‘VPR’ Star Scheana Shay Explains Why She Lost So Much Weight Last Year
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With season 11 of Bravo's Vanderpump Rules finally returning to TV screens on January 30, all eyes are one of the few remaining original cast members, Scheana Shay. A mainstay of the VPR universe, Scheana was extremely vocal when the big cheating scandal involving Tom Sandoval, who cheated on his girlfriend Ariana Madix with castmate Raquel Leviss, broke last season. Scheana rushed to support her longtime best friend Ariana, but she was also upset because she felt like she no longer Tom, one of her close friends since season 1.
The situation was understandably stressful—and had an adverse affect on Scheana's health. In August 2023, the 38-year-old revealed on her podcast, Scheananigans, that she lost an “unhealthy” amount of weight as all the "Scandoval" drama went down.
This isn’t the first time Scheana has opened up about her weight in recent years. In the podcast episode, she shared that since becoming a mom to her 2-year-old daughter Summer, she avoided the scale, not wanting to weigh herself. “I didn’t want to get fixated on the number,” she explained on her podcast to nutritionist Lauren Hubert.
She's also been open about an eating disorder she had at 20. During the Vanderpump Rules season 5 reunion, Scheana defended herself after former co-star Stassi Schroeder said Scheana was anorexic. “I was doing any quick fix to get the weight off,” she explained to her castmates in 2017, per PEOPLE.
Scheana’s transparency regarding her relationship with her diet and weight has been consistent throughout her time as a reality TV star. Ahead, everything Scheana’s revealed about her weight loss.
She lost 15 pounds in 2019 by "carb cycling."
In 2019, the Vanderpump Rules star told Life & Style magazine that she's been working with trainer-nutritionist Seth Browning on a carb-cycling plan, which consists of rotating days of eating carbs with days of totally skipping them.
"When we first started I was doing three days of no carbs and one day of healthy carbs—and that helped kick my body into shape," she said. One of her go-to dinners on a restricted carbs day? "Salmon with lots of grilled vegetables."
The same year, Scheana told US Weekly that she started this specific diet because of one too many football game day snacks—and said, "My stomach's getting a little flatter.”
She also ramped up her exercise.
When she was partaking in the carb cycling diet she also told US Weekly that she was training hard four to five days a week, a combination of full-body workouts and ones that focused solely on legs, butt, or core.
Scheana and her trainer also shared more of her total body workouts in an e-book called Scheana's Slimdown.
When she gave birth to her daughter in 2021, Scheana didn’t go on a diet.
Scheana became a mom in 2021, and while she struggled with postpartum OCD, she wasn't focused on dieting.
“I just kept working out and I didn’t really drink much during the first year—I was still breastfeeding,” Scheana explained on Scheananigans.
During her pregnancy, Scheana did focus on fueling up on healthy foods, adding in more protein and fewer carbs, she said in a YouTube video before giving birth.
“I do a protein smoothie almost every day or a Greek yogurt in the morning. I love me some avocado toast with hummus,” she explained. “For lunch, we do a lot of grilled chicken salads. I eat a lot of salmon for dinner."
Now, she says stress and anxiety contribute to her weight loss.
Following Scandoval, Scheana shared that she was having an “insane” few months, resulting in stress and anxiety. “There’s been a lot going on that has affected my appetite and working out habits recently and I’ve lost more weight,” she said.
On top of this, on January 19 at the red carpet premiere of Vanderpump Rules season 11, Scheana shared with PEOPLE that she was diagnosed with OCD after struggling with “intrusive thoughts,” anxiety, and OCD, which began after giving birth to her daughter.
“I feel like, especially as a mom, postpartum OCD is something that's not talked about,” she said. “It's misdiagnosed. A lot of people don't know what's wrong with them. And so once I figured this out, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Now it makes sense.’”
Since the diagnosis, Scheana had a brain scan and is now taking a brain and power supplement pack, which have been “really helping my intrusive thoughts and just overall how I’m feeling.” She told the publication that she’s currently,“in a good place.”
She almost weighed less than 100 pounds.
In the podcast episode, Scheana said that after stepping on the scale and seeing an alarmingly low number, she decided it was “time to up the food and the weights.” Scheana added that she didn't want to weigh less than 100 pounds.
“I don’t want to be in the 1-0s because I don’t think this is a healthy weight for me,” she said, adding, “It shows what stress and anxiety does to your body.”
She says she doesn’t use Ozempic.
“I’ve had people ask me currently if I’m on that and absolutely not. Wouldn’t do it. Not for me,” Scheana said in the podcast episode. “I have friends who—I don’t want to name names—who have made some jokes about it like, ‘Well, after my next baby I’ll just get on Ozempic.’ And I am like, ‘I don’t think that is what it’s there for?”
In March 2023, Scheana posted a picture to her Instagram, showing that she was partnering with Hydroxycut, a weight loss supplement brand. She posed in a matching workout set with the brand's product in front of her.
“It’s about to be #RevengeBodySZN in WeHo. @Hydroxycut #Partner,” she wrote in the caption.
In February 2023, when PEOPLE asked her about the rumors she was on Ozempic, Scheana responded, “I haven’t heard of it," adding, “I would stick with Hydroxycut.”
“Our secret is just walking around your house," her husband, Brock Davies said. "You know, get outside and walk. You want to lose some weight, watch what you eat and go outside."
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