Jill Lawson, our resident yogi expert. “When we are fully aware of our feelings through the practice of meditation, we can move toward being more proactive, instead of reactive. Taking action versus being frustrated is the first step in living a joyful life.”

We found 20 famous men and women who have dedicated themselves to the art and practice of meditation. If this group can make Power Bracelets, veganism, and the Master Cleanse a storming success, maybe they can serve as models to make us all a bit more mindful out here in the real world. (more…)

Skinnygirl Bethenny Frankel Celebrates Ellen’s 10th Anniversary

On November 7, tune in to a special episode of Ellen as she celebrates her show’s 10th anniversary. Among other guests, Ellen invites Bethenny Frankel, creator of the Skinnygirl franchise, on the program.

Frankel gained fame by starring in The Real Housewives of New York, afterwards launching Skinnygirl Cocktails, which grew in to a line including nutrition and recipe books, exercise DVDs, health foods, skincare, and women’s undergarments. Her products, like her book Naturally Thin, encourage healthy and natural eating, common sense habits, and ways to make all women feel beautiful no matter their size. She also starred in her own show, Bethenny Getting Married?, with a name change of Bethenny Ever After after her marriage, and was a contestant on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.  (more…)

Ellen Teams With Food Should Taste Good to Fight Breast Cancer

On Ellen’s September 17 episode, Ellen discussed her partnership with the company Food Should Taste Good to take a stand for the fight against breast cancer. She is raising money for Ellen For The Cure, which will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

To raise money, Food Should Taste Good rolled out a special pink bag of multigrain chips that will donate a part of the profits to the foundation. Ellen let her audience taste the chips by passing a bag around (“she only has one bag”), touting their delicious taste and their vegan and gluten-free status. You can also donate directly to the foundation on her website. (more…)

U.S. Olympic Gymnasts Kick-Off Ellen’s Season Premiere

On the first show of Ellen Degeneres’ new season, the talk star meets with the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.

She speaks with Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, and Kyla Ross about what it was like to win big at the Summer Olympics. The team swept the scoreboards, winning by the largest margin in 52 years at the Games, which helped them take home the team gold medal. Douglas also took home an all-around gold medal and Maroney got a silver in vault. (more…)

Michelle Obama and Tracey Mallett Get Kids Moving on Ellen [VIDEO]

First lady Michelle Obama has been a busy woman this week. She’s been making the talk show rounds as she promotes Let’s Move, a campaign is designed to end childhood obesity by teaching children about fitness and healthy eating.

As the first lady wraps up her week, she will be a guest on the Ellen show today alongside Booty Barre creator and fitness expert Tracey Mallett.

Mallett and Mrs. Obama invite 40 children to the stage to demonstrate exercises to keep them moving and excited about good health. Mallett led the children of Whitney Elementary through a fun workout the kids loved. In an email from Mallett, she described the episode as “an amazing experience.” See it now, and try it with your own kids!

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Ellen Degeneres Announces Plans to Open a Vegan Restaurant

One of the funniest women comics around thinks that her new restaurant is the breath of fresh air the restaurant industry needs.

Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia De Rossi have teamed up with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders and film producer Steve Bing to open a vegan restaurant. The unnamed eatery will be located on Ventura Boulevard in San Fernando Valley, California. The menu will be designed by Tal Ronnen, who is best known for catering the wedding of DeGeneres and Rossi. Ronnen was also the chef responsible for the food for Oprah’s Vegan Cleanse and cooked the first vegan meal for the U.S. Senate.

Vegans do not ingest any animal products. They avoid all forms of dairy, meat, honey, and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals.

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Ellen DeGeneres Launches Website to Celebrate Vegan Lifestyle

While there are a number of celebrity vegetarians and famous vegans who follow a vegan diet, Ellen DeGeneres has joined their ranks with a new site called Going Vegan with Ellen that will serve as an introduction to the vegan lifestyle and offer tips on how to adopt a plant-based diet.

According to the Mother Nature Network, Ellen DeGeneres will celebrate her love for the vegan lifestyle on an offshoot of her official Ellen.com site.

DeGeneres, 53, became a vegan in late 2024, along with her wife, actress Portia de Rossi. The site features recipes, tips for beginning a vegan diet and a list of famous vegans, along with book and film resources for people considering a vegan diet.

While some vegans are celebrating DeGeneres’ commitment to the vegan lifestyle, Mother Nature News reported that other fans are skeptical of her relationship with Cover Girl, one of the largest U.S. brands to conduct animal testing on its products.

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