Rosie O'Donnell Weight Loss: Former Talk Show Host Struggles With Sugar Addiction
Rosie O'Donnell has lost weight, but keeping it off hasn't been easy.
Although O'Donnell recently revealed a 50-pound weight loss, she reportedly has admitted in a new interview that continuing to eat healthy has been an ongoing struggle.
"I read in a magazine article that sugar is eight times more addictive than heroin," she told PEOPLE Magazine on May 9. "Because of giving up sugar, I walk past one of those kiosks selling newspapers and I'm like, 'There's the Swedish Fish. They're right there.' Almost like how alcoholics can't go into a bar. They want to grab the bottle, I want to do that with the Swedish Fish."
In 2012, O'Donnell suffered a life-threatening heart attack, and ever since, she had been dedicated to getting her body to a healthy size, which will ultimately put less stress on her heart.
After the heart attack, O'Donnell opted for weight loss surgery and went from 230 pounds to 190 woulds. In the months after, she lost an additional 10 pounds.
For O'Donnell, her weight goal has more to do with getting herself "totally heart healthy," and less to do with the actual number. Through healthy eating and daily exercise, O'Donnell hopes to bring her blood pressure to a better place.
"I feel a lot better. I got very scared when I had a heart attack and they told me I really should not have survived it," O'Donnell recalled. "It changed a lot of things for me. The way I look at the world, and the way I look at my own health. I can't ignore it anymore."