Ethan Suplee made a name for himself by starring in the likes of Mallrats and My Name is Earl,
but his decision to focus on fitness and lose weight actually cost him dearly in Hollywood.
Now he's opening up about his dramatic transformation and future goals.
Improving health, suffering career
There's no denying that Suplee found fame in showbiz.
Unfortunately, that fame worked against him when he decided to get his health back on
track.
In a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he explained, for example, how difficult it
was for him to land a role on the Hulu psychological thriller Chance.
He revealed,
"Initially, the casting directors didn't want me to come in because I'd lost a bunch of
weight.
Apparently they had proposed me a bunch of times, but the casting directors were like,
'No, he's too thin now.'"
Getting rejected in Hollywood must hurt, so Suplee eventually decided to stop prioritizing
his fitness as much as he had been.
As he put it to EW,
"A couple years ago I made the decision: I'm not going to kill myself to be thin when nobody
knows me as a thin person, and I do think it is affecting the kind of jobs I'm getting.
And so I just kind of relaxed on my diet."
Lifelong struggle
Suplee's dramatic transformation is particularly commendable considering that he's struggled
with his weight his entire life.
He's been talking about it openly a lot lately, particularly on his podcast, American Glutton,
which he launched in January 2020.
As he explained on the podcast, he's struggled with his weight since he was 5 years old,
and he's also revealed that his grandparents even restricted his eating.
He then turned to drugs and alcohol to, quote, "help fill the void inside him."
"Now when I look at pictures of me as a 5-year-old kid, I see a totally normal kid.
I don't even see an overweight kid.
I see, basically, an average 5-year-old kid."
After finding mainstream success on My Name Is Earl, Suplee became known for big-bodied
characters, which made it hard for him to expand into more diverse roles.
When the show ended in 2009, he took on cycling as a hobby and slimmed down from over 400
pounds to 220 pounds.
Unfortunately, though, his new look cost him work.
Scientific approach
Suplee began 2020 in the spotlight thanks to his weight loss, which gave him a fantastic
platform to discuss his diet goals and educate others struggling with the same issues.
As he explained to Men's Health,
"I made my career as the fat guy.
I don't want to be fat anymore.
If the podcast is what I have to do to make a career, that's fine.
The most important thing I would want anyone to take away is that for me, the biggest change
was understanding how food works, and the more I feel that I understand, scientifically,
the more power I have over it."
With diet and exercise, Suplee is taking a scientific approach to the world of nutrition.
As he revealed to Men's Health, he was on a ketogenic diet until he came across a TED
Talk by Dr. Mike Israetel called "The Scientific Landscape of Healthy Eating."
After studying the talk, he switched to a low-fat diet and gained eight pounds in three
days, but he stayed the course of committing to the science.
For him, this meant aiming to get to a weight of about 260 pounds and working towards 10
percent body fat.
"I have to trick my body into thinking it needs the muscle to survive."
Rigorous training schedule
While Suplee has taken a scientific approach to nutrition, he also spends a good chunk
of his time physically training.
He revealed to Extra in February 2020 that he spends about an hour at the gym every day.
In fact, he's gotten so streamlined with his workouts that he gave Men's Health a glimpse
at what he does at the gym.
He revealed that since he's lost a lot of weight, he's now focusing on retaining as
much muscle as possible as he continues to drop the pounds.
He also noted that a girl he met was another important reason for keeping up his regimen.
"Losing weight and getting healthy was the only way that I could see on making sure I
had the longest time with her."
Suplee is also focusing on maintaining his current weight, rather than dropping much
lower on the scale.
As he explained to Extra, he was about 50 pounds lighter in 2011 than he is now, but
his skin hung loose, and he didn't feel happy.
"I felt like a light breeze would knock me over."
"So, how do you feel now?"
"I feel fantastic."
Making food "unenjoyable"
While training is essential to Suplee's transformation, he also credits his lean, high-protein diet,
which doesn't sound like it's all that appetizing when he describes it.
He told People Magazine,
"I actually work to make my diet unenjoyable.
I'm trying partially because I'm a little bit of a masochist, but also because I want
food not to be a crutch emotionally.
I want it to be a source of fuel."
Suplee shed a bit more insight into the trials and tribulations of dieting during an interview
with Extra.
"I numb myself with it, I entertain myself with it, I anesthetize myself with it, and
I have to just stay away from that."
Suplee follows his eating regimen pretty closely and consistently, but when he does deviate
from his diet, he makes sure to plan that out.
For example, there's a place called Burgers Never Say Die that he goes to two or three
times a year.
Hopefully there are many great things still to come for Ethan Suplee for both his fitness
and career!
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