Star Jones Opens Up About Her Weight Loss

For years, Star Jones Reynolds refused to reveal how she lost half of her body size, but now a confident and secure Star is talking in detail about her gastric bypass surgery — to Access Hollywood’s Tim Vincent.

“The only reason I am talking to you today is to help other women understand they are not by themselves. They are not alone,” Star told Tim.

“Do you regret not having said something earlier?” Tim asked.

“I really wished, god, I could have. I really do. If there’s a regret that’s it,” Star said. “The regret is I wish I was stronger.”

Undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2003, it wasn’t until August of this year that Star Jones Reynolds finally went public on how she dramatically lost 160 pounds.

“I was ashamed that I couldn’t talk about it,” she told Tim. “I was ashamed that other people who looked up to me would feel as if I had abandoned them.”

Starting her weight loss journey at an unhealthy 307 pounds, Star revealed to Tim on the set of her Court TV talk show “Star Jones,” the day-to-day struggles she once endured while morbidly obese.

“I was going to die, I was killing myself. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t walk a flight of stairs,” Star said. “My asthma had debilitated me to the point where I couldn’t not walk a block without taking a puff from a asthma inhaler.

“I can remember sitting on an airplane and not wanting to ask for a seatbelt extender because I know that somebody sitting next to me might call the media and report that ‘she was so fat she needed a seatbelt extender,’” Star said.

While her surgery curved her weight, it left her depression untouched.

“I did not do the one prong of addiction that is absolutely necessary and that is to speak to a therapist and get some emotional help,” she said. “I think having weight loss surgery saved my life but having therapy saves my life everyday and if there is a message it is don’t be afraid to say you need help because we all do.”

With her new svelte size, surprisingly, Star still has trouble believing her own reflection in the mirror.

“I have fat days all the time,” she said. “I had someone ask me, ‘Are you still 300 pounds in your head?’ and I said ‘No, I am still 250 though.’”