7 Ways Ethan Suplee Lost 250 Pounds and Got Ripped

Known for his work in American History X, Blow, Remember the Titans, John Q, The Wolf of Wall Street, several of Kevin Smith's films—as well as Boy Meets World and My Name Is Earl—Ethan Suplee has always had a booming career. The award-nominated actor achieved great success professionally, but personally was fighting a private battle--addiction. The 47-year-old has dealt with heroin, alcohol, and food issues, and was told by doctors he was going to die.

"There have been countless mornings that I’ve woken up, as though startled by a terrifying nightmare, with the need for change," he told Celebwell. "The idea that change was needed came frequently but was also frequently forgotten. There would be some effort put into actually changing, but for a long time, I was easily moved off of that path." He adds, "Eventually, I was able to hold onto it long enough to make some progress, and when I’d lose grasp of it, I wouldn’t slide all the way back to the starting line or further."

After going to rehab several times, Suplee was able to overcome his drug addiction and get sober, but knew he also had more work to do. "With regard to my weight, the change occurred in 2002," he explains. "I had gone through much the same thing with sobriety and finally got a decent grasp on that in 2001, and with sober eyes, I was then able to confront the next hurdle, my weight." He adds, "I began dieting, of my own volition in 2002. I got down to 280 pounds, then went back up to 400+. Then I got down to 220 and went back up to 400." For the last 20 years, the father of four has fought to change his complicated relationship with food, losing over 200 pounds and totally transforming physically.

In an exclusive interview with Celebwell, Suplee reveals what led to his weight loss and how he helps others with the same struggles on his podcast American Glutton. "I am very interested in having conversations about both people’s problems and solutions in regards to health, fitness, and weight and get to do that each week." Read on.

1. He Stopped Eating in Secret

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Suplee’s unhealthy relationship with food started when he was just 5-years-old. His grandparents began limiting his food because they were “shocked” by his weight and he learned that if he wanted a second helping at dinner, he had to do it quickly without them seeing him. This led to a fear of people seeing him eat and would binge meals in private. "I didn’t like people to see me eating, so I ate very quickly," he shares. "I also found that some euphoria accompanied binge eating, I thoroughly enjoyed that. So I no longer eat in secret and no longer overeat, this is a difficult thing to learn because for so many years I trampled over my body’s satiety cues." He continues, "I’m not totally sure I’m entirely aware of them even today. I can tell when I’m hungry, but not really when I’ve eaten enough. I had to learn what a proper meal was for my body, and stick generally to that, not eat it so quickly that anyone I’m eating with still has food on their plates, which leaves me wanting to fill mine again because sitting and watching people eat while not eating also makes me uncomfortable."

2. He Changed His Mindset About Eating

"I used to think of a diet as though it held all the secrets to the universe, that I could achieve some zen state of happiness and normalcy through dieting," he tells us. "Having set so many arbitrary numerical goals, achieved them, and felt no mental or spiritual relief from the very same madness I’d felt at my heaviest, I’ve learned to set my expectations a bit lower for what weight loss can provide."

Instead of trying to stick to various diets, Suplee now adopts a healthy lifestyle. "Also, dieting won’t keep the weight off, so if I want both those things, knowing that’s absolutely all I’ll get out of it, my entire life needs restructuring. Dieting is a tool to reduce body fat, and nothing more."

3. He Did Keto But Stopped

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Suplee tried Keto for a while, but stopped because "it didn't seem right." He shares, "In 2017 my wife Brandy, who had never encouraged me to diet was upset because I had to have what would’ve been an outpatient procedure (ruptured distal biceps tendon repair, caused by a fight scene in a show I was filming at the time called Chance), in a hospital. They told her that I had to have it done in a hospital because of my weight." For health concerns, Suplee's wife wanted him to make changes. "She said she didn’t care what I weighed, but she wanted me under the number that separated outpatient and hospitalization… so I started doing keto again, and despite sticking to it exactly, I wasn’t losing weight (although I had lost weight on keto in the past), so I started doing the keto “hunger” diet - Keto, but just never felt full. I started losing weight… but it didn’t seem right."

4. He Started Eating Carbs Again and Began Losing Weight

After not having success on Keto, Suplee switched up his diet. "I decided to look into what all the macronutrients were doing to my body exactly," he says. "Allowing myself to eat carbohydrates again after a long period of believing they were poisonous, was pretty scary, but as long as I stayed in a mild caloric deficit, I steadily lost weight. I have maintained (aside from getting very lean once for a photo shoot and once for a movie) my weight for the past 5 years."

