Sam Smith is the British pop singer who’s no stranger to winning big, winning several Grammys throughout his life. But he’s also becoming known for losing good. Losing his weight that is. In 2015, Sam Smith’s weight loss story was creating headlines for the singer’s incredible 50 pound weight loss! To read more just “stay with me” for tips on Sam Smith’s weight loss history, diet and surgery. 

Sam Smith’s Weight Loss Journey

Sam Smith Weight Loss History

2005

Smith was bullied for gynecomastia as a child, and had liposuction at age 12 in 2005. In a 2019 interview with The Good Place star Jameela Jamil’s, Sam Smith described his weight loss surgery at the tender age of 12. 

2015

In 2015, ABC news featured Sam Smith’s weight loss guru who explained his transformation. It was reported that in 2015, the 4 time Grammy winner had shed 14 pounds in 14 days, which means that he lost a pound a day.  This was when he shared a post on Instagram saying his relationship with food has completely transformed, all thanks to one book: 

In 2015, he also opened up about his struggles with overcoming emotional eating. “From a young age, food has controlled me, basically,” he told 60 Minutes Australia. “When I was at school and wasn’t having a great time or when music wasn’t going very well, I would eat. When I felt lonely, I would eat.” 

“My relationship with food has just completely changed,” he said after losing weight in 2015.  “During the process of this album [In the Lonely Hour], I just was getting bigger and bigger and bigger.” 

Smith recalled in London for the GQ Men of the Year Awards, about being teased as a child for both his weight and his sexuality. But, he said, “When someone calls you gay, there’s not much you can do about that because I am. Whereas, if someone calls you fat, there is something you can do about that.”

2016

However, in 2016, Sam’s hard work would be tested, which is so relatable. 

“After the Oscars, I started going out too much, not respecting myself, drinking loads and smoking, “I wasn’t looking after myself; I was going into a bit of a spiral. I’d lost contact with friends and family. It wasn’t good.”

However, a desire to get back in shape helped Sam come up with a plan to start to go to the gym again. 

2017

In 2017, Sam Smith told Extra that cutting gluten, dairy and refined sugar out of his diet completely, alongside weight training, were key for his weight loss. He started doing yoga and indulged in herb infused ice cubes to snack on. Smith revealed in a CBS interview that: 

“I love food so it’s a constant battle. It’s always going to be a battle but I’m trying my best. “I’ve just not eaten like a pig anymore – that’s what I’m doing, basically.”

2019

“In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down. 

Yesterday I decided to fight the fuck back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally. 

Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off but if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I have experienced as a kid you wouldn’t think those things. Thank you for helping me celebrate my body AS IT IS @ryanpfluger I have never felt safer than I did with you. I’ll always be at war with this bloody mirror but this shoot and this day was a step in the right fucking direction 👅🤘🏼🍑”

Sam Smith Weight Loss Diet

In 2015, Sam Smith had a weight loss transformation after losing 14 pounds in just 14 days. He credited it to one book: Eat Nourish Grow by Amelia Freer. 

“I met a woman who has completely changed my life,” Smith wrote on Instagram in March. “Amelia Freer has helped me lose over a stone in 2 weeks and has completely transformed my relationship with food. Everyone go check out her incredible book, and start to live healthy. It’s not even about weight loss, it’s about feeling happy in yourself. Love you Amelia & thank you for making me feel so happy inside and out @ameliafreer #eatnourishglow.”

Amelia says in an interview that she hates the word diet due to the fact that she doesn’t believe that any diet works for anyone. For her it’s all about getting healthy and re-connecting with food in such a way that you develop a healthy relationship with food, real food. 

Sam Smith Weight Loss Nutritionist: 

British nutritional therapist Amelia Freer is the nutritionist who helped singer Sam Smith’s dramatic weight loss in 2015. Her other celebrity clients include Victoria Beckham, James Corden,  Kirstie Allsopp’s, Michael Ball and Boy George. With over 13 years of experience, she is an expert on weight loss and building a healthy relationship with food. 

In an interview she stated that: 

“Nutritional therapy is being more conscious about eating good quality real( nothing from a can or box) real food, cooking from scratch and eating food that hasn’t been made in a factory” 

Here are 8 tips extracted from Nourish And Glow: The 10-Day Plan by Amelia Freer: 

“Thanks to the clean-eating movement we’re bombarded with messages about what we supposedly must eat and what we must avoid. In some ways, the movement’s been a step in the right direction, with good nutrition taking centre stage and easier access to ingredients. 

But — and this is a big but — it has also created anxiety, fear and confusion around food.

