Ethan Suplee? You probably won't even recognize him if you see him taking a stroll these days, even though he has been in one of the most popular movies of the decade and some TV shows too like Boy Meets World as a kid to Mallrats, American History X, Remember the Titans, My Name Is Earl, Wolf of Wall Street, and most lately in Motherless Brooklyn. As for the reason, well, he has really pulled off quite an impressive body transformation recently and especially during the Covid lockdown period. His intention was different, it was not to build a superhero body but to pay attention to his health. He was focused on how he can change his whole outlook towards food and gain some fitness. The result is what we can see currently.

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The actor, who is now in his early 40s, has also documented his fitness journey and documented how he has shed more than 200 pounds and packed on muscles with a consistent workout routine and a strict diet plan. He loves to follow and stick to his health routine so much so that he has even commenced his own little podcast show, named, American Glutton which focuses on issues like obesity, diet culture and talks about how he has handled and engaged with his own health over the past 20 years.

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However, for Suplee, it has been quite a rough patch because he has not lost all this weight for the first time. This time it is different because he could cut it down and maintained a healthy lifestyle along with too. He has since then given various interviews and explained about his past relationship with health as compared to his present and many such little quirks. So here we go all-in with Ethan Suplee's diet plan and his workout routine that helped this 500+ pound man lose weight and keep it off.

Ethan Suplee Statistics

• Height: 6’1
• Weight: (approximate) 240 lbs.
• Age: 43 years old
• Nationality: American

Ethan Suplee Workout Routine

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As long as we can remember, for most of his Remember the Titans, American History X, Motherless Brooklyn career, Ethan Suplee was really heavy. However, things have taken a positive turn for Ethan Suplee as he is currently donning 250 pounds of ripped muscles. It was quite recently when Ethan Suplee took to Instagram to show off his recent physical update on Jan 11, 2021. Ethan Suplee has lost more than 300 pounds which is quite appreciable. More important is still, his relationship with food.

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In the eyes of Ethan Suplee, he was always quite obese since childhood. It was the time when his relationship with food changed, His grandparents and family members put him on a diet and as a result, he would sneak in food and ate alone which quickly developed into a vicious cycle. He explains, “Food became just like every other drug, and I didn’t understand how my body used it,” he says. However, it continued beyond his childhood which is pretty evident in his earlier roles in the movies. Thus it is quite easy today that he has struggled with diet and his body throughout his life starting on this cycle since he was 5 years old and ended up being 200 pounds only when he was 10!

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“I never wanted to do something where I was the fat guy who was the butt of a fat guy joke,” he says. “I told my agents to look for roles outside the box that could work for me. There were instances where somebody would want to add a line about me being fat and I would just say, ‘Hey, no, we’re not doing that.’ ” Other things came in his way because of his weight. It was shard for him to have kids with his now-wife, Brandy Lewis. He had to struggle when it came to taking a vacation in pairs or just going out for a little hike in the mountains. “I knew that if I didn’t change, I wouldn’t have that future,” he says. “That was the motivation that kept me at it.”Within the years 2002 and 2005, Suplee lost some weight and went from 530 lbs. to around 290, but could not keep up with it— he got the part on the famous show My Name Is Earl and “got lazy and relaxed.”  Once 2005 came about, his wife was expecting their first child and Suplee was a workout freak and was practicing Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu. But his weight loss came to stall, and it came to an end with the beginning of My Name Is Earl. "I wasn't factoring in how I was going to maintain my weight at work when I was working like, 14 hours a day, five days a week," he admits. "Over the course of five years, I gained 100 pounds."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqJz_KNgXLwWhen the show came to a close with its final season in 2009, he decided to lose weight again only to gain it all back again. “I went down to 220 lbs. and stayed there for a bit, but I got there by doing like eight hours of cardio a day, six days a week,” he says. “I was doing a lot of starvation-type diets and not eating enough at all. So I gained weight again.” He picked up cycling after his show but he would do crazy amounts of cycling which were of course not good for his muscles too. He also did some restrictive eating and went on many fad diets too. He tells that there was a point when he only ate when he was on a bike. With this cycling regimen, he dropped his weight to 200 pounds. He lost so much but it was not really satisfying for him to stick to it." I was really, really unhappy with how I looked, and I didn't feel comfortable in my skin," he says. "I felt like a light breeze would knock me over. I don't know if I'm just big-boned or a big dude, but 220 felt really, really small."He again gains some weight for a role in the movie, Chance which starred Hugh Laurie. His producers thought that he was a bit skinny for the role and so Ethan Suplee added some pounds. However once the movie came to an end, he knew that he would not let his acting career dictate his weight or health. He then began on a keto diet and started losing weight without packing on any muscle.“I was getting smaller, but I wasn’t starting to show muscle definition the way I wanted to show it,” he says. So Ethan Suplee researched and read a lot on fat cells and how to retain muscles and decided that he wanted to get his body to a 10 percent body fat mark. “It’s completely arbitrary, I just want to see a six-pack,” he says. “But I think those goals are important because it’s something you’re working towards.”Currently, Ethan Suplee is following a lean fat, high protein diet which is quite the same as what bodybuilders would eat in a  day. “I actually work to make my diet unenjoyable,” he says. “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.” And so far, he is actually very close to his 10 percent close and even got some visible abs too. Most importantly, he can adjust his mindset and make himself believe that he is not dieting.

