That guy with the beard and "Die First, Then Quit" T-shirt is someone you recognize—sort of. It's Remember the Titans star Ethan Suplee, who has trimmed down, pumped up, and publicly revealed a grueling battle-with-fat story, People reports. "I learned really quickly that if I wanted a second helping of lasagna, when I cleared my plate, I had to eat it in the kitchen without them seeing, that I was not supposed to have that second helping of lasagna," the 43-year-old says on his new podcast about his childhood. Seems he got fat at age 5, was put on a limited diet by "shocked" parents, reacted by binging in private, topped 200 pounds by age 10, and was forced onto a liquid diet by his dad.
"I was fine with it and my mom didn't like it so she pulled me off of it," says the actor, per E! Online. "Then, I had a big upsurge of weight gain and I kind of didn't think about weight loss again until I was like 20." Since then, he's tried a range of diets—including Atkins, Keto, blood-type, and South Beach—and his weight has fluctuated from as high as 530 pounds down to his lowest, 220, which he calls "very, very thin." (Celebheights measures him at nearly 6 feet, one inch.) He admits to putting on weight to get acting work, because everyone knew him as fat. Now sober for 17 years, he says he's building muscle mass and working on his six-pack as he treats food like "functional fuel." Incredibly: "I've gained and lost probably close to 1,000 pounds at this point." (More obesity stories.)