Shanna Moakler Reveals How She’s ‘Taking My Life Back’ After 40 Pound Weight Gain

Former supermodel Shanna Moakler has opened up about what led to her 40 pound weight gain — and why she finally feels comfortable in her own skin again!

Shanna Moakler has opened up about her weight loss journey after a doctor allegedly prescribed a hormone treatment that led to a 40 pound weight gain. The 1995 Miss USA first runner-up spoke to HollywoodLife exclusively about how she’s taking her “life back” and feels better than ever.  “I had a nutritionist who went under disguise as a doctor and she basically lied to me and told me I had the hormones of a 50-year-old woman when I was, I don’t know, 42, and she’s looking at my testosterone. She put me on testosterone pellots which they put in your hip and it releases a constant testosterone and that made me gain 40 pounds,” she explained, adding that she later discovered her hormone levels were in fact “completely normal and really healthy”.

The 45-year-old said she was also in an unhealthy relationship at the time, which played a part in her weight gain. “My needs and my wants weren’t being met so I went to food to make myself happy,” she told HL. “I was emotionally eating because that’s what I took pleasure in. I would wake up and be like, ‘What am I going to eat today? What restaurant am I going to go to? What fast food place am I going to eat at?’.” In June 2019, Shanna and her boyfriend of five years called it quits, leaving the former pageant queen feeling “alone and really unhappy” with herself. “I felt fat, I felt unhealthy, I knew mentally and emotionally I was taking good care of myself and so in that moment in time I was like, ‘That’s it. I’m taking my life back.'”

The mother of three, who was previously married to Travis Barker said she now eats about 1800 calories per day and has dropped four dress sizes. However she admitted that at the time, she would cry over how “disappointed and embarrassed” she felt. “I looked at my boyfriend and my daughter at the time and I was like, ‘Why didn’t you guys tell me that I had gotten so big?’,” she said. Flash forward one year, and Shanna has totally overhauled her lifestyle. “I cook for myself so I know what’s going in there. I don’t eat any sugar or any processed foods or fast food or takeout. For lunch, I love salads, so I’ll do a kale caesar salad with chicken breast, or a nice chopped salad with salmon, and then for dinner I’ll usually cook a steak or a fish, bacon, and some steamed broccoli, asparagus, seems like that,” she said.

“I still eat carbs but I try to keep it on the healthier side with sweet potatoes or avocados. I like to keep it clean — no cheesecake or Taco Bell.” Shanna has even revealed that it’s “not hard at all” to keeping her eating habits on track while in quarantine. “It wasn’t like I did a fad or a quickie diet. I really made major lifestyle changes. It’s just a part of my life now. It’s how I eat and it’s how I cook. It’s just something that I do mentally, physically, spiritually take care of myself.” We’re so glad to hear that Shanna is happy, healthy, and totally comfortable in her own skin again!