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How did Monica Lose Weight?
The NBC sitcom Friends was a huge hit for the network, running for 10 seasons total from 1994 to 2004. Not only that, but for years since its season finale it’s been one of the top shows watched by multiple generations now that it can be seen on streaming platforms like HBO Max and Netflix.
It’s often fun to imagine characters in some of our favorite sitcoms as having the ability to come to life and be a part of our friendship crew. Many of us will even discuss who would be who when comparing ourselves and our friends to certain characters, the show Friends being no exception to this.
Some may see themselves as the flaky but fiercely loyal Phoebe. Others may identify strongly with nerdy but sweet Ross.
For many of us, Monica Geller was a fun character to imagine ourselves being. She had strong leadership skills, is an amazing cook and baker, and she loved keeping a tidy and neat apartment.
In addition to all those characteristics, she also had a figure many women would covet and work hard to try and attain.
But, we also learn early on in the series that Monica was very heavy when she was younger. Her exact amount of weight isn’t ever revealed, but it’s assumed that she dropped well over 100 pounds to eventually be the size 0 that she is seen as when Friends begins to air in 1994. And this leads us to ask questions such as how did she lose so much weight since high school? And what has she done to keep all that weight off?
1. She Drastically Lowered the Amount of Calories She Was Consuming
Probably the biggest theory of how Monica lost weight after high school, and became the svelte character we see her portraying on Friends, is that she drastically reduced the number of calories she was consuming on a daily basis.
From the very beginning of the popular sitcom’s run on NBC, it is said that Monica first began losing weight when Chandler – Ross’s buddy, and her new crush – refers to her as Ross’s "fat sister" and says he doesn’t want to be stuck with her all night.
This upsets Monica, and she refuses the food that her mother offers her, something she had never been known to do before.
This, therefore, set off a period of weight loss for Monica, which she seemed to mainly achieve by denying herself certain foods, especially comfort foods, and processed things like cookies – foods we know that she had previously loved.
Anyone who has made any attempt in the past to lose weight knows the importance that calorie reduction will play in weight loss.
You have to consume about 3500 calories to gain a pound. Conversely, cutting that many calories from your diet will allow you to drop a pound, without doing anything else to help.
For someone like Monica Geller on Friends, she probably cut a lot of empty calories out of her diet in order to drop the kind of weight she did. And her motivation was a good one, since she ended up marrying Chandler - her crush - in the end!
2. She Changed Her Eating Habits for the Better
We all know that cutting caloric intake is important for weight loss.
But, in order to really lose weight and keep it off, we need to focus on what kind of calories we are consuming in the long term, not just limiting calories for a short period of time.
The key to weight loss has been studied and debated for years, but most experts now know that diets that severely limit your calorie consumption will end up not working to help you keep weight off.
By forcing your body not to eat, you will change your metabolism, which means your body will then hold on to calories longer, because it’s afraid it won’t get an adequate supply later.
Limiting her caloric intake may have helped Monica to lose all that weight when she was in high school, but the way she probably maintained her new figure was by introducing healthy calories back into her diet.
We know that there’s a big difference between healthy calories and those that are just full of empty processed food substitutes that don’t do much for our overall health. Foods that are full of empty calories also don’t aid in appetite suppression the way healthier foods do.
Monica was a chef on Friends and we often saw her whipping up healthy foods, like baked chicken, salads, and even homemade chocolate chip cookies (much better for you than the store-bought kind.)
It’s very reasonable to assume that a big part of Monica’s successful weight loss was her skills as a chef and the knowledge she gained on how to eat and cook in a healthy way that would give her (and her customers!) the necessary nutrients to survive and thrive, without adding unnecessary weight to her new physique.
3. Did Monica Use Weight Loss Pills to Lose Weight?
One theory that pops up from time to time is that Monica Geller used weight pills or dietary supplements to help her lose so much weight.
There is definitely reason to believe this idea. Dietary supplements and weight loss pills have often claimed to be the reason for a person’s weight loss, especially if it has been significant or drastic. In fact, many proponents of diet pills and supplements will tell you that drastic weight loss isn’t possible through just diet and exercise, and that your body needs the boost of certain combinations of chemicals offered in their pills in order to burn the amount of fat needed for real weight loss.
Not only do weight loss pills and dietary supplements boast that they can help you lose a lot of weight, and fast, but they also claim that they will suppress your appetite, leaving you feeling fuller for a longer period of time.
Many experts have harsh criticism against weight loss pills. They claim that they are misleading, devoid of the good nutrition that your body needs, and will often leave you less healthy than you were to begin with.
They also suggest that most people gain back all the weight they lost, or at least a significant amount of their weight back after using supplements or pills to aid them in their weight loss journey.
It’s reasonable to assume that young Monica didn’t use weight loss pill to lose so much weight. Her parents don’t seem like the type that would have supported it, and her own determination and willpower have always been some of her strengths on the show.
No, I think it’s fair to believe that Monica lost weight the old-fashion way – through fewer calories and making the calories that she did eat, count.
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