Amanda Bynes Shares Update on Weight Loss Goal After Gaining 20 Lbs. Due to Depression

Mar. 15, 2025

Amanda Bynes.Photo:Amanda Bynes/Instagram

Amanda Bynes/Instagram

Amanda Bynesis sharing an update on her health journey.On Nov. 5, the former child star posted on her Instagram Stories a screenshot of her step counter app, revealing that she walked 14,895 steps and 6.60 miles for the day, completing her set workout goal. It also showed that she burned 481 calories, exceeding the amount she needed to burn that day.“Down 6lbs! 154lbs now,” the 38-year-old wrote of her weight loss progress.In March, Bynes shared on her Instagram Stories that her mental health struggles, specifically her battle with depression, have impacted her weight recently.“I’ve gained over 20 lbs. in the past few months from being depressed,” she wrote at the time. “I’m doing a lot better now and have learned to do opposite action when I don’t feel like working out or eating clean.”“I weigh 162 lbs. right now and want to get back to 110 lbs.,” theHairspraystar added.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Amanda Bynes showing off her step counter app.Amanda Bynes/InstagramBack in 2018, Bynes admitted that at the height of her career, she dealt withsevere body insecuritiesthatled to an Adderall and drug addictionand fed into her decision to quit acting in 2012.Bynes pinpointed her role inShe’s the Man, an update on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in which she plays a girl pretending to be her twin brother, as one of the moments when her body image issues became a problem.“When the movie came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn’t like how I looked when I was a boy,” she toldPapermagazine. The short hair and sideburns she had for the role was “a super strange and out-of-body experience. It just really put me into a funk.”The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Amanda Bynes.Amanda B/InstagramThe actress started experimenting with drugs like ecstasy and cocaine, and her goal of losing weight led to an Adderall addiction. After going through similar experiences with her weight and appearance after filmingHall PassandEasy Ain 2010, Bynes decided to quit acting altogether.The next few years were filled with several arrests for drug possession, a DUI, reckless driving and more.In 2013, she was hospitalized in an involuntary psychiatric stay, which her parents extended for nearly six months after explaining in court documents that Bynes “is obsessed with the idea that she and others are ‘ugly.’ She talks incessantly about cosmetic surgeries that she wants to have completed … We are concerned that the surgeries she wants to have are dangerous and detrimental to her health.”After her release, Bynes returned to a quieter life. She’s now sober and has been making her gradual comeback.If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

Amanda Bynesis sharing an update on her health journey.

On Nov. 5, the former child star posted on her Instagram Stories a screenshot of her step counter app, revealing that she walked 14,895 steps and 6.60 miles for the day, completing her set workout goal. It also showed that she burned 481 calories, exceeding the amount she needed to burn that day.

“Down 6lbs! 154lbs now,” the 38-year-old wrote of her weight loss progress.

In March, Bynes shared on her Instagram Stories that her mental health struggles, specifically her battle with depression, have impacted her weight recently.

“I’ve gained over 20 lbs. in the past few months from being depressed,” she wrote at the time. “I’m doing a lot better now and have learned to do opposite action when I don’t feel like working out or eating clean.”

“I weigh 162 lbs. right now and want to get back to 110 lbs.,” theHairspraystar added.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Amanda Bynes showing off her step counter app.Amanda Bynes/Instagram

Back in 2018, Bynes admitted that at the height of her career, she dealt withsevere body insecuritiesthatled to an Adderall and drug addictionand fed into her decision to quit acting in 2012.

Bynes pinpointed her role inShe’s the Man, an update on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in which she plays a girl pretending to be her twin brother, as one of the moments when her body image issues became a problem.

“When the movie came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn’t like how I looked when I was a boy,” she toldPapermagazine. The short hair and sideburns she had for the role was “a super strange and out-of-body experience. It just really put me into a funk.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Amanda Bynes.Amanda B/Instagram

Amanda B/Instagram

The actress started experimenting with drugs like ecstasy and cocaine, and her goal of losing weight led to an Adderall addiction. After going through similar experiences with her weight and appearance after filmingHall PassandEasy Ain 2010, Bynes decided to quit acting altogether.

The next few years were filled with several arrests for drug possession, a DUI, reckless driving and more.

In 2013, she was hospitalized in an involuntary psychiatric stay, which her parents extended for nearly six months after explaining in court documents that Bynes “is obsessed with the idea that she and others are ‘ugly.’ She talks incessantly about cosmetic surgeries that she wants to have completed … We are concerned that the surgeries she wants to have are dangerous and detrimental to her health.”

After her release, Bynes returned to a quieter life. She’s now sober and has been making her gradual comeback.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

source: people.com