Mo'Nique Talks 80-Pound Weight Loss, Encourages "Big Women" to Avoid Surgery and Diet Pills

Oscar winner say she "was a food junkie" but stopped "being selfish and eating everything" for family's sake

Mo'Nique wasn't loving when there was mo' of her to love.

So, three years ago, the Precious actress decided to change her lifestyle and lose weight in a healthy way. Now, 80 pounds lighter, the 45-year-old star is opening up about her super slimdown.

"I'm the best Mo'Nique I've ever been," she told NYC radio show Hot 97 Tuesday. "And I still have a ways to go."

Part of the secret behind the Oscar winner's fitter physique is committing to walking at least 10,000 steps a day, which she keeps track of on a pedometer, and mixing up her workouts, which include weight lifting, yoga, basketball and running. She also tweets updates on her progress and messages of encouragement for others trying to get in shape.

But Mo'Nique didn't just lose the weight for her own sake: She did it for her family, thanks in part to husband Sidney Hicks' encouragement. When she weighed in at "close to 300 pounds," she recalls saying to herself, "OK sis, you got these babies. The twins are 7, Michael's 9, Shalon's 22.' And I want to meet their babies. So, I said, 'Let me stop being selfish and eating everything.'"

"And I ate everything," she admits. "I was a food junkie."

Part of the reason she's being so open about her gradual, healthy course of action is that she wants it to inspire others. "I want women to see, especially us big women, that you don't have to let them cut you and suck it out," she says. "You don't have to let them staple you up. You don't have to let them give you a pill. You don't have to let them put a band around your organs. If you just put the work in, baby, I promise you, it comes off."

And it sure looks like Mo'Nique's hard work is paying off!