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“I actually am eating more food than I have in years,” he says. “We went on vacation for Thanksgiving and I was really scared that I might gain a bunch of weight. But I didn’t gain any weight because I’m really eating the way I should be eating. It doesn’t feel fragile.” Ethan Suplee has also made up his mind that he is going to stay the same body shape and fitness level no matter what his next role might demand. “This is how I want to look,” he says. “If somebody said, ‘We’re going to remake American History X and Cold Mountain and some of your favorite movies that you were in when you were fat, and if you want to be in a movie, you got to gain weight.’ I’d pass. I don’t need to do it.”

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The realization struck him in 2002 when he wanted to change, "I had this girlfriend at the time, and I just realized at some point that to have a lasting relationship with her and be able to lead the life I wanted to lead, I would have to do something about my health." He says that it was because of his great communication with his partner that he was able to open up with her and they began to live healthier life ever since. Ethan Suplee began by following liquid diets which made him lost 80 pounds in just 2 months quickly. He wouldn't recommend such fad diets now. To get down to 400 pounds, he put himself on a diet that was restrictive and allowed him to have just a few veggies and some lean meat. The weight loss came to a plateau then. He was satisfied, of course. "You have this immediate massive drop in weight, and you go okay, I want to keep riding that roller coaster to the finish line," he says. "But there's no thought to the long-term practicality of weight loss."

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He was still quite unhappy with his body change with all the loose skin rolling from his body and which was shamed by media and people. He felt that it impacted his progress. "TMZ stopped me and was like hey, you look great, what're you doing? And I said I ride bikes," Suplee recalls. "Then they had people talk about it and someone said 'well, he's still a fat guy." Suplee had 14 percent body fat at that moment. What was even worse was the fact that the media began taking pictures of the loose skin and shame him for it as a consequence of too much weight loss. "For the news to be kind of negative, I was like, fuck you guys," he says. What was even worse, he dropped cycling and took up cross-fit, however, he got a bad knee injury and gained 150 pounds again only to get back to square one.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emxRifYZacw

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Suplee strived to gain benefit with some of the more successful regimes such as paleo, keto, South Beach, and Atkins, to mention a few. He could only find success once he changed his relationship with food completely. His new goal for the year 2020 was to see some visible abs which he kinda achieved. His body fat percent is aimed to be less than 10 percent.For a Father's photoshoot, Suplee tried to be on a diet. According to their comments, losing weight was a problem for Suplee but it was rather keeping it off. What he struggled at was the maintenance period where he had to eat a certain amount of calories to maintain the cut. It allowed the body to adapt to an X number of calories for the body. It is also called the settling point where the body settles to that point. It is more or less like a checkpoint for the body to readjust to a fat loss and then move forward again once the body has well adapted.Suplee settled at 270 pounds which was a 10 percent drop in his weight when he started losing weight and being fit with Feather since the beginning of 2020. He also learned at this point about the maintenance periods from Israetel’s Ted Talk titled “The Scientific Landscape of Healthy Eating.”He also put up this plan that Feather made for him to get into the perfect shape for his photoshoot on Instagram:

1. 12- to 15-week cut off 30 pounds — from a starting body weight of 300 pounds down to 270 pounds (loss of 10%).
2. 12-15 weeks maintaining 270 pounds (settling point).
3. “Dieted down another 10% body weight over the course of 15 more weeks.” Suplee went from 270 pounds to 246 pounds.
4. Suplee is “now around the mid 250s after his first mass and maintenance period.” Feather records that Suplee is “one of the most consistent people [he’s] ever worked with.” Suplee’s aim for 2021 is advancing in his transformation to get “visible obliques.” On this basis, he has been able to ace his diet and workout routine so far and with the kind of results that he has achieved, the goals would be earlier for him to achieve, or, as Suplee puts it — “It’s going to be a wonderfully tough year.”

