Shaquille O’Neal Reveals 55-Lb. Weight Loss: ‘I Couldn’t Even Walk Up the Stairs’
The NBA legend said his goal is to “have a 12-pack” as he continues to shed the pounds and focus on his health
The 7 foot, 1 inch tall NBA legend, 51, revealed that he’s lost a whopping 55 pound. in a new interview withEntertainment Tonight published Thursday.
O’Neal admitted that while he’s now down to weighing 351 pounds, he wants the numbers to keep dropping on the scales and is setting himself “crazy goals.”
“I’m probably gonna get between 315 and 330,” he told the outlet, adding that he wants to get to the point “where I have a 12-pack.”
“I’ve got a five-pack now so I’ve got seven more packs to go because I want to take my shirt off on Instagram,” he joked.
As for what led to his weight loss, he continued, “I was getting chubby and couldn’t even walk up the stairs. I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror. I was like, ‘I’m gonna lose 20’ and then I was trying to lose 20.”
O’Neal showed off his progress in a video shared to Instagram last month. In the dramatic video, the star ripped off his gray tank top and flexed his muscles. He then struck a series of bodybuilding-esque poses for the camera.
The retired sportsman tagged American bodybuilder Phil Heath in the post. Health is a seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, according to his Instagram, having first won the title in 2011.
“In my former life, I was @philheath we almost there @rocshabazz that @novexbiotech #gf9 baby,” he wrote in the post, which ended with a shot of O’Neal fully flexing his chest and arms in just a pair of gray shorts.
Back in March, O’Neal opened up to PEOPLE about his weight loss journey, as he hit the 40-pound weight loss mark.
He explained that his weight gain came from unhealthy eating habits, noting that growing up as an athlete, he would often eat fast and fried foods without gaining a single pound due to all the work he was doing on the court. It wasn’t until he got older that he understood the importance of educating himself on how to prioritize a healthy diet.
“I wish I would’ve paid more attention to it. I was such a mental warrior that none of this stuff mattered to me,” O’Neal said. “… I didn’t really take it seriously until I looked in the mirror six, seven years after I retired. I looked terrible. I had no definition and basically I was fat. I was really fat.”
Now, he’s nailed down his diet, telling PEOPLE that he’s seen progress. “I have more energy. I feel really good. I get to do stuff that I haven’t done. And it helps you discipline yourself much more,” he said. “I eat about four or five times a day, but four of those meals used to be junk meals.”
He’s also doing cardio at least three days a week, and continuing his weight training. He was evenback in the gymin March over a week after he underwenthip replacement surgery.
The startold PEOPLEafter his surgery, “I just had to take a couple weeks off because I had to get this hip surgery, but I’m going to jump back on. So hopefully this summer, you’ll see a couple billboards of me with my shirt off.”
“I think it’s a blessing in disguise because I can’t move around a lot, but my gym is at the house,” he continued. “So I know I don’t want to put on any pounds right now, so I gotta wake up every day, take my medicine and when I go to the gym and do my rehab, I’m going to get some weights and some cardio in.”
