Singer-songwriter Elle King has spoken candidly about grappling with her body image since childhood. But after giving birth to her son in 2021, King set out to enhance her personal wellness and live a healthier life.
While she didn’t disclose exactly how many pounds she dropped, Elle King’s weight loss is just one portion of a much broader health journey. Here’s everything she’s shared.
Elle King’s early health struggles
The singer made headlines in August for publicly calling out her dad, comedian Rob Schneider, who she said sent her to “fat camp” when she was young.
“I was, like, a really, really heavy child. My dad sent me to fat camp,” she revealed on an episode of Bunnie Xo’s “Dumb Blonde” podcast. “And then I got in trouble one year because I sprained my ankle and I didn’t lose any weight. Very toxic and very silly.”
In a 2023 Instagram post detailing her health progression, King revealed that she has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that can cause weight gain due to hormonal imbalances and insulin resistance.
She also shared that she was prediabetic (where blood sugar levels are higher than average but not in the diabetic range). “My diabetic grandfather died when I was 10 years old,” wrote King. “I watched him prick his finger and give himself shots.”
All about Elle King’s weight loss
While some have wondered if the “Ex’s & Oh’s” hitmaker used weight loss medication like Ozempic to slim down, King said in her social media post that she shed pounds gradually through healthy lifestyle changes. Here’s how she did it.
King’s weight loss was slow and steady
While she made it clear that she doesn’t judge people who utilize weight loss drugs to assist their efforts, King said she took a natural approach and “started slow.”
“Almost 2 years postpartum!” she wrote on her Instagram post. “I am making this post to share my journey from 284 lbs at 5’3 from pregnancy 2021—now 2023.
It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t even happen in a year for me. In fact, it’s an ongoing, still working towards, ever-hanging goals kinda thing.”
She stuck with a workout routine
King said in her caption that she consistently practiced anywhere from 15-30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. Additionally, she strengthened her core muscles extensively.
“I hate cardio more than anything in the world,” she admitted. “I do it just to warm my body up, but I love and genuinely enjoy hardcore ab workouts. I started with wrist and ankle weights just to up my workouts. If I can do it, so can you. Bad ass tunes def help!”
King also wrote that she incorporated “metabolic workouts” into her fitness routine. Metabolic conditioning is a type of high intensity interval training (HIIT) designed to essentially reset your metabolism for better fat burn, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
However, King noted that her personal exercise routine is not overly taxing, describing it as “light cardio to warm up my body, my lungs, my voice and my spirit.”
She continued that every few weeks, she feels her body getting stronger and incrementally adds more workouts to her regimen alongside her personal trainer. “Find music you like! Ride a bike! Go for a swim!,” she wrote.
She eased her depression
King also made it clear that she enhanced her health well beyond transitioning to a smaller size, particularly in regards to her emotional wellbeing.
“I fell into a very deep depression during my pregnancy,” she said. “I also didn’t even realize how intense postpartum depression is and was until I very slowly began to crawl out. I felt trapped in my body. I couldn’t even sing.”
While King said she thought she wanted to lose weight, she didn’t anticipate the other health benefits that come along with being more active and following a well-balanced diet. “My brain functions better on the days I move my body. Some days I count stretch marks.
Some days I hug myself and say thank you to my body. Today is a kind day. I’ve been tiny, I’ve been huge, but right now I’m healthy.”
King concluded: “I just hope to live a long, wonderful, healthy life where I can drink a lot, eat fish, laugh as much as I can and die happy.”