Food is not something to be feared. My eating plan is about the concept of ‘positive nutrition’ with a simple but effective pyramid tool. I want to focus on what you can eat, not what you can’t, and in doing so help you maintain healthy eating habits for life.”

The Food Pyramid

The ‘positive nutrition’ pyramid (mentioned in the image below), is a simple collection of images, each of which represents a single portion of food. The whole pyramid represents one day, and the aim is to tick off every type of food pictured.

Let’s say that you’ve had breakfast and lunch, then you can see exactly which food to tick off, and which remaining foods still need to be included for your evening meal. You can then prepare a meal that incorporates the remaining food. 

Some foods fall into more than one category — for example, a handful of almonds can be either ‘nuts and seeds’ or ‘protein’ or ‘healthy fats’. Half a tin of chickpeas could be both ‘starchy carbohydrates’ or ‘protein’.

You can choose whichever food type you most need, and work out the rest of your day accordingly. Keep in mind that the pyramid neither specifies nor restricts what you choose to eat on top of the portions recommended. The food pictured is only a representation of a suggested minimum. 

Some people struggle to include all the vegetables pictured and work up to this level slowly, starting with just one extra portion a day. But that doesn’t mean that you can eat at random. This food pyramid will only start benefiting you if you place it as your first priority and add your base.  Then you can add in foods or drinks that you really like which are nice, but not necessary.

All in all, there is no rule that you need to manage every food in the picture every day. The nutritionist said that she doesn’t believe in stuffing yourself with all the remaining portions or glugging five glasses of water just before bedtime. Avoid trying to ‘catch up’ the next day; each morning you get a clean slate and a new day to start afresh.

Water 

Water should make up the majority of your fluid intake. If you don’t like plain water, try adding slices of cucumber or lemon. Also try herbal teas and organic milk. Drink tea and coffee in moderation: no more than one to two cups of coffee or three to four cups of tea a day.

Keep in mind to: Avoid sugar and artificially sweetened drinks. Giving yourself a clean break allows your taste buds to change: you may well find those drinks taste rather different after a couple of weeks without them.

Eating Green

Six portions of veg of all varieties should form the foundation of your meals, as they’re filling and rich in vitamins, fibre, minerals and beneficial nutrients. Try . . .

• 1 to 2 handfuls raw leafy greens (salad leaves, spinach, watercress, rocket, baby gem leaves).
• 2 to 3 tbsp chopped, fresh herbs
• 3 heaped tbsp raw or cooked veg
• 1 carrot or stick of celery
• 1 medium courgette, leek or onion
• 2 medium tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes
• half an aubergine or large pepper
• a quarter to a half of a small head of cabbage

Keep in mind: Don’t get too hung up on exact portion sizes — ‘guesstimates’ are fine. You could make up one portion with half an onion and half a carrot, for example.

You’ll get the hang of it quickly by using your clenched fist as a rough guide. Green, leafy veg can be a good non-dairy source of calcium for vegans or those avoiding dairy and just as with fruit, try to eat a rainbow of colours of seasonal vegetables.

Three Fruit Rule 

If you’re not eating anywhere near three portions of fruit and six veg at the moment, I suggest you increase your intake by just one extra portion per day, working your way up. Try:

• 1 handful large fruit chunks (mango, pineapple, melon)
• 1 medium-size fruit (orange, pear, banana, apple, peach, nectarine)
• 2 pieces small fruit (plums, apricot)
• 2 large handfuls berries
• 1 handful grapes — aim for black or red varieties for an antioxidant boost
• 2 heaped tbsp fruit compote/puree

Keep in mind: Don’t rely on dried fruit. They’re higher in sugar and not as filling as whole fruits. The same goes for smoothies. It’s fine to whizz up one portion of fruit (ideally alongside some veg and a source of protein) into a smoothie occasionally, but it’s better to eat your fruit whole.

And fruit juices don’t count as a portion of fruit — the fibre has been removed and they can be unhealthily high in sugar. Try to eat skins where possible because they provide fibre as well as antioxidants.

Meet Your Meat

Include more than meat or fish in your protein three a day. Try:

• 2 medium eggs (ideally organic or free-range)
• 4 tbsp (about half a tin) cooked pulses (chickpeas, lentils, beans)
• 150g organic, plain, fat-free yoghurt or 120g tofu

Keep in mind: Avoid processed or smoked meats, such as ham, cured meats, bacon and sausages. Instead, eat fish two to three times a week. Ideally, one of those portions should be an oily fish, for its beneficial omega-3 fats. I also get at least one of my daily portions of protein from plants, such as almonds at breakfast or hummus at lunch.

