MO'NIQUE DENIES GASTRIC BYPASS RUMORS: Actress says she lost 40 pounds by cutting out red meat and working out.

        "I decided that I had to get some of that off of me. Sid and I had a conversation. What he said to me was motivation," she tells the new issue of Jet magazine.      

       Now 40 pounds lighter, the entertainer and star of the upcoming film "Precious" is suddenly battling rumors that she underwent gastric–bypass.       

        "I'm so scared of needles," she said in denying the reports.       

       Instead, she made dietary sacrifices and stopped eating red meat and hit the gym. She says, "This was truly making the commitment to watch what I eat and commit to working out. I stopped eating red meat. I want to say to big people, 'Let's be healthy big people.' Everybody can't be a size 0... but let's be healthy.'"       

       Mo'Nique is now determined to get her weight down to 200 pounds.