Add Oscar-winning actress and comedian Mo'Nique to the list of Hollywood stars who've recently dropped a great deal of weight. The actress told a radio station this week that she once weighed close to 300 pounds, has lost 80, and is continuing to drop weight.
She told New York's Hot 97 FM on Monday that she has been tweeting her progress in hopes of inspiring others. "Because I want women to see — especially us big women — that you don’t have to let them cut you and suck it out," she said. "You don’t have to let them staple you up. You don’t have to let them give you a pill. You don’t have to let them put a band around your organs."
A tweet from Wednesday read, "Got in steps and 50 sit-ups. Did you give you, your best self today? Don't you deserve the BEST YOU. Love yall."
And other tweets shared her desire to lose the weight through diet and exercise and encouraged her fans to do the same.
The 5-foot-9-inch Mo'Nique said on the radio program that after "tipping 300" pounds, she now weighs 218 and has a goal of between 190 and 200 pounds.
She won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2009 for her role as an abusive mother in "Precious."