She is a gay icon who is loved for her daring critiques of judges on Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
And on Tuesday, Michelle Visage, 54, revealed that she has lost 45 pounds in a year thanks to following a strict Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet and weight lifting, following the “worst experience of her life” perimenopause.
talking about her BBC Sounds Rule Breakers PodcastMichelle announced that she had lost more than three kilos in weight, before taking to Instagram to celebrate her ‘healthyversary’ and insisted: ‘I never wanted to be skinny, I wanted muscles!’
According to lineasalud.com: ‘The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet is an elimination diet designed to help reduce inflammation or other symptoms caused by autoimmune disorders.’
Healthiversary: On Tuesday, Michelle Visage, 54, revealed that she has lost 45 pounds in a year thanks to following a strict Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet and lifting weights.
Speaking on her podcast, Michelle admitted: ‘Menopause was a big awakening for me. I was struck by nothing new. I went in knowing nothing. It was the worst thing I experienced in my life.
‘It’s by far the worst I’ve ever experienced. I am not a weak person and I thought: “I’ll give up soon if I don’t get help.”
‘Last year, when they took the soles out of my breasts, I had to remove them. Perimenopause, mammary plant disease, all at the same time.
‘Weightlifting has changed my life over the past year – I’ve lost 45lbs – that’s three stones – which left your guest Carol Vorderman, 62, gasping at the figure.
Icons Only: Speaking on her BBC Sounds podcast Rule Breakers, with guest Carol Vorderman, Michelle announced that she has shifted more than three stones in weight
Before: Muscles! Carol then took to Instagram to celebrate her ‘healthy anniversary’, with old shots, insisting: ‘I never wanted to be skinny, I wanted muscles!’
Carol claimed, ‘But there’s nothing on you!’ to which the DragRace star replied: ‘I’ll show you pictures from before.’
Michelle continued: ‘I am very proud of my change. I did it with a commitment to lifting heavy weights – being a woman of a certain age will really put the doctors off, because resistance training is key.
‘People think it’s cardio and running, no! It’s getting into that gym. You don’t care what people think of you. I do it with YouTube and I also do it from home with weights’, before reminding people: ‘Everything is free online!’
Michelle then took to Instagram and posted a variety of photos to document her weight loss journey, showing the difference in her size and shape in just one year.
The star, who has Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed, also explained why she needed to make a change.
Her journey: The podcast host detailed how she lost 45 pounds of weight, correctly saying, “I’m so proud” and reminding her followers that she loved herself “bigger and smaller.”
1 year ‘healthiversary’ update. This is not to brag, show off or provoke. It’s just me sharing what many of you have been asking.
“For those who know what I’ve been going through being an advocate for my own health, hoping to live to a healthy centurion, and trying to reverse my Hashimoto’s, this is for you.
January 10, 2022 Out of the blue my panic attacks started coming back after years of keeping them at bay.
‘Because of my autoimmunity, my body bloats and I gain weight very easily when I eat poorly with high inflammation foods and to be honest, that’s what I love and crave, but my endocrine system doesn’t.
“The food I had been consuming was now failing and my system was attacking itself. I needed a change and that change for me was going to a very strict AIP regime.
Before: Michelle began by posting a photograph of her from behind taken a year ago.
Workout: “I started with 5 minutes of yoga watching @yoga_with_kassandra and her YouTube videos with a small towel in a quarantined hotel room,” explained Michelle
‘I had to make a change and start including some movement at the same time or my life was going to be difficult day after day.
“I started with 5 minutes of yoga watching @yoga_with_kassandra and her YouTube videos with a small towel in a quarantined hotel room.
“I was so out of shape and technically I’m not good at yoga, but that didn’t stop me. He was committed to healing.
“Then I hired a virtual trainer who prepared me in each and every situation. @soniajonesfitness knew I could do it and pushed me through every workout.
‘I never wanted to be skinny, I WANT MUSCLES! Weights are very important to change your body, especially for us women of a certain age. It’s a game changer!
Muscles: ‘I never wanted to be skinny, I WANT MUSCLES! Weights are very important to change your body, especially for us women of a certain age. It’s a game changer! wrote the star
‘DON’T BE AFRAID TO LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS! Accept it, it is what will bring about changes in your body composition!
‘Now I’m weight training 6 days a week and on the days I don’t have Sonia I train with @carolinegirvan on YouTube so I get EVERYTHING!
I’m very proud of my journey and for the record, I love myself bigger and smaller, but this has always been about health and blood labs. Explanting was the best decision leading up to this and my journey is just beginning!
I hope this inspires you in some way to show you that it is never too late to get your health back. It won’t be fast, but it will be worth the trip. HERE GOES HEALTH!
‘The photos are from where it started to where I am today.
Fabulous: Michelle chatted with Carol about the changes she made in her life after becoming perimenopausal and suffering from plant disease ‘all at the same time’