Adele's Head-Turning Weight Loss Transformation

To say that life's been a whirlwind of change for British megastar Adele these past few years would be an understatement. Not only did the singing legend make a move to Los Angeles, but she also split with her long-time partner and husband Simon Konecki, with whom she shares a 9-year-old son. The upheaval left her emotionally frayed, but the "Easy on Me" singer declared that 2019 would be her year for new discoveries (via Rolling Stone), and she credits exercise as being the most powerful elixir that soothed her anxiety. "I got fit and 'ealfy," Adele told British Vogue in her distinctive Cockney twang. "That's quite LA, I guess." 

Exercise took care of the emotional part — and transformed her physically as well. In the course of two years, Adele shed nearly 100 pounds off her 5 ft. 9 in. frame. Then in 2021, she returned to stage for a comeback performance, "Adele One Night Only," a visually stunning triumph at the iconic Griffith Observatory overlooking LA. On the heels of that incredible show, the Grammy winner released her fourth studio album "30" — her first in six years — and promptly set sales records ablaze (per Billboard). 

Yes, this gal is on fire, and her physical transformation is just one piece of it. But it does have everyone asking, "How did she do it?" Let's do a deep dive and hear what the artist herself has to say about it. 

Meditation and therapy sessions helped Adele sort through her anxiety, but mostly she found relief inside of a gym, she said. "It became my time," she told Oprah Winfrey (via ET Canada). "Me having a plan every day... having these sort of pins in my day, helped me keep myself together."

WebMD agrees that a huge psychological benefit of routines is the reduction of stress. Making decisions causes stress, so by having those decisions already made through established routines, you limit your stress. It's a simple concept, but it's been shown that the benefits are many, including better sleep, healthier eating, and feeling happier.  

"If people don't have structure and are sitting around with less to focus on," says New York-based psychologist Dr. Rachel Goldman (via Verywell Mind), "then they also probably will find themselves thinking about the stressful situation more, which can also lead to additional stress and anxiety."

Confident in her new, slimmer body, Adele says no diet was involved, and that it was all due to exercise. "If anything I eat more than I used to because I work out so hard," she told British Vogue. In Vogue's lighthearted video, the Ultimate British Taste Test, Adele was challenged to identify a dozen British dishes blindfolded. In between guesses, she revealed that she still regularly enjoys a British Sunday roast ("I'm pretty great at doing one every single Sunday. It's my son's favorite.") and she confessed that she still makes room for fast food, too. One of her hands-down favorite meals — or as she put it, her "death row meal" — would be a Big Mac, fries, and Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's. "I eat it at least once a week," she said. 

In British Vogue, Adele said most media outlets have got it dead wrong about her following particular diets. According to the singer, "I haven't done any diet. No intermittent fasting. Nothing." Go ahead and do an online search for Adele's daily diet and see the countless results pointing to the Sirtfood Diet, a new-ish meal plan that claims rapid weight loss is possible by eating from a protein group called sirtuins (via BBC Good Food). But take it from Adele: Those claims ain't true.

Controversy over her weight is nothing new for the multi-talented artist, as her figure has been under media scrutiny since the beginning of her career. Too fat. Too thin. It seems that the star just can't catch a break, even among her own fans. "Of course I'm concerned that so many people were so hurt by [my weight loss]... But I never gave myself that role or job. It's not my responsibility. I've never set my validations on anyone else," she told The Face in a recent interview.

Paula Atkinson, a Washington, D.C.-based psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders told Everyday Health that Adele "doesn't need to explain her motivations to anyone." She says that fans looking for role models can feel betrayed when celebrities who haven't participated in the "body hierarchy," (the belief that there's a "right" and "wrong" way for a body to look) suddenly seem to conform. "If Adele wants to make lifestyle changes to improve her health, that's great."

"Visually I represented a lot of women," Adele told Vogue. "But I'm still the same person."

When it comes to daily workouts, Adele doesn't mess around. Her mornings start with a warmup on an elliptical, then she moves on to circuit training with an emphasis on weights, all under the watchful eye of her personal trainer. But that's just the beginning. Adele told British Vogue that she likes to head out in the afternoons too, usually for a hike or to box. Then, she may cap off the day with a bit of cardio. Depending on her schedule, she'll try to fit in multiple sessions each day of some type of activity to keep her body moving. She recognizes that it's an intense schedule that not everyone has the time or luxury to do. 

"I needed to get addicted to something to get my mind right," she said, recalling those early anxiety-filled years and her determination to make positive changes. "It could have been knitting, but it wasn't," said the singer (via British Vogue). Instead, Adele described her a-ha! moment of self-reflection to Rolling Stone like this: "If I can transform my strength and my body like this, surely I can do it to my emotions and to my brain and to my inner well-being." 

In an industry so fixated on looks, Adele has endured years of media questions and speculation about her weight. She's steadfastly maintained that she's comfortable in her own skin, at whatever size it may be. She just wants to write her songs, sing, and keep things real. "You don't need to be overweight to be body-positive, you can be any shape or size," the singer told British Vogue. And she said the same thing again during an exclusive Oprah interview (via ET Canada). For anyone worried that the singer just won't have the same chutzpah in a smaller body, well, she has this to say: "I'm as confident and mouthy now as I was then!" (via The Face).

It's been upsetting to Adele that it's not just the media giving her a hard time. Some of the loudest voices have come from her fans who have unfairly put the 15-time Grammy winner under intense scrutiny for her new trim shape. Other celebrated female icons have faced similar criticism from the body-positivity movement, including Lizzo, who got so much backlash from fans about a 10-day juice detox cleanse she'd done that she actually had to defend her right to feel healthier. "Every big girl should do whatever the f**k they want with their bodies," Lizzo bluntly retorted (via Billboard). And good for her for speaking up!

Being a female celebrity, it's not surprising that the headlines across the world put so much focus on Adele's physical transformation. But the singer has made it clear that her slimmer self just kind of happened. The real work (and the real story) was the progress she made for her mental well-being. Adele's aim with exercise was simply to learn how to tune out the noise and cope with life's curveballs. "But I'm still the same person," she told Vogue. 

The move to LA, the eventual divorce (she remains on friendly terms with her ex — they live across the street from each other), the struggles with anxiety from the divorce. Life's certainly been full of challenges for the mom of one. "I'm definitely really happy now. But it's not because of my weight, it's because of the dedication I gave to my brain with therapy and stuff like that, and a lot of crying," she said during her interview with The Face. "Maybe that's a saying I made up: I used to cry but now I sweat. It really did save me."