'Mike & Molly' star calls food his 'poison pills' after dramatic 170-pound weight loss transformation

'Mike & Molly' star Billy Gardell was self-medicating with food for years before undergoing a life-changing surgery that saved his life. 

In a new interview, Gardell, 56, opened up about his past relationship with food and how he finally made the decision to change his life for good and drop an impressive 170 pounds. 

"I was medicating my emotions and my fears with food, and I was also celebrating my victories with food," Gardell, who left home at 17 to pursue a career in comedy, told People magazine. "You're eating to deflect your feelings when they're bad or enhance them when they're good, and both of those things are poison pills."

"I had gotten so big and so stationary that it hurt to stand up," he added. 

'MIKE & MOLLY' STAR BILLY GARDELL JOKES HE STILL BATTLES 'FAT GUY IN THERE' AFTER 170-POUND WEIGHT LOSS

By 2020, Gardell had reached 370 pounds and had developed type 2 diabetes. 

"When the first wave [of COVID] hit, and they punched up that list of high-risk conditions, I had all of them," says Gardell. "Overweight, sleep apnea, smoker, type 2 diabetes, asthma . . . It was really the perfect storm. Between my blood numbers not coming back good, my blood pressure going up, type 2 diabetes and COVID - it was enough stuff to scare me to say, 'Come hell or high water, I've got to make a change.' "

In 2021, Gardell underwent bariatric surgery out of "desperation."

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"It really came down to a shift in everything I think about food," Gardell said. "Food is fuel. It's not reward, it's not soothing, it's not medication. I had to get beyond my emotional relationship with food."

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"You have to learn to love yourself," he added. "You have to look at why you react the way you do to food and heal that, and then love yourself enough to do something good for yourself."

These days, Gardell maintains his weight with exercise and a well-balanced diet.  

"I fluctuate between 210 and 215," he said. "And that's comfortable for me."

"My diabetes is gone," he added. "I feel strong. I have energy. Losing weight saved my life."