The View's Sherri Shepherd Talks Losing Weight After Son Worried She Might Die

Sherri Shepherd Wendy screenshot

Sherri Shepherd recently shed some weight, and she did it for a very personal reason. The one-time television personality on The View decided to get healthier after her 13-year-old son was worried that she wouldn't be alive for much longer. She is making a valiant effort to stay in his life as long as possible. As she admits, it's easy to die for someone you love, but it takes just as much to live for someone you love. And Sherri wants to live for a long time. She said:

My son said to me when I was eating a candy bar -- my son is 13 and he's got special needs -- he said, 'Mommy, if you die, who's going to be my bodyguard?' And I said, 'What?' And he said, 'Who's going to be my bodyguard? Who's gonna take care of me if you die?' And that's when I went cold turkey and stopped sugar because boys need their mama!

The emotional address came when the actress was doing press in the midst of shooting her new Netflix series, Mr. Iglesias, from comedian Gabriel Iglesias. She lost 30 pounds before shooting began, and she clearly had a personal reason for doing so. As she admits in the interview with Entertainment Tonight, Sherri wants to keep living so she can continue to provide for her son, who is dependent upon her.

Since that heartbreaking moment, Sherri Shepherd has been avoiding sugar and keeping her health in check. And she's hoping to keep the weight off. She believes she is 280 days off sugar, and she has no intention of returning to sugar consumption soon. Shepherd's son matters way, way, way more to her than sugar does.

Though Sherri Shepherd admits that it's "a perk" to put on little shoes and skirts and flaunt her new figure, it's ultimately her son's happiness that matters most to the comedienne and former daytime talk show personality. That's the reason Sherri keeps ticking days off on her calendar without sugar consumption. She gets to spend more time with her son and that matters more to Shepherd than anything she could hope to eat.

Meanwhile, when it came to inspiring other women who wish to lose some weight and gain the same confidence Sherri Shepherd gained, she said:

I say you need to make a commitment to actually loving yourself. Lots of time, as women, we don't take the time to just love on ourselves. And be gentle with ourselves. And I think when I started saying 'Sherri, just love on you, and make a commitment to you,' that's when things started to happen. So, the perk is being able to wear cute clothes -- or cuter clothes. But the benefit, I think, is that I have so much energy. I get to do stand-up every night and this [show] and I have focus and clarity and I feel good inside. So, I would say, take time for you and just love yourself. And you got people depending on you. Like, literally!

We're glad Sherri Shepherd is feeling good and feeling healthy. Especially since she's doing it not only for herself but for the people she loves as well.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.