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Finding a Healthy Balance

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Suplee only began lifting weight when he got himself a role in the movie, Chance, He began lifting for his role, D, who was a big and tough guy and it made him realize something, "I found that I really enjoyed lifting weights and I could get my workout in an hour, and so that wasn't like a huge part of my day," he says. "Even if I had a really long workday, I could go before or go after."

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The most important transition was the fact that he wanted to change his nutrition scheme and he was a success in it when he came across a TED Talk by Dr. Mike Isratel, "The Scientific Landscape of Healthy Eating". "I probably watched it four times in a row," Suplee says. "I was just like, this is not what I was being told," Suplee told that he was actually thinking that carbs were bad for him as a part of other myths that he believed but being able to tell that it was not the case, and the carbs are a good and essential source for fuel, he was shield as it opened his eyes.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxDfm6caOzk

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He took up science to help him lose weight. He switched to a low-fat diet and gained 8 pounds in just 3 days. Then he checked on his protein consumption and with the help of a DEXA scan, he was able to lead a much healthier life. He uses principles of progressive overload in a matter of over a four-week time. Then he switches to being a little heavier and then his process is repeated. He focuses on hypertrophy and does not lift a ton of weight. "I don't give a crap about how many plates I have on there, that's irrelevant," he says. "The only thing I'm trying to do at this point is to lose fat and hold onto the muscle." Suplee's most prominent object is to get to 10 percent body fat, and then see how much muscle is he able to add to his body. He describes it as a "crazy, kind of science fun project I'm looking forward to."

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In fact, all the negative public report has swiftly converted into positive. He has no shame pics of himself rotating over the media. He has taken into control his weight loss and fitness journey through his Instagram and other social media platforms and his own podcast that clears it out for people. He says, "The more I feel that I understand, scientifically, the more power I have over it."

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He does not care about what others think or what the media has to say, he is committed to working hard in the gym and also in his career henceforth. "I made my career as the fat guy," he says. "I don’t want to be fat anymore. If the podcast is what I have to do to make a career, that’s fine." He feels that all the efforts he has made are worth it because of all the knowledge he has gained and he wants to inspire people who are there in the same place as himself. "The most important thing I would want anyone to take away is that for me, the biggest change was understanding how food works," he says. "And the more I feel that I understand, scientifically, the more power I have over it."

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Suplee does not follow the same workout routine every single time. So here's a sneak peek at his sample workout routine.

‍Training Volume: 6 days per week

‍Explanation: Ethan Suplee’s drills are six days a week and have a push-pull-legs split.

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Sample Workout Routine Schedule

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Monday: Push Day A

‍Tuesday: Pull Day A

‍Wednesday: Leg Day A

‍Thursday: Off Day

‍Friday: Push Day B

‍Saturday: Pull Day B

‍Sunday: Leg Day B

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Push Day A

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Bench Press 5×5
• Overhead Press 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Barbell Shrugs 4×12
• Seated Overhead Cable Extension 4×12
• Kettlebell Swings 4×12
• Dumbbell Chest Flyes 4×12

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Core:

• Weighted Planks 3×60 seconds
• Hanging Leg Raises 3×25
• Sit-Ups 3×25

Ethan Suplee Workout: Pull Day A

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Deadlifts 5×5
• Weighted Chin-Ups 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Wide Grip Lateral Pulldown 4×12
• Preacher Curls 4×12
• Face Pulls 4×12
• Standing Alternating DB Hammer Curls 4×12

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Core:

• Side Planks 3×30 seconds each side
• Lying Leg Raises 3×25
• Cable Crunches 3×25

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Leg Day A

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Back Squats 5×5
• Leg Press 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Weighted Lunges 4×12
• Seated Calf Raises 4×12
• Hamstring Curls 4×12
• Quad/Leg Extensions 4×12

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Core:

