After Raven-Symoné appeared in an Instagram video at the beginning of this month looking quite lean, the 35-year-old actress revealed that she dropped 28 pounds recently. At the time, the most she had to share about the method used to make that happen was that she was a fan of fasts.
“Right now I’m doing a fast,” she said. “I’m doing a 48-hour fast so we’re on that journey now.”
She’s since gone on to explain just how involved her fasting habits are and the additional ways she has changed how she eats and her activity during a new interview with Good Morning America. She keeps her workouts to a minimum and focuses on what she eats — or what she doesn’t eat actually.
"I'm not over here trying to be a little twig," she explained. "I am low-carb as much as I can be. I do very minimal exercise and I'm an avid faster. I make sure that I have a minimum of a 14-hour fast between dinner and the next breakfast."
At the time of her interview she shared that she was 36 hours into a fast, no food, just liquids. That might sound extreme, but it's a formula, perhaps inspired by intermittent ketosis fasts and extended ones, that she said she studied before trying. She's losing weight with the goal of having overall better body health, as opposed to just wanting to be a certain size. Achieving a certain look motivated her to lose weight in the past, but they were losses she couldn't maintain or even be happy about, like when she dropped 70 pounds in 2011.
"The way people were treating me while I was bigger was emotionally damaging," she said. "So when I lost weight — and I remember the moment I went on the red carpet and in my head I was cussing everyone out. 'Now you wanna look at me because I'm skinny? Thanks!'"
With the right reasons in mind and some extraordinary discipline, she does some serious extended fasts, too. She's currently wrapping up a brutal six-day fast.
"I drink a lot of water and I drink a lot of electrolytes and I'll have some bone broth now and then depending on if it gets difficult," she told GMA. "But I have a goal in mind so that's what keeps me sustained. I want to make sure my body is healthy and prepared to deal with old age."
She's keeping fans informed about her efforts, both on Instagram and on her YouTube channel, 8 PM with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday. Now, her wife is not touching those fasts, but she is supporting Raven by going on walks with her and helping her stay motivated. As Raven shared though as she approached the sixth and final day of her current fast today, "this is a test of brain over tummy, addiction over living free, I will reach my goal! #poundsdown"