No one loses weight overnight.
Regardless of what any of those misleading fad diet influencers and bogus supplement
ads might lead you to believe, there's no 'easy button' way to lose a ton of poundage
without hard work, dedication, and adopting healthy habits.
But for those that make the appropriate life changes, adopt a sensible diet and commit
to a daily exercise regimen, success is not only possible but almost guaranteed.
The main problem that many people run into when trying to lose weight is 'falling off
the wagon' so to speak.
They might go into things inspired and committed to getting in shape.
They might even see some early results and get really excited, but when the drastic changes
they are anticipating don't come as soon as they might have expected, they often get discouraged
and quickly revert to old habits.
One star, however, that was able to stick to his guns and keep his weight loss goal
commitments is King Of Queens actor Kevin James.
Keep watching to learn all about James' inspiring transition from being out of shape and overweight
to being a lean, mean fighting machine, who managed to lose a staggering 80 pounds in
a matter of months.
From Football Player To Hit Sitcom Lead
Kevin James has had a rather remarkable career.
In college, he played football before discovering his love for standup and transitioning to
pursuing a career as a comic.
Eventually his led to him landing a role in a popular American sitcom that changed his
life forever.
But In order to get to that point, James experienced numerous life events that shaped his worldview,
shifted his perspective, and had him questioning just about everything.
As we touched on in the intro, success just doesn't come overnight, and rarely are stars
made by accident.
Let's take a look back at Kevin James' life before scoring the role of Doug Heffernan
on CBS' The King Of Queens.
James was born Kevin George Knipfind on the 26th of April, 1965, in Mineola, New York,
and grew up in Stony Brook, New York.
His mother was an office worker, while his father owned an insurance agency.
James' older brother was comedian and actor Gary Valentine.
He also has a sister named Leslie.
In High School, James wrestled in the 145 lb weight class.
One of his team members, Mick Foley, would eventually find a career wrestling professional.
Unfortunately, an injury James sustained resulted in his dreams of going pro being slashed
Once in college, James majored in sports communication while playing Halfback on the State University
of New York at Cortland's varsity team, but once again a season-ending back injury permanently
ended his sports career.
As a child, Kevin was known for being the class clown, and as he grew up, he never lost
his knack for making people laugh.
Once his sport's aspirations had fizzled, he fell back on his love for comedy and spent
the next ten years performing in the Long Island comedy club circuit.
James was given his first big break when he made his solo standup debut in 1989 at the
famous East Side Comedy Club on Long Island.
From that moment onward, James knew that there was nothing else in life he wanted more than
to become a career comedian, but that didn't mean that his road to success would be an
easy one.
James' first night out on stage was magical.
The audience seemed to vibe with his comedic stylings naturally and everything went smoothly.
The energy was intoxicating, and James clearly seemed to be in his element.
The second night out, however, James went out with the same material expecting similar
results, but instead of having the audience hanging on his every word and erupting into
laughter with every punchline, he totally bombed.
At that moment, he considered cutting his losses and quitting comedy for good, but fortunately,
he didn't.
Not letting one failure get him down, James worked up the courage to get back on stage
and give the audience everything he had.
After getting back into the groove of things, James career was once again back on the rise.
He first appeared on television in 1991 in The New Candid Camera, showing off his comedic
time and improv skills by playing practical jokes on unsuspecting people.
He soon found himself a frequent guest on late-night talk shows like The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson and The Late Show With David Letterman.
He later moved to LA, where he befriended Ray Romano.
This friendship led to him guest starring on Ray's hit CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
Romano loved James and thought he showed a lot of potential for television.
So, he got work writing a script for a series in which James would be the series lead.
In 1998, the network decided to go ahead and give James his very own sitcom, The King Of
Queens.
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James Felt Like The Weakest Link
Compared to James' co-stars Leah Remini and Jerry Stiller, who he saw as having a tremendous
amount of talent and experience in the industry, Kevin felt like the odd man out.
While he had proven himself to be a gifted standup comic, he was far from being a seasoned
actor.
Especially during the production of the sitcom's first season, James felt out of place.
Filming a TV show is very different than going out on stage and delivering a standup routine.
With comedy, he was in total control of things, but on a studio set with all of the cameras,
bright lights, and other cast members to contend with, he felt a bit like a fish out of water.
Understandably, James struggled at first to get his bearings.
It was like he was having to learn how to be a comic all over again.
Suddenly everything he thought he knew had changed.
He couldn't simply rest on his laurels if he wanted this sitcom business to work.
At first, he didn't even know what simple things like upstage and downstage meant.
He'd often make rookie mistakes like blocking the camera with his head or forgetting where
he was supposed to be on set.
None of it felt natural in the beginning, but eventually, he adapted to things and found
that he was no longer the helpless noobie that he initially thought himself to be.
The King Of Queens went on to air for nine seasons before finally coming to an end in
2007.
While the critics weren't always blown away by the series, The King Of Queens was a massive
hit with audiences and spent many years being one of the most-watched series on television.
After the sitcom ended, James went on to have a successful film career.
He appeared alongside Will Smith in the 2005 comedy Hitch before sharing the screen with
Adam Sandler in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
He followed that up with appearances in Zookeeper and the hit 2009 film Paul Bart: Mall Cop.
Looking back on things, it's remarkable how far Kevin James had come since his early days
on television.
He went from feeling like he didn't belong on the set of The Kings Of Queens during its
inaugural season to being one of the most well-known and highest-paid comedy film stars
of the mid to late 2000s.
James' Inspirational Weight Loss Story
James had always been known for being a rather husky guy.
At his biggest, the star weighed 290 pounds.
But things started to change for him after he was cast in the 2012 film Here Comes the
Bloom.
In that flick, James was to play a high school science teacher who becomes an MMA fighter
in order to rescue his school's dwindling arts budget.
After being cast as the film's lead, James knew that if he wanted to be able to go toe-to-toe
in the ring, he would have to lose 80 pounds and develop some serious muscle mass.
To prepare for the role, James solicited the help of MMA trainer Ryan Parsons.
When asking the seasoned mixed martial arts master for help, James asked him to treat
him just as he would if he was actually going to be a real fighter.
Parson's first bit of advice for James was to go into his training knowing why he was
doing what he was doing while having a clear goal in mind.
James dived headlong into his training, giving it everything he had.
It wasn't easy, and his trainers gave him hell, but he never once became discouraged
or considered giving up.
Despite having a busy schedule, he remained determined to lose weight and get ripped.
Even though he was constantly traveling for work, nothing stopped him.
His multi-hour workouts consisted of him running up and down flights of hotel stairs or through
whatever town he was in at the time.
And whenever he was in the gym, the intensity of his workouts would be dialed up significantly.
James would do countless sets of situps and pushups every day with a medicine ball in
addition to daily hour-long boxing workouts.
While maintaining a low-carb diet, James worked on his boxing, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and
wrestling skills.
Judging by how ripped James looked in Here Comes The Bloom, it's safe to say that all
of his hard work and sacrifice paid off.
James ended up losing a staggering 80 pounds for the role and developed substantial muscle
tone.
It's been a decade since Here Comes the Bloom hit theaters, and James has since put back
on some weight, but even though he might not be in the same great shape that he once was,
his weight loss journey is still very inspirational.
Did you know that King of Queens star Kevin James once lost 80 pounds for a film role
and that he initially had doubts that he would ever be a successful actor?
Let us know in the comments.
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