Anthony Anderson has come a long way from starring in his very own sitcom, "Blackish" with Laurence Fishburne and Tracee Ellis Ross. He actually said he started out in Hollywood as a self-proclaimed "fat, funny guy," appearing alongside fellow comedic stars Jim Carrey and Martin Lawrence.
But offscreen, Anderson's weight was anything but a laughing matter: He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2002 at the age of 32.
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Now, at age 50, it took a few years, but eventually, Anderson realized he had to get serious, and so he committed to changing his eating habits and lifestyle. Around the same time, Anderson also made a conscious decision to shift the direction of his career, focusing on darker roles in movies, such as Hustle & Flow and Martin Scorsese's The Departed, and co-starring in television dramas like The Shield and K-Ville.
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The day he became serious came in 2008. "When I was cast in Law & Order, I decided to make a drastic change," says Anderson. "I got more serious about my health and appearance – not from a vanity standpoint. I just started making healthier choices."
He even decided to take his healthy eating to the next level.
"I moved to a plant-based diet, he says. "I'm vegan-ish – I'm not going to send anything back to the kitchen if some butter or cream found its way onto the plate."
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Inspired by his family history of the disease, Anderson recently became a spokesperson for FACE Diabetes, an initiative sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly that focuses on educating and empowering the African American community.
How It All Started:
"I was home in Los Angeles, close to eight years ago now. Out of the blue, I started feeling really lethargic and lazy, taking mid-afternoon naps, which is something I wouldn't just do. I chalked it up to overworking. I just thought I was running myself ragged. But the turning point was one evening I drank, literally, a 5-gallon jug of water in the course of a couple of hours, and there was constant urination. I knew what the symptoms of diabetes were since my father was a diabetic, and I was like 'Wow, I think I need to go to the doctor and get this checked out (okay, actually, my wife said that).' I went the next morning and found out that I had elevated glucose levels and the doctor said, 'You know you're a type 2 diabetic.'"
His first reaction:
"I didn't change dramatically at first. Being a 32-year-old man, stubborn and all that, I was really just stuck in my ways and I thought, 'I can beat this. I can handle this.' But after a while, it wasn't getting better. Now, I've really changed my lifestyle. I'm eating differently, and I'm also incorporating exercise. I have a treadmill that was just collecting dust in my house, and I started to run 3 miles a day on it. When I get bored with that, I go outside and run around the golf course."
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"I met with Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser, and I said, 'Bob, come on, give me a quick fix on how to lose some weight.' And he laughed and said, 'Anthony, you know there's no quick fix to that.' Then he said, 'But, I'll give you a tip: If you don't do anything else,...
... just cut your meal portions in half, and watch and see what happens. The weight will fall off of you.' I said, 'That's an easy fix,' and I just cut my meals in half and the weight did come off. This is the first time I've stuck with a regimen. As a result, since January 2009, I've lost close to 40 pounds and have kept it off...and plan on keeping it off."
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His lifestyle:
"Once I talked to the nutritionists and my doctor, and they said, 'Anthony, everything is fine in moderation; you can still eat certain things, you just can't eat as much,' then it was OK. Once I wrapped my mind around that, I told myself I can have short ribs every now and then, just not every weekend like I was doing over the summer, and not steak every two days like I was doing, but maybe once a month, and fried chicken once a month. I can still satisfy my cravings and urge for that. I just don't feed it like I used to."
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His treatment strategy:
"I test my blood sugar every day, an average of three times a day: once in the morning, at midday, and once in the evening before I go to bed. In terms of cutting carbs, it's hard to completely cut them out so I try to cut them down. If I'm going to have a sandwich, I have make it only on one piece of bread, not two. If I have a turkey burger or a grilled chicken sandwich, I take off the top or bottom piece of the bun. If I have pasta, I go whole wheat or multigrain; I don't do white pastas at all."
"My blood sugar control varies. It all depends on what I'm eating and what not. But for the most part it's pretty good. Sometimes in the morning my numbers are a bit elevated, but they typically decrease throughout the day and usually will be within normal parameters."
"I"m not on insulin, I just take pills. Eventually, I can get off the medication if I continue with this lifestyle, with daily exercise, different food and eating habits, and that's what I'm working towards."
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His outlook:
"I've been asked if, as a comedian with diabetes, I think it's possible to have a sense of humor about the condition."
"My answer? Of course. You find humor in it as you go along. I have a bunch of diabetic friends, and we call this one guy 'Nine' because he lost his big toe. When [I explain why we call him that] everybody's mouths drops, but it's not messed up - we have to laugh about it. If we don't laugh at these things, we cry, and so we choose to laugh. It's a coping mechanism, because what's the alternative? Nobody wants to walk around being miserable."
His future...
"The illness didn't affect my work. I've never really been stressed on the job at all, just because of my beliefs and how I move in this world. In terms of eating healthy, I just had a conversation with our craft service guy and caterer on Law & Order, and previous jobs before that: "This is what I need. I can't eat that. For breakfast I'm going to need mixed berries and an egg white omelet. "Throughout the day I need half a turkey sandwich on whole wheat or multigrain bread, and lunch is either baked or grilled fish or chicken." For my mini meals in between, snacks, my assistant always had stuff at the ready for me. It's all about being prepared."
