50 Cent's Weight Loss: How and Why

Recent pictures of rapper 50 cent have been circulating on the internet (see one of them here). People are wondering if it's really him, and if it is, how much he lost. In the pictures, the normally muscular, built rapper is emaciated and bone-thin.

The Truth
50 Cent confirms the pictures are definitely of him. He recently dropped over 50 pounds. Not only did he drop a ton of weight, he also did in in two months. His weight in the pictures is 160 pounds, down from his normal 214 pounds.

Why
50 dropped the weight in order to play the part of a cancer patient in an upcoming movie role. The movie, titledThings Fall Apart, was both written and produced by 50 Cent. Diet was necessary in order to shed the weight to make the role believable.

How
Food
What food? 50 Cent ate no solid food during the two months on his diet in order to lose weight quickly.

Exercise
50 Cent went a little overboard on his diet here, too. Every day, 50 walked on the treadmill for three hours.

Blast from the Past
50 Cent was shot in the face (hence his scarring) back in 2000. When he was recovering, he couldn't have any solids, only liquids. The diet he used for his movie role was the same, and yielded the same results. Back in 2000 his weight dropped to 157 pounds.

Other Movie Roles Requiring Weight Loss
It isn't the first time 50 Cent has changed his weight for a movie role. In 2008, 50 Cent dropped his weight to about 185 pounds for a role in Streets of Blood / Microwave Park.

Movies and Weight
50 Cent is by far not the first actor to change his weight for a movie role. Stars such as Renee Zellweger, Matt Damon and George Clooney have all gained or lost significant amounts of weight in order to fit the role they're playing.

Re-Gaining
Now that 50 Cent is done filming his role, he's regaining his weight. This is probably a relief to 50, who admitted that during his liquid diet he was "starving".

Expert Opinion
The 50 Cent Diet, as it is now coined, is just another liquid diet. Nutritionist Dr. Douglas Husbands pointed out to AOL Health that liquid diets like the 50 Cent Diet are unhealthy; they reduce muscle, only result in short-term loss and don't flush out body toxins. He also points out, "That does put stress on the heart. That's not something I would recommend. It's better to do it over a longer time and in a more reasonable way."

AOL Health: 50 Cent's Radical Diet: How Dangerous is it?
SF Gate: Extreme diet for 50 Cent