AceShowbiz - Legendary singer Aretha Franklin was so disgusted with her weight gain she took on a strict diet in 2010 and lost 85 pounds (38.5 kilograms). The "Respect" hitmaker showed off a noticeably slimmer figure when she appeared via video link at last month's Grammy Awards, two months after undergoing surgery to fix a mystery health problem.

Franklin revealed she shed the bulk by cutting out junk food, her beloved fatty pork products and adopting a healthier lifestyle. The singer admits she was inspired to do something about her ballooning figure after realizing she was "too fat for words".

She tells U.S. TV presenter Wendy Williams, "I've been looking at a lot of pictures... and I was saying (to myself), 'You were entirely too fat for words! I'm getting close to my normal weight now, I'm only a dress size away now. I was doing everything you could do to lose that weight and it's hard, really hard, when you love food... Altogether, it was about 85 pounds. It was gradual." But Franklin admits the toughest part about the weight loss was cutting out the calories late at night after shows: "After you've done a high-energy concert, a carrot isn't gonna work!"