Shaquille O'Neal loses two stone in order to become 'sex symbol'

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal has said he wants to be a 'sex symbol' after looking at his body and becoming determined to lose weight.

Now 50 years old, O'Neal went viral last month when he took to Instagram to share a video of himself looking into a mirror at a gym and showing off his impressive abs.

As a former professional basketball player it's not necessarily surprising that O'Neal is in good shape, but during a recent appearance on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast the sports star explained he'd become unhappy with his weight.

Shaq said he likes to 'create crazy motivation' for himself, and apparently found that motivation in his NBA on TNT co-host Charles Barkley, who recently lost more than 50lbs (3.5st).

“I was looking at myself and I had that Charles Barkley retirement body," O'Neal told Paul. “I didn’t want my stomach to be over the belt anymore. So I was just like, ‘Let me go ahead and get slim'."

O'Neal set off on his weight loss journey prior to sharing his video on Instagram, but after the clip went viral he said he has to 'live up' to his goal.

“I was 401 pounds (28.6st). Now I’m 365 (26st),” Shaq continued. “I’m trying to take it back to 345 (24.6st)."

The basketball legend said he hopes to have muscles 'everywhere', at which point he wants to do 'an underwear ad with [his] sons', adding: "[for] Fruit of the Loom, baby.”

Standing at an incredible seven feet tall, O'Neal added that he wants to be a 'sex symbol'.

The athlete discussed his diet and workout routine in an interview with GQ earlier this year, explaining he kicks the day off with a 'healthy breakfast' including 'fruit and fruit and fruit' before moving on to chicken and fish.

"I eat a healthy breakfast just to hold me for the day. Three turkey sausages and about four or five egg whites," he continued. "Meal two is gonna be some fruit. Meal three is gonna be a shake and fruit. Meal four is probably gonna be a light salad and then meal five is gonna be chicken, fish, or steak."

O'Neal went on to admit that he loves sandwiches, wraps and burgers – because who doesn't? – but said he has to 'discipline' himself to reach his goal of being 'super shredded'.

He works out with 30-40 minutes of cardio before moving on to his chest, arms, biceps and triceps, describing the routine as a 'simple old man workout'.

Old man workout or not, it's obviously doing the trick.

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Topics: Sport, Health, Logan Paul

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.