It's been five months since Kevin Smith's life-threatening heart attack and he is making changes.
After suffering a massive heart attack in February, the Clerks star told E! News' Sibley Scoles, "My health is good."
During an interview at the San Diego Comic-Con, the filmmaker recalled being totally unaware of his condition, only to learn as he was being prepped for surgery. "He's like, 'you're having a massive heart attack right now, you didn't know? They didn't tell you?' And I was like, 'no,'" the Clerks actor shared.
While in surgery the doctor inserted a stent into the "LAD artery, aka the Widow-Maker," which allowed Smith's blood to flow once again. The 47-year-old said, "The doctor saved my life."
In the days following the procedure, Smith consulted with a nutritionist who advised that he adopt a vegan diet to counteract the cholesterol that caused the life-threatening condition. "I said, 'You know what? I ate any way I wanted for like the last 47 years. For one year I am going to try life as a vegan.'"
As a foodie, the shift to a plant-based diet was difficult, but he says, "It's been okay, I don't miss much."
And the much needed change has helped the producer to lose over forty pounds, which led to a gig as a Weight Watchers ambassador. He joked, "I lost so much weight they were like, 'Here wear a sash.'"
Although he pretty much hates vegetables, he remembers, "Winding up in the operating room, I was like, 'I never want to do this s--t again.'"
"It's hard to be a vegan when you hate vegetables. But peanut butter and jelly technically is vegan. So you find nooks and crannies to live in and slowly you expand the diet," the comedian explained. Plus, the new lifestyle has encouraged him to try new foods, "Like I've started eating chick peas for the first time in my life, pretty amazing."
Just last month, the producer spoke about the scary experience and how he honestly thought he was just having a bad high since he had smoked weed moments before. "I had smoked a bunch of weed that day because I was doing the shows, then I smoked a joint right before the show and I got off stage and all of the sudden, I had a heart attack," he remembered.
But it was quite the contrary according to his doctor. Smith laughed as he recalled the doctor telling him, "You kept calm...they told you [you] were going through stuff and you kept calm the whole time, so that joint saved your life."
Months later, the star is able to make light of the otherwise terrifying situation, but while he was in recovery he couldn't help but get emotional about the near-death experience.
"There was this moment where I was like I might die," the comedian reflected in a Facebook Live video in February. "I just thought about everything and thought about my parents and how they raised me and my brother and my sister and my friends and my wife and my kid and this weird wonderful career that I've had for so long and stuff and I was like content."
We are glad to hear the star is feeling better!