AceShowbiz - Randy Jackson hates the word "diet" and refuses to deny himself the odd sweet treat to avoid an emotional binge. The former "American Idol" judge underwent gastric bypass surgery following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis almost 20 years ago, and while he admits that the surgery is a "great jump starter", he initially struggled to maintain his weight loss because he started to slip back into old habits.

"It's a great jump starter," the 65-year-old star said. "You lose a bunch of weight really fast, but maintaining is another thing because you get there and your mind tells you, 'Okay, phew. I'm here now. I can start to party and bring out the cheesecakes. I hate the word diet. I don't use that anymore. Anybody that's lost weight, you lose it and then you start eating and drinking more and it all starts coming back. That's what started happening to me. I was like, 'No, I'm not going to spend my life going through this!' "

Randy, who has children Jordan and Zoe with his ex-wife Erika Riker, went on to explain that his relationship with food is "emotional" so he needed "get things together" with his diet, but has managed to find a balance. He told a May edition of PEOPLE magazine, "Eating's all emotional. I needed to really get it together so I could keep it off. I eat fish, some sort of veggie and maybe a little handful of rice or potato."

"If I really feel like I need to have a piece of candy, I have a small piece so that in my mind, I'm not saying, 'No, no, no,'. The more you deny yourself, the more you're going to go on a bender and have 18 candy bars without stopping at some point," the record producer, who used to weigh over 350lbs before shedding over 114lbs, added. "I think if I had not figured it all out, I would've gained at least half, if not more, of that weight back!"