Kelly Clarkson has been open about her weight loss. And she's recently detailed the lifestyle changes she's made for her long-term health.
During a Jan. 29 episode of her talk show, she revealed she was prediabetic.
When actor Kevin James appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she shared the news of her diagnosis with him. "I wasn’t shocked," Clarkson told him. "I was a tiny bit overweight ... But they were like, ‘You’re prediabetic. You’re right on the borderline.’ And I was like, ‘But I’m not there yet.'"
Two years after finding out, she decided to do something about it and change her lifestyle habits.
Having prediabetes means your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but still lower than the range for Type 2 diabetes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Exercise and a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of it progressing.
Clarkson credits her move to New York City for helping her get active. In an exclusive interview with People, she revealed that she's lost weight because she's now taking her wellness seriously and walking more.
She's never shared whether she has a gym routine but said “Walking in the city is quite the workout."
Clarkson chose to relocate her talk show to New York from Los Angeles in 2023. “I was very unhappy in L.A. and had been for several years. I needed a fresh start,” Clarkson told People. California, she said, wasn't good for her mental health.
Now that she's in New York, she's adopted a few other wellness trends too. "I’m really into infrared saunas right now. And I just got a cold plunge because everybody wore me down," the "Piece By Piece" singer added.
As for her diet, Clarkson isn't doing anything extreme.
“I eat a healthy mix,” she told People. “I dropped weight because I’ve been listening to my doctor — a couple (of) years I didn’t. And 90% of the time I’m really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I’m a Texas girl, so I like meat — sorry, vegetarians in the world!"
“But I still splurge. The other night I had a frozen yogurt with my daughter, and it was magical," added the Grammy winner, who shares daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington, 7, with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.
Clarkson has spoken before about her previous experience losing weight to address thyroid and autoimmune issues.
The singer and talk show host changed her diet to treat the issues and ended up losing about 37 pounds, she told TODAY’s Hoda Kotb in 2018.
“I know the industry loves the weight gone, but for me, it wasn’t really the weight,” Clarkson said at the time.
Back then, to lose the weight, Clarkson focused on a lectin-free diet, she told Extra. Lectins are the proteins that bind carbohydrates. They're pretty misunderstood, but some believe they're linked to obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and autoimmune diseases, TODAY.com previously reported.
Clarkson read a book about lectins and cut them out of her diet which meant no legumes, beans, whole grains, dairy and certain veggies. "I literally read this book, and I did it for this autoimmune disease that I had and I had a thyroid issue, and now all my levels are back up," she said during the interview. "Literally, I haven’t worked out at all," she revealed.
Throughout her years in Hollywood, the "American Idol" star has had to deal with a lot of commentary about her size. She told Glamour UK in 2020 that being thin doesn't always give her more confidence, adding that she got her coaching role on "The Voice" after gaining some weight.
“I got on the No. 1 television show at my heaviest point, because it was right after I had kids, and it was like they didn’t care,” Clarkson said.
“Paul (Telegdy, chairman of NBC Entertainment) hired me from NBC because he loved my personality, he loved that I connect with people and I’m really raw and real. It had nothing to do with my sex appeal or my look aesthetically. It had to do with me as a person. I think it’s really up to artists to force people to have that mentality.”
Clarkson and TODAY's Jenna Bush Hager bonded over weight struggles when Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara Pierce Bush, appeared on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" this past November.
During the conversation, Clarkson showed a photo of Jenna and Barbara dressed identically as kids.
“Those drop waist things were popular,” Jenna said of the dresses she and her sister were wearing in the pic. Clarkson interjected, “Which is not good for girls with curves later on.”
After Jenna remarked that she and Barbara “were chubby” as children, Barbara agreed: “Well, there was a stage."
Clarkson then gave Jenna a high-five, joking, “I’ve had many stages.”