5. He Doesn't Eat Processed Foods

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Suplee has now learned what works for him and shares what he typically eats. "My diet is protein-focused, with the remainder of my daily food allotment in carbohydrates and fats that I consume at my own discretion," he explains. "I try not to eat too many processed foods, mostly because I find I don’t get much bang for my buck with them, I can easily overeat them and I am often hungrier faster after eating them. I try to take in more omega 3’s than omega 6 with my ancillary fats, these would be the fats I eat above and beyond whatever fats are commingled naturally with the protein I’m eating."

6. He Works Out Six Days a Week

As you can see from his Instagram posts, Suplee hits the gym hard but gives himself a day off each week. "On Sundays, I generally don’t go to the gym, so I will usually up my fats and reduce my carbohydrates," he says. "When I work out first thing in the morning, the meal that follows the gym usually has the majority of my day’s carbohydrates in it." He adds, "I try and get to the gym 6 days a week, all my exercise will be on a 5-6 week progressive overload schedule, week one being the easiest, week 5 or 6 is really tough, heavier, more reps, more sets, even my cardio will increase, week one will usually be 30 minutes a day, week 6 will be nearly an hour."

7. How Losing Weight Changed His Life, But Didn't Solve All His Problems

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Suplee has worked hard to completely transform his body and conquer many issues, but losing weight didn't solve all of life's problems. "My knees hurt less, I’m more active, have better energy, and the problem of my weight, which I viewed the entirety of my life through, has waned quite a bit," he says. "I’d expected all the other difficulties of life to disappear because I looked at them as though they were all caused by my weight. This wasn’t the case, and now I am able to actively tackle them with intention, instead of just thinking the one issue of losing weight would solve the rest." He concludes, "Though losing weight doesn’t solve everything, I did find it a good starting point, so I am at least able to tackle life with a healthy body, rather than being slowed by focusing on needless health issues that were resolved simply by losing weight."

Joshua Swiger appeared on Jeopardy in January 2020—right before the pandemic. At the time he became a champion, he weighed over 400 pounds. “I became known for being the aloha shirt guy on ‘Jeopardy,’” he told Hawaii News Now. However, something happened to inspire the married father of two to kickstart his weight loss journey, which has resulted in a 200-pound weight loss in just two years. What happened and how did he do it? Read on to see the things Joshua Swiger did to lose 200 pounds—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. The Pandemic Halted His Career

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When the pandemic resulted in tourism shutdown in Hawaii, Swiger’s life changed. He owned a small tourism company, so work dried up fast. “The summer was going to be really great for me, and the business 100% shut down in a matter of days,” he said.

2. He Realized He Was “Morbidly Obese”

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He started searching for other jobs, which forced him to look at himself in a new light. “I was not just overweight, not just obese, but according to the charts morbidly obese,” he says. “I didn’t feel like I was that big until I looked in a mirror, then I would say, ‘Oh, my goodness!’” He was suddenly motivated to get into shape.

3. He Changed His Diet

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One of the key ways that Swiger slimmed down was focusing on his diet. "Do you want to adopt a healthy diet but aren't sure where to start? As you consider the parade of healthy diets in magazines and cookbooks, make sure to look for one that:

• Includes a variety of foods from the major food groups: fruits; vegetables; whole grains; low-fat dairy products and lean protein, including beans and other legumes, nuts and seeds; and healthy fats
• Provides guidelines for how much food to choose from each group
• Includes foods you can find in your local grocery store — rather than specialty or gourmet store items
• Fits your tastes, lifestyle and budget," advises the Mayo Clinic.

4. He Started Exercising

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“I try to a hike once or twice a week. I mix it up a lot. I end up doing some sort of activity pretty much every day,” he said. He also works out in a local park several days a week doing body weight exercises to blast fat.

5. He Attributes His Weight Loss Success to the Pandemic

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Swiger believes that if he hadn’t embarked on his health journey he would have paid the price. “I’m pretty sure that in another five or six years I would have seen some very serious health problems,” he said. “I don’t think I would have done this without the pandemic and that’s a really weird thing to say. "

6. He Has a New Career—As a Personal Trainer

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Swiger has lost half his body weight, reaching his target goal of less than 200 pounds. Now, he has a new career as a personal trainer and fitness instructor. “My mission from now on is to encourage and inspire as many people as I can so that they can do impossible things too,” he said.

Hulk Hogan is turning 70 this summer – and is in the best shape of his life. The wrestling legend opens up about how he lost 40 pounds in a new interview with Men’s Health. “About 15 years ago my body kinda shut down on me. I had several knee surgeries, and then after wrestling 40 years almost, my body shut down on me,” he said. “I went in for one back surgery and it was turned into 10 back surgeries. Both knees needed to be replaced. Both hips were replaced. A couple surgeries on my face from getting my orbital socket broken a couple times. And it ended up being 25 or 26 surgeries, or a couple more, over a 10- or 12-year period,” he continued, confessing “it changed the game on me. It made everything different for me.” How did he lose the weight and get into the best shape ever? Read on to see 8 ways Hulk Hogan stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. He Changed One Thing: Everything

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Hulk revealed that he changed one thing to prioritize his health: Everything. “I changed my whole lifestyle because at the time, being in so much pain and getting older and older I couldn’t carry that much weight. When you are sedentary and not wrestling or moving every night, it’s easy to put weight on. So, I decided to drop weight and get down to about 265. Actually, the last time I weighed 265 was in ninth grade,” he says in the interview.

