It was something Winokur hadn’t expected! Marissa Jaret Winokur, best remembered for her role in Retired at 35, had a life-changing experience this past March when she went to consult with her doctor. She had to face the fact that she either starts on a medication course to burn excessive cholesterol or loses weight asap. The patient (4 foot 11, history of battling cancer when she was 27) agreed to go on a diet in a rather half-hearted manner, not quite believing it will be of any use.
Recounting her situation to Ingrid Meilan of Us Weekly, she said she had decided she would probably lose something like 20 pounds and have another thought on the matter then. When she made a check-out 7 months later she was 60 pounds less and 7 dress sizes down.
The 39-year-old actress says it’s all in a diet and workout – doing it gradually and whole-heartedly! “I think it worked because I was genuinely doing it for myself,” avers Winokur describing her diet, a classical calories burning one. Everything that went into her passed a calorie-counting app known as My Fitness Pal to ensure that she got not more than 1,222 calories daily. Her common meal was a salad, egg whites, turkey-apple sausages and some popcorn.
Then she went to personal trainer Keith Anthony for three workouts a week, and it clinched the matter. The next time she saw the doctor she learned her cholesterol was down to 149 – she lost 71 points! Winokur doesn’t mind to share that she burst out crying when she heard this.
Now she claims that everybody can do that if she succeeded. And maybe she will just pamper her vanity and lose 5 pounds more, she jokes. Her new waistline is so noticeable that she was already advised to try on a size 2 dress by a shop assistant. “He eyeballed me and thought I’d fit in that!”
Winokur is married to writer and producer Judah Miller; they have son Zev, 4.
