Shaq Drops 55 Pounds In Lifestyle Change Sparked By Being Unable To Walk Up Stairs

Shaquille O'Neal gained fame as an NBA big man. But lately, he's gotten a little too big. And that's why the former Los Angeles Lakers star decided to take action — dropping 55 pounds in his recent weight-loss journey.

"I was getting chubby and couldn't even walk up the stairs," Shaq told Entertainment Tonight. "I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror."

So Shaq's wakeup call came when he struggled to walk up the stairs. An unlike Joe Biden, that's when he knew it was time to make a change.

(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

After struggling with his weight in the past, the four-time NBA champ said he often set "crazy goals" for himself. Then, he got discouraged and didn't follow through.

"I was like, 'I’m gonna lose 20' and then I was trying to lose 20," he said.

So this time, he decided to chip away with smaller, more manageable benchmarks. And so far, the plan has been successful.

The 7-foot-1 Inside the NBA host now weighs in at 351 pounds. (Or a svelte 310 if we're using the Donald Trump measuring system).

Shaq Shares His Weight-Loss Secrets

And honestly, they aren't so secret.

Because unlike most of Hollywood these days, it wasn't Ozempic that helped Shaq lose the weight. Instead, he did it the old fashioned way — with a lifestyle and diet change. Plus the encouragement of a way-too-honest buddy.

"A friend of mine called me and said, 'You're fat,' and she gave me this guy's name, and he did some blood work," Shaq said in December. "He was saying, 'You can do this, you can't do that, more vegetables, iron's low.'"

I don't recommend calling up your friends just to tell them they're chunky, but in Shaq's case, it turned out to be a blessing.

The 51-year-old said he wasn't much of "a salad eater" before but now takes supplements, drinks shakes and avoids soda. Coincidentally, giving up soda is also how Post Malone recently shed 55 pounds.

"Once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped," Shaq said. "It's all about eating right."

Even with all that progress, though, O'Neal said his physique is still a work in progress. He'd like to get down somewhere "between 315 and 330."

He also claims to have "a little 4.9 pack." But the goal is to get an eight pack.

"I think I could get the Marky Wahlberg look," Shaq said. "I want to be known as the Black Mark Wahlberg."

That's ambitious, Shaq. So now that you're back to walking up the stairs, maybe start running them instead.