2. He Quit Drinking

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Hulk also put down the bottle. “I don’t drink alcohol at all,” he told Men’s Health, revealing that he hadn’t sipped alcohol in six months. “It got to be a way to numb me a little bit, because I had a bunch of crazy business problems and personal stuff going on,” he explained. “And I caught myself after I would train, getting too aggressive with alcohol. So I just had to stop it.”

3. He Hydrates

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Hulk also revealed that he prioritizes hydration – and the only thing he drinks is water. According to the Mayo Clinic, hydration is important for a variety of reasons. Water helps get rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements, keeps your temperature normal, lubricates and cushions joints, and helps protect sensitive tissues.

4. Here Is What He Eats in a Day

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“I wasn’t educated in terms of quality of food. Or quantity. I was just hungry all the time,” Hulk told the publication. When he took the camera inside of his fridge he exclaimed: “Everything in here is organic. We've got the yogurts, we've got blueberries, we've got almond milk, protein to wash down vitamins.” For breakfast he eats “couple yogurts, a banana, and organic coffee.” For lunch he enjoys chicken or steak or sashimi. And for dinner, chicken or steak or sashimi.

5. He Quit Sugar and Dairy, But Still Indulges in Sweets

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Hulk stopped eating sugar, “When I realized it caused a whole bunch of inflammation in my joints,” he said. “Sugar had to be eliminated immediately cuz I was trying to figure out why being completely healthy was much more important to me than, you know, making my body numb.” Now his sweet treats include vanilla sandwiches, almond milk, mocha chocolate fudge almond milk, caramel crusted, non-dairy frozen dessert, and acai. “Woo bad to the bone,” he exclaimed.

6. This Is His Cheat Meal

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“I do have a cheat day every once in a while. I had a cheat night last night at Hogan's Hangout. I actually ate french fries and dipped them in thousand island dressing,” said Hulk. “I woke up all swed up this morning from the pump.”

7. He Takes Supplements

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Does Hulk take any supplements? “Of course I take supplements,” he says to the camera, revealing a pantry filled with various vitamins.

8. He Breaks Up His Workouts By Body Part

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Hulk breaks his workouts up by body part. “Well, starting on a Monday I'll do chest and back Tuesday I'll do shoulders a lot of cardio ab work. Wednesday I do buys and tries arms. Thursday I'll do legs of course, and then I may take a day off or I may not.”

Actor Chris Hemsworth is perhaps best known for his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but he had another huge hit recently with Netflix’s Extraction—so much so that he’s training now for the sequel. Hemsworth just shared a video of his intense HIIT workout, as he gets ready for the role. Read on to learn more about it, and to see seven ways Chris Hemsworth stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get more fitspiration, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!

1. He Does Body Weight Functional Movements

According to a recent Instagram video, Hemsworth is doing a different workout to prepare for his role in Netflix’s Extraction sequel. Hemsworth wrote “Transitioning from heavy weight training to a lot more body weight functional movements concentrating on agility, strength, and speed.” In the video, Hemsworth is seen boxing, doing squats, push-ups, and core exercises.

2. He Does Bodybuilding Workouts

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Hemsworth worked with trainer and former Navy SEAL, Duffy Gaver, on a bodybuilding workout. Gaver says to Muscle & Fitness that he kept Hemsworth’s methods simple. “We’ve pretty much stuck to the original template,” Gaver says. “Of course we’ve had some variation over time to keep things interesting and prevent plateaus, but this is the basic template.”

3. He Weight Lifts

For his role in the Marvel movies, Hemsworth would lift weights regularly, and worked with Luke Zocchi on his plan. "For this last Thor, we stuck to a regime of push/pull. It would be split into five days: push for a chest day, pull for back, legs, shoulders, and arms," Zocchi explains to Eat This, Not That!.

4. He Eats Red Meat

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Hemsworth’s diet consists of a lot of red meat, according to his trainers Luke Zocchi, and Duffy Garver. "Sometimes, I'm surprised how much red meat he eats 'cause it's like he just doesn't get sick of steak—he can just eat it any time of the day, at breakfast or whatever," says Zocchi to Eat This, Not That!. "He loves it. It's weird. In his genetic makeup, that's what he likes to do." Garver echoed Zocchi’s statements to Muscle & Fitness. “People see Chris and they think he was on steroids, but he didn’t touch a single substance,” Gaver says. “It was just red meat, heavy weights and some protein powder. He crushed every single workout. He simply decided to look like Thor.”