The Right Carbs To Eat 

We get plenty of carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables, as well as from plant-based proteins such as beans and peas, so the two portions of complex carbohydrates are optional. Try:

• 4 to 5 tbsp whole rolled oats
• 1 to 2 slices bread (rye, wholegrain, buckwheat or sourdough)
• 3 to 4 sugar-free oatcakes
• 4 tbsp (about half a tin) cooked pulses (beans, lentils, legumes)
• 2 to 3 small potatoes
• 2 to 3 tbsp mashed potatoes, pumpkin or squash
• 1 small sweet or baked potato
• 3-4 heaped tbsp cooked, unprocessed grains/seeds (brown/wild rice, quinoa, barley or millet).

Remember: Opt for the lowest sugar, highest fibre and least processed carbohydrates you can find. The more it looks like it did when it was growing, the better.

Healthy Fats

Dietary fat is essential to the normal and healthy functioning of our bodies. It is, however, the most energy dense of all the food groups, so if you’re watching your weight, you may want to stick to a couple of reasonably sized portions each day to make sure you give your body the nutrients it needs, without going overboard and tipping the scales. Try:

• a quarter medium avocado
• 1 tbsp cooking or dressing oil (olive, avocado or coconut oil)
• 1 tbsp nut butter or tahini
• 2 tbsp coconut yoghurt
• 30g (matchbox size) cheese

Keep in mind: There’s a difference between fats in terms of their potential health benefits, so I use a ‘traffic light’ system:

Red means avoid: Processed trans fats and hydrogenated fats (found in processed foods, margarine, pastry, cakes and biscuits), commercial salad dressings and oils heated repeatedly to high temperatures, as this can create trans fats.

Amber means eat mindfully: Animal fats such as those found in meat and dairy products.

Green means eat happily: Oily fish or fish-oil supplements, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil.

Going Nuts 

Aim for a handful of unsalted nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans) or seeds (chia, pumpkin, poppy, sesame) a day. They’re nutrient-dense, with a mixture of unsaturated fat. After Smith raved about the barbecued shrimp and roasted peppers on Instagram last time he was in town, the restaurant put it on the menu as “Sam Smith’s World Famous Shrimp,” which he was presented with during Tuesday’s visit.s, plant protein, minerals, fibre and phytonutrients.

Keep in mind to: Buy nuts and seeds raw, whole and unprocessed.

Eat a variety to ensure you’re topping up on different nutrients without going overboard on any in particular. Brazil nuts, for example, are a great source of essential mineral selenium; but you can eat too many; aim for 3–4 a week.

Sam Smith Weight Loss Surgery

In an interview with The Good Place star Jameela Jamil’s new Instagram TV series: I Weigh Interviews, Sam Smith described his weight loss surgery at the tender age of 12. They began by discussing their histories with body image. 

“When I was a kid, I was chubby,” as a preteen I was holding a lot of weight in my chest” and developed “breasts” because of excess estrogen. “I had liposuction, I was 12 years old,”. “At the time I think I was very happy about it. It didn’t really change anything. I think I put the weight back on in two weeks because I haven’t figured out my relationship with food, so it didn’t really change anything. But being 12 years old and having liposuction on your chest is quite a big deal.”

In May 2015, the British pop star Sam Smith announced he was preparing to have surgery on his vocal cords and not for weight loss. It was an operation that will force him to stay completely silent for three weeks and leave him unable to sing for six to eight weeks. The surgery was reported after Smith was forced to cancel his Australian tour due to vocal cord hemorrhaging. 

Then in July 2017, the singer received a good bill of health after undergoing microsurgery on his throat back in May.  Smith celebrated his healthy recovery by spending the day sightseeing in Boston and on Cape Ann with his father, Fred. But his weight loss goals were always on his mind after he visited a local restaurant in Boston asking for food without any carbs. At My Place by the Sea in scenic Rockport, Massachusetts Sam ate pan-roasted cod and a special signature lobster taco presented by chef/co-owner Kathy Milbury. 

Kathy Milbury says the last time Smith was in, he asked for a diet-friendly meal that was so popular, they put it on the menu. She said: “The last time he was here five weeks ago he wanted something without any carbs. He’s not eating any carbs, he wanted something with shrimp.”

Sam Smith Total Weight Loss Exercise

Sam Smith, after his weight loss seems to have changed his lifestyle. He regularly shares photos through Instagram of the healthy meals he eats and photos of himself at the gym. He works out three times a week with a personal trainer, doing both cardio and weight training.