The Reggaeton musician Nicky Jam is feeling better than ever after shedding an astounding 110 pounds thanks to weight-loss surgery.
The 42-year-old singer spoke to People on Tuesday about how his rapid weight-loss and slimmer figure has improved his mood and his health considerably.
Nicky spoke about his procedure as several celebrities have shared their experiences with other forms of weight-loss assistance, including drugs like Ozempic, which Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Jennifer Fessler recently blamed for her hospitalization for an ‘impacted bowel.’
The musician (real name: Nick Rivera Caminero) admitted that before his surgery, his weight had been a constant source of torment for him.
‘The reality is I’ve been fighting with my weight my whole life because this is an industry where you have to be in shape, you have to do movies, you have to do videos,’ he shared.
The reggaeton star Nicky Jam, 42, opened up about his astounding 110lb weight loss to People on Tuesday. He admitted to undergoing gastric bypass surgery to help shed the weight
However, he started considering weight-loss surgery after a friend had a positive experience with it, though he couldn’t completely shake his nerves before going under the knife.
‘I mean, you’re always going to be nervous before you do surgery, so I was nervous. I ain’t going to lie,’ he admitted. ‘But it’s something that I really wanted.’
Nicky had gastric bypass surgery, a form of bariatric — or weight loss — surgery in which the stomach is rerouted so that food only passes into a small portion of the stomach before moving to the small intestine, according to UCLA Health.
The surgery significantly decreases the stomach’s capacity, therefore limiting how many calories the patient can take in at a given time, which tends to lead to significant weight loss.
According to the musical artist, he lost 110 pounds in the six months since he had the surgery, and he’s still shedding some weight thanks to physical activities like playing basketball.
‘Basketball, that’s what helped me. I play basketball every single day,’ he confessed. ‘I’m a big fan of basketball, and that’s what I do with my buddies, everywhere I travel. We have an indoor court here. We play every day, and every time we play basketball, I think I lose two pounds!’
The surgery not only impacted how much food he could eat in a sitting, but it also decreased his desire to constantly snack.
‘I wake up and I’m the same guy, but I don’t wake up and think about food right away,’ he said. ‘I used to wake up and I just wanted to eat. Now I take my time and I eat whenever I want. I feel better. I feel happy. I feel healthy. Two days ago, I did blood work, and I came out better than ever.’
‘The reality is I’ve been fighting with my weight my whole life because this is an industry where you have to be in shape, you have to do movies, you have to do videos,’ he shared; picture pre-surgery in November 2022 in Mexico City
Nicky was inspired to get the surgery after a friend’s positive results. However, he was driven to tears in his early recovery days, as he could only have liquids for months; seen in 2020 in Miami
As happy as he is with his new changes and routine, he found the early months of his recovery daunting, as like many people who have had weight-loss surgery he was required to stick to a liquid diet for an extended period before reintroducing solid foods.
‘I’ve been eating really good for the last two months, and I’m enjoying it because I was literally on four or five months without eating,’ he revealed. ‘I was just drinking liquids and stuff like that, and I was going crazy. I ain’t going to lie. First few days I cried.’
Despite the obvious benefits, those early days post-op were difficult for Nicky to handle.
‘You have to prepare yourself mentally for what’s coming, and it’s not easy. People say this is the easy way — they’re wrong,’ he said. ‘Here, you’re obligated to not eat. You can’t even drink liquids and eat at the same time. Because your stomach is so small, you’ll get full [so quickly]. So it’s like you got to learn how to eat, wait 20 minutes, and then you drink some liquid.’
Even drinking alcohol has new complications for the reggaeton star, as just a small amount of wine can now make him feel intoxicated.
However, he was happy to cut down on substances, after admitting that he previously abused Percocet, which he said made him ‘fat’ and ‘so big.’
Though his gastric bypass surgery was the major catalyst for his weight loss, Nicky admitted that he had previously lost some weight after his move from Puerto Rico to Colombia in 2007, which helped his public profile to increase considerably.
‘I stopped drugs. I cleaned myself. I lost weight in those years, I lost weight, and people looked at me like, “Yo, you look brand new. You look like a different human being,”‘ he recalled. ‘And the way you love yourself and take care of yourself makes it easier for the world to love you and back you up. It’s just the way it is.’
He denied that weight-loss surgery is the ‘easy way’ and spoke about how difficult it is to manage the minuscule amount of food he can eat at a time; seen in May 2022 in Cannes, France
As his post-op recovery settles down, Nicky is now embarking on new projects, including an upcoming album and tour.
He mused about how far he had come considering his difficult circumstances and a lack of family life.
‘I was lacking for a mom. I didn’t have my mom. I didn’t have a dad. I was alone in the streets doing stuff that people do in the streets,’ he shared. ‘So obviously, of course, there’s moments of me not even loving myself, like when I was fat and huge or when I was doing drugs.’
‘But that’s the magic of being a human being,’ he added. ‘Getting better, getting better, getting better — loving yourself more and more and more.’