The Diet Kelly Clarkson Used To Support Her Weight-Loss Journey

Kelly Clarkson all but refused to complicate her GLP-1-aided weight-loss diet. Speaking to People in January 2024, the "Since U Been Gone" hitmaker opened up about the simple yet effective diet she followed to lose weight: "I eat a healthy mix." She continued, "I dropped weight because I've been listening to my doctor — a couple years I didn't. And 90 percent of the time I'm really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway." 

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For a native Texan and a meat lover like Clarkson, following a high-protein diet admittedly isn't all that hard. Experts have repeatedly touted a high-protein diet as the simple secret to weight loss for good reason. Since protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates, it can make you feel fuller longer and prevent overeating. A 2005 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who got 30% of their daily calories from protein ate 441 fewer calories per day on average and experienced greater satiety. Moreover, protein helps build lean muscle mass, which helps burn more calories throughout the day. A high-protein diet can also reduce belly fat, since eating more protein makes you less likely to overeat refined carbohydrates, which contribute to belly fat. 

In addition to a high-protein diet, another thing that apparently helped Clarkson in her weight-loss journey is balance. In her People interview, she shared that she still makes room for some of her favorite foods. Somewhat surprisingly, one of the many things you can do to manage your food cravings is to not make your favorite foods off limits.

A 2023 review in Current Nutrition Reports analyzed eight studies and found that the results of seven of them showed that depriving yourself of foods you want only increases cravings. Experts have cautioned that when we label certain foods as completely off limits, our brains tend to want them more. Even if we decide not to bring these foods into our homes to manage our cravings, we can still come across them while we're out and about. Over time, repeatedly having to turn down our favorite foods can prove emotionally exhausting and ultimately compel us to consume them in excessive amounts. After that, we may experience guilt and shame, and the cycle repeats.

Instead of overly restricting yourself, it's better to mindfully honor your cravings and make them part of an overall balanced diet. Giving in to your cravings can also heal your relationship with food by reducing food noise. As for Kelly Clarkson, she has been mindfully honoring her cravings for quite some time. During the "American Idol" winner's June 2018 appearance on "Today," she shared that she had lost 37 pounds without making any major changes to her diet. 

Instead, she learned to find more nutrient-dense and organic swaps in the ingredients for her favorite foods, like using tapioca or cassava flour and hormone-free chicken instead of regular flour and chicken in her fried chicken recipe. While she acknowledged that those swaps were expensive, she was ultimately happy with how they had changed her health for the better.