Elon Musk has hopped on the fitness train to announce that he has embraced intermittent fasting, shedding 20lbs in a matter of weeks. 

Several weeks ago, the billionaire and Tesla CEO was embarrassingly photographed lounging shirtless on a yacht  in Mykonos, Greece. His overweight appearance spawned the creation of numerous memes mocking the entrepreneur’s figure – “bodyshaming” him for his looks. 

Musk took much of the mockery in stride, even poking fun at himself for his appearance. 

“Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often … free the nip!! (already back in the factory btw),” Musk said on Twitter at the time.

While Musk was being mocked for his overweight appearance in July, he called the mockery “good motivation to work out, eat healthier & maybe take my shirt off outside more than once a year,” suggesting that he used the jokes as fuel for his newfound effort to get fit. 

“I gotta work out and be in better shape,” Musk said in response to his father Errol Musk’s criticism of his physique. “I actually don’t really like working out, but I gotta do it.” 

Posting to his followers on Twitter, Musk said Sunday that he is “over 20 lbs down from my (unhealthy) peak weight,” noting that he has been fasting periodically and feels much healthier as a result. 

“The zero fasting app is quite good,” he added, referring to a fitness app that helps its users “unlock the power of intermittent  fasting to lose weight and improve your metabolic health,” according to the app’s description. 

Haha damn, maybe I should take off my shirt more often … free the nip!!
(already back in the factory btw)

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2022

In addition to fasting, Musk revealed in a reply to one of his followers that he has taken up “a little” weight lifting. 

According to Johns Hopkins, intermittent fasting is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule. It’s backed up by mountains of research that show it as a viable way to manage weight and prevent certain forms of disease.