Melissa Joan Hart is showing off her 20-pound weight loss, feeling “better than I have in a really long time.”
In an interview with People, Hart shared her worries about losing weight while in perimenopause, cutting out two key foods and drinks, and improving her relationship with drinking water.
Perimenopause Fitness Journey
Hart was worried that she wouldn’t be able to lose the weight she wanted due to “being in midlife and perimenopause.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, “periomenopause is the time before menopause when your body is getting ready to stop having periods. Women … may begin having irregular periods, skip ovulation, experience hot flashes, trouble sleeping and experience fluctuations in the production of estrogen.”
These fluctuations can even result in women gaining weight around their abdomen, but Melissa Joan Hart was able to do the opposite.
During the interview, she shared she’s been working out “really hard” as part of her “health journey, like a longevity journey.”
She added, “I just wanted to feel better. It had nothing to do with losing weight, I really didn’t think I could lose weight anymore, being in midlife and perimenopause and all those things, I was like, ‘Can I really lose weight? I don’t think I can.'”
Cutting out Sugar and Alcohol
However, Hart’s weight loss just needed her to cut two things out of her diet: sugar and alcohol. During her healthy journey to lose 20 pounds, she figured out some key diet changes.
“And in doing that and discovering fasting and cutting sugars and cutting alcohol — I haven’t had a drink in over a year. I just don’t even enjoy drinking. So why bother? So I cut these things out of my life, and I started to feel better. And in doing that, I lost a lot of weight and kind of feel great.”
Melissa Joan Hart & Water
The final topic during the People interview centered on drinking water.
Believe it or not, Hart is not a huge fan of water. However, it’s important to stay hydrated, and the actress has come up with creative new ways to stay hydrated.
Her husband, Mark Wilkerson, has even made comments about how Hart drinks water.
“My husband says when I drink a glass of water, I make a face like it’s the most disgusting thing on earth,” Hart said. “He’s like, ‘You just don’t like drinking anything, even water.’ I’m, like, sipping on it, like, ‘Eww.'”
Heart supplements her water intake with club soda and lime, and teas.
“I’ll do hot tea, cold tea, green tea, peppermint tea, any kind of tea.”