Fat Joe Loses 88 Pounds After Losing Friends To Weight-Related Deaths

Touched after losing several friends to weight related issues, Fat Joe decided to lose weight through exercising and eating six small meals a day. During the past 9 months, Fat Joe has slimmed down, taking 88 pounds off of his frame. According to the NY Daily News, Don Cartagena was able to do this without chasing a diet pill, opting instead for exercising and eating six small, healthy meals a day. For Joe, this was done specifically to deal with health issues, an important change he decided to make after recently seeing seven of his friends die from heart attacks.

The friends who passed away were all around the same age as Joe, something that definitely resonated with the New York emcee. "What's the difference between me and them?" he asked in an article for the Daily News. "Health doesn't discriminate just because I'm famous." Joe went on to add that his family also played a role in this transformation, specifically his daughter Azaryah.

"I can't leave my daughter behind," he noted. "I want to be here for her; I don't want to die on her." Joey Crack, who once weighed over 400 pounds, surprised fans with a 265 pound frame when he premiered a new video, "Drop a Body," on Worldstarhiphop.com. "I was always LL Cool J in a fat guy's body," he added. "[Now,] they're all trying to alter my name, but I can't see myself as anything else."

He said new nicknames his friends use on him are "Skinny Joe" and "Joey Flaco" (a take on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and a spin on "Flaco" being the Spanish term for "thin"). "I think I gotta ask Diddy what my new name is."This is not the first time Joe has tried to lose weight. In the past, he says he gained weight back due to a lack of focus but seems to believe this is the right time to make a change in his life. He explained, "It's like a crack addict - he hits rock bottom and he says, 'All right, forget it. I'm not going to get high anymore.'"

Longtime Fat Joe supporters will realize that Joe also lost an associate, Big Pun, due to weight related issues after the legendary emcee died from a heart attack and respiratory failure. The emcee had also lost about 80 pounds at one point but gained the weight back and passed away while weighing close to 700 pounds.