• Russian Twists 3×25
• Hanging Knee Raises w/ Twist 3×26
• Sit-Ups w/ Twist 3×26

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Push Day B

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Standing BB Overhead Press 5×5
• Incline DB Bench Press 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Close Grip Bench 4×12
• Seated Arnold Press 4×12
• Weighted Dips 4×12

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Superset:

• Bent Over Shoulder Flyes 4×12
• Standing Incline Chest Flyes 4×12

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Core:

• Weighted Planks 3×60 seconds
• Hanging Leg Raises 3×25
• Sit-Ups 3×25

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Pull Day B

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Romanian Deadlifts w/ Dumbbells 4×12,10,8,5
• Barbell Bicep Curls 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Close Grip Pulldowns 4×12
• Standing Cable Bicep Curls 4×12
• Wide Grip Cable Rows 4×12
• Wide Grip Pull-Ups 4×6

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Core:

• Side Planks 3×30 seconds each side
• Lying Leg Raises 3×25
• Cable Crunches 3×25

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Ethan Suplee Workout: Leg Day B

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Warm-Up:

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‍20 Minute Incline Walk

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‍Main Compounds:

• Bulgarian Split Squats 5×5 each leg
• Straight Leg Deadlift 4×12, 10, 8, 5

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Accessory Work:

• Leg Press Machine Calf Raises 4×12
• Dip Machine Leg Pushdown 4×12
• Weighted BB Glute Bridges 4×12
• Hack Squats 4×12

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Core:

• Russian Twists 3×25
• Hanging Knee Raises w/ Twist 3×26
• Sit-Ups w/ Twist 3×26

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Ethan Suplee's Chest Day Push Workout

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uplee is working hard to achieve his goals and aims for the year 2021 and so he gave out his chest day push workout routine in some interviews. He is currently training at Grant Robert's Granite Gym in Beverly Hills where he is trained by the man himself, Gant Roberts. Take a look:

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Pre-Activation

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Power Plate Pushup

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The Workout

• Dumbbell Incline Fly - 3 sets of 10 reps
• Dumbbell Incline Press - 3 sets of 8 reps
• Low Bench Press (Machine Press) - 3 sets of 10 reps
• Cable Scoop - 3 sets of 10 reps
• Dumbbell Pullover - 3 sets of 10 reps
• Dumbbell French Press - 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Double Skullcrusher with Hold - 8 reps, 5 reps, 3 reps, 1 rep

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That was all about the workout routine of Ethan Suplee. Moving on to what he eats throughout the day to keep his energy levels fueled up all day for a grueling session at the gym and on the sets!

Ethan Suplee Diet Plan

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If you wanna talk about what Ethan Suplee eats in a day, the covid-19 lockdown was a great way for him to bring out all that stuff as he shot all about his eating habits during the lock period. He shot not just about what his diet looks like but also about his workout. If you remember Ethan Suplee, you might remember his body from Remember the Titans of Boys Meets World and as compared to what he looked back then, it is totally different now. One can learn how he did it on his podcasts too.

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Well, so what does he really eat? You will find a couple of lean protein sources like eggs, chicken, protein drinks, and carbs, he has rice or Schmidts 647 bread. He loves that stuff. He says, “If somebody else in the house eats a slice of this, there will be hell to pay,” he says. “This is off-limits to everyone in the house, and I see people sneaking it sometimes! It’s infuriating.”

