Actor Josh Gad, 43, lost a staggering 40 pounds thanks to a weight loss medication. Now, he reveals his anxieties about his career getting a blow after losing weight as he was Hollywood’s “funny fat guy.”
He opened up about his weight loss journey, fears, and concerns on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, and he sure had a lot to say.
Why he resorted to drugs
The Frozen star dubbed it a “miracle drug.” He started taking the drugs for his daughters Ava, 14, and Isabella, 10, claiming it would help him “be there for my kids.”
Though wife Ida Darvish detested the idea, he went on with it. He is only concerned about what will this step mean for his career.
Can he be the hot leading man?
“I’ve always been the funny fat guy. Can I be the funny skinny guy? Can I be the hot leading man? I don’t know that people would accept me as those things. I’m not as worried about that because my primary goal is, I want to be there for my kids,” Gad explained on the podcast.
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He opened up about the drug
“I’m on a GLP-1… this is the first time I’ve opened up about this. It has suppressed, in a great way, that noise… when I wake up, I feel hunger pains — and so much of that is psychological, right? — and what this does is it takes away that signal,” he elaborated.
More about GLP-1s
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “GLP-1 agonists are medications that help lower blood sugar levels and promote weight loss. There are many different types. And they’re just one part of your treatment plan if you have Type 2 diabetes or obesity.”
GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, which is a receptor in the body. GLP-1 agonists can be found under the trade names Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Ozempic wasn’t his first go-to
Gad said that the 40 pounds he lost were thanks to another drug, but he had to switch to Ozempic after finding out that he developed diverticulitis.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, Diverticulitis is a condition where “pouches bulge out through weak spots in your colon,” and “the pouches can become inflamed (red, swollen) or infected.”
He wasn’t happy with the change
“I was really bummed out because it was working incredibly for me and I had to switch. So, like, I’m you know figuring out this new one, and it is life-changing, but it also doesn’t negate the fact that it can’t be in the place of having a healthy relationship with food,” he said.
Gad revealed his relationship with food and medication
“It can’t be in the place of having a healthy relationship with exercise,” he added about the drug.
Gad assured Shepard that he was comfortable talking about his weight loss journey, saying: “I’m having my own journey with it. Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating myself by doing this.”
His wife is not a fan of the drugs
According to Gad, Darvish was “not thrilled” about the drugs. When Shepard asked him about it, turned out it was because “she’s worried” Gad won’t confront the core thing that’s driving his weight gain.
It wasn’t his first time talking about his weight
In 2013, Gad revealed that he lost around 30 pounds after following a strict diet regime.
He told People that he had a nutritionist alongside him and he lost the weight for various movie roles. He added that he has been cutting down “from about 18 meals a day to about five.”
Gad’s shining spots in his career
Gad made appearances in hit movies such as Beauty and the Beast, 21, Murder on the Orient Express, and Jobs.
Additionally, he lavished in success voicing characters in movies such as Frozen, A Dog’s Purpose, and Central Park.
