Despite not winning the second season of
American Idol,
Kimberley Locke has done well for herself. Not only has she attained considerable success in the music industry, she has also become an advocate of living a healthier lifestyle.
The 29-year-old singer from Tennessee recently shed almost thirty pounds, thanks in part to her involvement in the fifth season of
Celebrity Fit Club. She was one of the eight celebrity cast members of the show, with a starting weight of 176 pounds. By the season finale, she weighed only 149 pounds.
Locke said in the June 18th issue of OK! Weekly that prior to appearing on
American Idol, she had never given much thought to her weight.
"I never dealt with (my weight) until I got into the industry and Hollywood," Locke said. "I'm from the South, and all my friends are big, so if you saw them, you'd be like, 'Oh, you don't have a weight problem.' But when you get to Hollywood and you're the biggest thing walking around, the weight shifts - literally."
As a contestant on
American Idol, Locke gained a large fan base, who helped her make it all the way to the Final Three with
Clay Aiken and
Ruben Studdard. Since then, Locke has released two albums and has had five consecutive Top 10 Adult Contemporary hits.
A spokesperson for Jenny Craig, Locke plans to use their weight-loss program to shed more weight, as she originally aimed to lose a total of 40 pounds.
Locke also hopes that she will serve as a role model to other women.
"For me, it's about being healthy,” she explained. “There are so many girls in magazines with eating disorders. I think young girls need a positive role model. I want people to know that if I can do it on my crazy schedule, then you can do it too. I want to let people know it's not easy, it's not a quick fix. I've been doing it for six months and I still have 10 more pounds to go."
She added, “I want young girls and women to know that they need to love themselves the way they are. You can't make changes to yourself if you don't have a healthy relationship with your body. Once you do that, you can make healthy changes instead of trying to get that quick fix.”
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: realitytvworld.com
(Photo Courtesy of MTV)