AceShowbiz - "Mike & Molly" star Billy Gardell is set to embark on a healthy new lifestyle - he's ready to lose weight and keep it off for good. In the new TV hit, Gardell plays an overweight cop desperate to shed some pounds - and the actor admits he wants to do the same in real life, after tipping the scales at 350 pounds.

But the heavyweight star has vowed to take his time with the challenge after several failed attempts at fad diets. He tells KnoxNews.com, "I think (TV bosses) will let us drop some weight if we choose to. I think I am at that place, healthwise... I'm 40. I have pushed this long enough."

"I have learned slow is better for me. I have tried every crazy (kind) of diet, and it works for two or three weeks then I snap. Now that I am making a little bit more money, I might get myself a nutritionist, maybe a trainer, and take it a step at a time."

Gardell hit the headlines last month after a Marie Claire journalist published a controversial online article ranting about the sitcom's overweight stars.