Everyone who knows the hard-laughing comedian or TV host Sheryl Underwood knows that she has a quick wit and a contagious sense of humour. But if recent video clips are an indication, plus-size Underwood has recently begun to attract more attention for a different reason: her ongoing success with dramatic weight loss, an uphill struggle for which she has sought support from professional weight-loss specialists. Having battled weight problems for many years, and accustomed to maintaining an optimistic outlook, Sheryl has now thrown herself into a health boosting eating plan, a vigorous workout regimen, and mental fortitude which has earned her tens of thousands of new followers and admirers.

The Beginning of Sheryl’s Journey

Sheryl Underwood decided to lose weight because at the age of 52, she started valuing her health. She understood that if she wanted to live to old age, she had to eat a healthy and balanced diet, exercise regularly, and alter some factors in her lifestyle. She managed to shed a lot of pounds just by eating more natural food (which includes lots of fruits and vegetables) and cutting down on processed foods. She also ventured into cardio and strength training exercises.

As she saw her efforts paying off, she began to raise the bar for herself, setting new fitness goals – running a 5K, for example, or reaching a new weight target – and feels more confident with every foot she puts forward.

She has since openly talked about falling off the wagon – her cravings for food, her snacking and emotional eating, and the doubt she sometimes feels about herself. By opening up and showing others what she is truly going through, Sheryl has inspired hundreds of thousands of other peoples’ weight-loss and healthy living journeys.

Empowering Others Through Laughter

What makes Sheryl Underwood stand out is her sense of humour about it. One of the reasons she was selected to be part of our TV show was that she is a comedian. As obvious as this might sound, having started as a stand-up comedian after losing her job at a bank, Sheryl knows first-hand how to transform laughing into the most powerful coping mechanism and connection tool, both for herself and for an audience. She regularly talks about her food cravings, her trip to the emergency room from overexerting herself in the gym, or how she managed to eat her way through three seasons of cookies from a local hero baker who made them specifically for the participants of our TV show.

She keeps herself real to her fans when they stumble, sustaining her following with humour and sharing what she sees as a lifesaving message: ‘Shit happens – no task is perfect.’ Transparency has made Sheryl’s fans comfortable following her ups and downs. Her humour gives her a quirky authenticity, and now she has positioned herself as an expert, she is building a community of her own – one with a welcoming and nonjudgmental ethos. In that community, everyone is somewhere on the spectrum of better health.

In fact, these days, Sheryl says: You have really transformed not only your body but your attitude and, if you’re a good patient, such as Sheryl, you now care about yourself medically and spiritually. You’re no longer the hostile, ballistic kind who complains, blames and moans. I took my husband to see an endocrinologist specialising in weight loss two months ago.

Looking Towards the Future

Sheryl intends to stay on her weight-loss journey a long time, and she hopes to motivate many others to take control of their health in the process. She wants people to find the body that makes them feel good about themselves, and to never settle for less than that. Her lifelong mission, she says – to ‘be body-positive, to body-love, to body-celebrate’.

No matter if she’s sharing her story on Instagram, on television or the stage, what she delivers is the same: goodness is yours at any age if you stop judging yourself by what you have entered your life with, begin taking small steps to get to where you want to go, and never give up. Now 53 years old, Underwood’s youthful spirit is firmly in place, her positive vibe noticeable the second she steps onto the street. It’s instantly clear that she won’t settle for less than what she wants, whether it’s making it to the gym, finding a parking spot – or achieving anything else for that matter. The following conversation with the ever-energetic Sheryl Underwood has been edited. KE: I love educating women about their bodies. You’re really dedicated. Underwood: I’m passionate about it. When I learned what my body can do if I take care of it, I thought: ‘Ooh, I want to share all this. I want people to know this is what you can do, too – and it’s not just for me alone, it’s for the really thick ones, and the really thin ones, and the ones who thinks eating pizza makes you fat. I wanna say; don’t think you’re fat just because you ate pizza. You can be a walking human who looks normal and maybe even nicer, having more energy, because of taking care of your body.’ I’m still ‘student’ because I wanna be – I still wanna learn about food and how it affects me and other people. KE: Any latest discoveries you want to share with people? Underwood: I try to stay away from pork and things that produce LDL, and try to do something for my body in any way every single day because I wanna be around. KE: Who is the happiest to see these drastic changes in lifestyle in you? Underwood: My mother. Maybe my grandmother.

As she garners attention for her weight loss journey – an example of how we can achieve our goals with perseverance and self-love – Sheryl’s story continues to empower women to prioritise their health, to love themselves, and to do so with style, humour and authenticity. Where will she be a year from now? Wherever she goes, she’ll carry her message, her renewed spirit, and her army of admirers along for the ride.