5. He Eats About 4,000 Calories A Day

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According to Insider.com, Hemsworth tries to eat 4,000 calories and 300 grams of protein a day, which he is able to do because of his high metabolism. Hemsworth crafted his diet with the help of chef and food expert, Sergio Perera. “Chris eats a bit more red meat than usual, but limits it to daytime as it requires more energy to digest. This is unless he trains later in the evening, in which case he may have a lamb chop after his workout," says Perera to Men’s Health. “It’s important Chris eats a lot of food to bulk up.”

6. He Drinks Shakes At The Beginning Of The Day, And After A Morning Workout

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According to Men’s Health, Hemsworth likes to drink at least one shake each day. Hemsworth drinks a shake in the morning. "Chris’ day always starts with a large green shake made up of 5-6 different types of leafy greens and vegetables, low-glycemic fruits, nuts, seeds, fats and small amounts of sea salt to aid in electrolyte balance, nerve transmission and glucose metabolism," Hemsworth’s friend and food expert, Sergio Perera told Men’s Health. Perera also disclosed that Hemsworth drinks a post-workout shake four out of five weekdays.

7. He Loves The Water

Hemsworth is a native Australian, and grew up going to the beach. Hemsworth told Men’s Journalthat he and his wife live on a beach town, and he loves to go surfing. “My wife is always saying, ‘Come on, let’s do something different.’ And I’m like, ‘If it’s as good as surfing, sure.’”

Chris Evans, best known as Captain America in the Marvel movies and currently voicing Buzz Lightyear in Pixar's Buzz Lightyear, works incredibly hard to maintain a fit and ripped physique, when it's needed for a role. Way back when shooting the first Captain America, he had said of the gym: "It was grueling, it was brutal and I’d find any excuse possible not to go" and added: "But I had to do it." His commitment is just one reason why he's one of the most beloved stars on the planet. How does he stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Chris Evans stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. He Worked With A Trainer

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Everyone needs a little motivation to stay on track, and working with a world renowned personal trainer is certainly a great way to get there. Chris worked with personal trainer, Simon Waterson, to get in shape and build muscle. “For anyone embarking on a new fitness regime, I like to tell people to never make anything too unobtainable. Set your goals low so you always can achieve them, so you then feel that sense of achievement, which in turn will give you motivation which allow you to go to the next steo and the next level. The worst thing you can do is set the bar too high. You’ll never feel…the euphoria of reaching a goal. So if you try to do some bodyweight press-ups, don’t care about setting the goal at 100. Set it at 8 or 9 or 10. It’s about taking incremental steps, and not being unkind to yourself, mentally and physically,” Waterson, who also trained Daniel Craig and is the author of Intelligent Fitness, has said.

2. He Eats Lean Proteins

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Chris Evans likes to adjust his diet and exercise routine to roles that he’s training for. When he was preparing for Avengers: Endgame, he ate plenty of lean protein as part of his diet to bulk up and condition his muscles. "According to the FDA, any seafood, meat, or poultry can be labeled as lean protein when it contains less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams and per labeled serving size," Mascha Davis MPH, RDN, a private practice registered dietitian nutritionist, founder of NomadistaNutrition.com and author of the upcoming book Eat Your Vitamins, tells our sister site Eat This, Not That!

3. He Makes Healthy Choices

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To build his muscle up, he had to be really healthy and ditch the pizza and burgers for a while. Even though he had to take in a lot of calories to build muscle, he still made extremely healthy choices involving plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, supplements, and healthy fats.

4. He Takes Supplements

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He’s big into supplements when needed. “Supplement-wise I used a bit of glutamine, whey protein shakes, branched-chain amino acids, then 500mg supplements of Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids every single meal to make sure that my joints were functioning well—I needed it because the working out was so intensive, especially with things like the gymnastics,” Evans said. According to the Mayo Clinic, “glutamine is a substance naturally produced in the body to help regulate cell growth and function.” Always talk to your doctor before adding any supplements to your diet.

5. He Focuses On Each Muscle Group

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To perfectly carve out and condition each muscle, he focuses on one group at a time. Evans ties in plyometric exercises and acrobatics as part of his routine and claims that this is what helped him prepare for his role as Captain America. "For many athletes, plyometric training has proved to be an effective conditioning program that helps develop power and strength. Though it’s been around since the 1960s, people often ask, 'What is it?' In short, plyometric training involves three types muscle contraction exercises that lead to more forceful contractions. These exercises can have amazing results, but it is important that training be guided and individualized to get the best results and avoid an injury," says ACE.