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However, he also admits that there is a bit of a psychological bend to sticking to his diet and fitness goals. It is important to have the right kind of information too. He explains, "I used to think that losing weight was all about willpower, but that's not entirely true," Suplee says. "If you don’t have useful information, what are you going to impose your will on?"Ethan Suplee has quite an ease when it comes to sticking to his diet. It is one of the most common things that he does and it works wonders for him. He meal preps. He would make everything before the time where he has all his carbs, proteins, fats, and veggies ready at the same time. And also because he has at least 6 meals in a day, having everything ready is necessary! It saves time and energy too. He explains, “I plan out my food pretty diligently,” he says. “Usually everything I eat in a given day is prepared a day or two in advance. Once I have my food set for that day, I don’t deviate from that.”And after he achieved a benchmark in his diet and health, he took to his new podcast, American Glutton, where he talks of his own experiences and those of others if he knows any, and how it helped him achieve the body he wanted. "I had this idea that food was something that people didn't want me to have, so if I wanted to have more, I needed to do it privately, and it became something I was withholding from people," he said. He also realizes that he was himself to blame for his obesity and now that he has lost his weight, it is because he wanted to. In his words, "I actually realized later in life that much of my binge eating came on my own. When I was a teenager I would go out to a nightclub with my friends, and never really felt comfortable eating in front of people, but on my way home I'd always find a 24-hour drive-through and eat three whole meals right before bed."But the covid 19 hadn't changed Ethan Suplee's diet at all. He is neither trying to gain or lose but is at maintenance level and is surprisingly excelling at it too. He also enjoys a bit of cheat meal which includes sweet treats mostly. In particular, whipped cream and pie shells. He also would enjoy La Croix. However, he says, “I really like La Croix, but having a wife, four daughters, and one daughter’s boyfriend in the house, every case lasts about ten minutes.”His breakfasts are quite simple. However, they are extremely interesting. It is a staple protein shake that he has every single day. “When you cook a piece of protein, a really good chef can hear the sizzle as it comes to its crescendo of caramelization,” he says while enthusiastically brandishing his protein shake. “Quite, in the same way, a really trained person—such as myself—can hear the consistency of a protein shake change.”He then talks of his home gym. During the quarantine, he bought all the essentials like weight, an elliptical machine, and a stationary bike, however, he couldn't do much shopping during the lockdown, and how the gym supplies sold like crazy. He adjusted his workouts using the weight and whatever equipment he had. “[Workouts] take a long time, because the weights I have are so light. Since I don’t have anything heavy, I do much more reps and I just go until failure every day.”

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He is constantly progressing towards gaining muscle mass and trying to manage that in his home workout routine which according to him is hard if you need an intense workout. He explains, “If it’s hot outside, I don’t turn the air conditioner on and I sweat a little bit more—that’s an intense workout for me these days.” And in addition to this, Ethan Suplee also has workouts planned based on his mood. He also loves to play songs according to his mood. He thinks CrossFit and other HIIT is great for “young people with good knees,” and his dream workout partner is The Rock because “he’s pretty badass.”

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"I'm at my absolute pinnacle," Suplee assuring his photoshoot which was held recently with many magazines. "I spent 35, 40 years without taking my shirt off in public," he continues. He even claims that his pictures have been retouched or enhanced in any way. He decided to show his original self in the public. In his words, "The shadows haven't been enhanced. There's loose skin. There are scars. This is who I am." Ethan says that his abs were actually because he had to cut out carbs completely for many weeks and have to give up on sodium intake out. It was all, however, done under the supervision of his trainer, the IFB pro, Jared Feather.

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Suplee is already at 10 percent body fat while he tried to cut it down a bit further. This is what he has to say about it, "I was wondering if we could go further—eight percent or seven percent body fat," says Suplee. "But then I thought about all the wacky diets I've done over the years and realized that I can't keep doing this. Do I want to want to walk around looking like I look in those pictures? Honestly, I'm not sure I have what it takes." However., he admits it is just a general reaction of every person who is trying to achieve a certain level. He explains, "My instinct, as someone who has been trying to lose weight for so long, is that I want my numbers—the number on the scale, my body fat percentage—to go down," he says. "I'm trying now to learn to live in, and be happy with, the maintenance period."

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He loves to meal prep because he feels that it is a  very important part of his fitness journey. He doe not deviate from his meal plans and is very diligent about them. He says, "I plan my food out pretty diligently. So, usually, everything I’m going to eat on a given day is prepared a day or two in advance. Once I have my food set for that day, I just don’t deviate from that. My diet consists of protein, the majority of my calories go to protein. The remaining calories are split up into carbohydrates and fat, mostly carbohydrates."

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Thus he sticks to his 6 meal a day routine without any snacks or going out of the way. He feels that if one is looking to plan out a specific kind of physique, it is necessary to move beyond just working out and focus a lot on diet too. One has to take care of the fuel that one puts inside his body and plan out meals ahead of time to stay on track. He shares his quarantine diet with his fans saying, "My diet hasn’t changed at all [in quarantine]. I’ve been doing maintenance which means I’m trying to maintain my weight, not gain or lose during the quarantine. All that means is a slight increase in carbohydrates and a slight increase in fat but the protein has basically stayed the same. None of the stuff that I eat has changed. I’m still mostly eating chicken breasts and vegetables, sweet potatoes or rice, a ton of Schmidt’s bread."