Eminem Weight: 81 Pounds Lost By Swapping Vicodin Addiction For Sobriety And ‘Compulsive’ Workouts [Video]

Eminem is a weight loss success, shedding 81 pounds. But the rapper revealed that his weighty journey started not with a goal of 81 pounds lost, but with a drug addiction, reported Men’s Journal.

Reflecting on his past problems with drugs and how they impacted his health, Eminem shared that his original focus was simply to be able to perform without losing his breath.

“If I could hit a gym, I’d hit up a gym. If someone suggested a workout that seemed legit, I might try it, but it wasn’t a priority. Everything has to work around the music. Still, I wanted to stay fit even if I never wanted to get big. I worked out with Dre a few times, and I had to lift the kiddie weights. I’ve always been more into cardio, because when I’m performing I have to keep my wind up. It’s never cool to be out of breath — anywhere, doing anything — but especially onstage.”

And while Eminem was running and doing push-ups, even boxing, he admits that his motivation before he became sober was minimal.

“I wasn’t doing so hot at the time, drinking a lot and taking pills, and Emanuel offered to come out to the house to train me, to motivate me,” the rapper recalled of his trainer. “But I wasn’t that motivated; I wasn’t taking it too seriously. Once I got sober, that changed.”

But before he got sober, Eminem hit rock bottom.

“In 2007, I overdosed on pills, and I went into the hospital. I was close to 230 pounds. I’m not sure how I got so big, but I have ideas. The coating on the Vicodin and the Valium I’d been taking for years leaves a hole in your stomach, so to avoid a stomachache, I was constantly eating — and eating badly.”

When the rapper left rehab, he set himself two goals: Lose weight, and learn how to live a sober life.

“When I got out of rehab, I needed to lose weight, but I also needed to figure out a way to function sober,” said Eminem.

His weight loss program, which eventually led to 81 pounds total, emphasized both calorie-counting and working out. After pounding away the miles on a treadmill impacted his body, Eminem shifted to fitness DVDs.

“Seventeen miles a day on a treadmill. I would get up in the morning, and before I went to the studio, I would run eight and a half miles in about an hour. Then I’d come home and run another eight and a half. I started getting OCD about the calories, making sure I burned 2,000 every day. In the end I got down to about 149 pounds. I ran to the point where I started to get injured. All the constant pounding from the running began to tear up my hip flexors.”

Consequently, Eminem continued his diet plan but developed the workout that he still continues, featuring Body Beast.

“I do the Body Beast workout with free weights, bench, and pullup bar at home,” he revealed. “I guess I’m pretty compulsive working out. I feel like if I step away from it for too long, if I have a crazy week and take a five-day break, it’ll be like starting over. I’m afraid that if it goes beyond that, I might lose the motivation. Once you’re at a place where you’ve made progress and you’ve got some time invested in it, you don’t wanna quit and give up what you started.”

Eminem shared his prescription drug addiction in a documentary, How to Make Money Selling Drugs. His drug abuse included Xanax as well as Valium and Vicodin, reported Rolling Stone.

“I don’t know at what point exactly it started to be a problem. I just remember liking it more and more,” said the rapper.

But he didn’t like it when he found himself hospitalized, with the drugs hitting his body so hard that he even had to relearn basic skills such as speaking.

“Had I got to the hospital about two hours later, I would have died. My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything…. They didn’t think I was going to make it. My bottom was going to be death.”

As the Inquisitr reported, Macklemore recently revealed his own addiction, which included using marijuana and sleeping pills. The rapper blamed feeling pressured by fame, therefore using drugs to escape.

[Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]