DROPPING 90 KG IS is no small feat, but actor John Goodman did it – and his transformation was on full display at the Smurfs premiere in Los Angeles (where he voices Papa Smurf in the upcoming film). Now 73, Goodman has taken a slower, more sustainable approach to weight loss – one that prioritises consistency, movement, and long-term health over quick fixes. And after years of fluctuating weight, it’s finally working.
At his heaviest in 2007, the New York Post reports that Goodman weighed 392lbs (178kg). The Roseanne actor had managed to lose impressive amounts of weight in the past, but he always reverted back to old habits and put it back on. ‘I’d get off of Roseanne every spring. I’d lose 60 pounds every spring [but] I’d gain it back and then some, every year,’ he told David Letterman in 2011. ‘It’s going to be an ongoing process for the rest of my life.’
Now he’s 73, things are different. Goodman has implemented a more sustainable approach to weight loss. Part of that approach has included him prioritising movement, rather than attempting an aggressive calorie deficit.
‘In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds (27-30 kg), then reward myself with a six-pack of Bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits,’ Goodman told ABC News in 2016, when he was halfway through his 200-pound (90 kg) weight loss journey. ‘This time I wanted to do it slowly – move, exercise. I’m getting to the age where I can’t afford to sit still anymore. And it gives me the energy to work, because work is very draining.’
According to the New York Post, Goodman trained six days a week with personal trainer Mackie Shilstone, focusing mainly on the elliptical bike and treadmill. The American actor also aims for between 10,000 and 12,000 steps a day.
When it comes to his diet, Goodman quit alcohol in 2007, before then adopting a Mediterranean diet that involved plenty of fish, olive oil, vegetables and fruits. He has previously highlighted his struggles with food, stating that he was ‘eating alcoholically’.
‘I think you’re trying to fill a hole that can’t be filled unless it’s filled with goodness, some kind of spirituality – not saying religion,’ he told ABC News. ‘But just a belief in something higher than yourself, a purpose. But instead of filling it with booze or cocaine or food, you just acknowledge that it’s there. You can’t fill it. And you go on and live with it.’
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health UK.
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