John Goodman has been steadily losing weight for much of the past two decades. When Goodman first became famous, he was quite heavyset. Directors didn’t care, because Goodman was and is such an incredible actor. But he was also pretty unhealthy – not just his weight, but his drinking. At first, he thought that everything would get better when he got sober, then he just started replacing alcohol with food. So he had to detox from overeating as well. Goodman explained all of this and more in a new interview:
John Goodman admitted that “eating alcoholically” led him to weigh nearly 400 pounds when he quit drinking. The actor told The New Yorker in an interview published Sunday that he began his weight-loss journey before getting sober in 2007 at age 55.
“I’d lose 60 pounds in a summer, gain it all back — 70 pounds, 80 pounds — and that got tiring,” Goodman, now 74, said. “I took steps so I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I was almost 400 pounds. I was eating alcoholically after I stopped drinking.”
He told the outlet he decided to get sober because he was “really immature” and drinking only “sustained that immaturity,” adding, “I wanted to live in ‘Animal House’ the whole time.”
“I got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Goodman added. “The thing about instant gratification is you don’t really care [about] what’s going to happen right after it — which always led to bigger hangovers or me getting the shakes, and having to drink to get rid of the shakes, and that vicious cycle.
“I was in a position when I quit where I had to be hospitalized one way or the other. I just was tired of it, and I wanted to stop,” he continued. “I was delaying my maturation by drinking, and I had a lot of catching up to do, just realizing how selfish it made me.”
The “Roseanne” alum said he had been “overlooking real life,” adding that it was “great to see there was a life where [he] didn’t have to use anything to enjoy it.”
Goodman underwent stomach surgery to address his weight gain after giving up alcohol, but the procedure led to other health struggles.
“I also turned anemic and lost a layer of fat under my skin, and I’m cold all the time,” he said.
The “Big Lebowski” actor has since lost 200 pounds and recently showed off his slimmer figure at the Los Angeles premiere of “Digger.”
Is “stomach surgery” something like gastric bypass? It would make sense. And look at his timeline too – he only got sober in 2007… when he was 55 years old! I mean, better late than never and good for him for making healthier choices, but it’s bonkers to frame it as “I was delaying my maturation by drinking.” Anyway, it’s quite common for alcoholics to replace the booze with food, especially sugary anything. They’ve taught their bodies to crave that. It’s like whack-a-mole with many addictions. I’m glad that John is doing so well and that he’s still such a sought-after actor.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Celebrities arrive at the premiere of the feature film ‘Digger’ at the Directors Village Featuring: John Goodman Where: Los Angeles, Kalifornien, United States When: 28 Sep 2026 Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images **NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN GERMANY**
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- Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures ‘Digger’ at Directors Village Featuring: John Goodman Where: West Hollywood, California, United States When: 28 Sep 2026 Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/MediaPunch/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities arrive at the premiere of the feature film ‘Digger’ at the Directors Village Featuring: John Goodman Where: Los Angeles, Kalifornien, United States When: 28 Sep 2026 Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images **NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN GERMANY**
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- Celebrities arrive at the premiere of the feature film ‘Digger’ at the Directors Village Featuring: John Goodman Where: Los Angeles, Kalifornien, United States When: 28 Sep 2026 Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images **NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN GERMANY**
Wow, good for him! I would never have recognized him. Until he started speaking, that is. He has a great voice!
John Goodman was always my celebrity crush. I loved his big frame — it made him look solid and manly. I’m glad he is more healthy, but I think he always looked amazing.
@jezz, I’ve loved him since Louis Fyne. That voice! Those hands! I hope he lives to 100.
Same! I feel he suited a larger frame better. Obviously his health is much more important, but I miss his heavier look
My husband stopped drinking a few years ago for health reasons and yeah, it was like the sugar receptors in his brain started firing at FULL SPEED. he’s always liked chocolate cake and brownies, but now he has ice cream every night, he makes brownies twice a week, etc. It’s kind of a problem but he also runs and works out a lot so it evens out, and feels better than he did when drinking.
My mom has never really drank (a glass of champagne once a year is a big deal) but she freely admits that food is essentially her alcohol. She could sit with a pan of brownies and eat the whole thing in one sitting, long after she stopped tasting them. She’s been dieting for decades and has lost weight gained weight lost weight gained weight, until she started a GLP-1 about a year ago. it was pretty much the only thing that made her not even GLANCE at the brownies.
I was told about this by a friend a million years ago. If I remember correctly, the body doesn’t differentiate between alcohol and sugar, because it converts alcohol into sugar. So, once that source of “sugar” is gone, the body craves it from actual sugar. He was a very serious drinker, so his doctor warned his when he quit that he was going to go crazy on desserts. Ice cream sandwiches became his new “drink” of choice.
Alcohol is not converted into sugar although it is a byproduct.
My husband also stopped drinking and suddenly, after never having one, developed a sweet tooth. He will just have a bite or a piece of something but before he would pass on all desserts.
Still better than drinking alcohol though.
I’ve been sober 2.5 years and the sugar cravings are still real. I never had a sweet tooth in my life before this either. But I am still beyond grateful that I’m not drunk anymore. Booze was destroying my life. I might be dead by now and I sure as hell would be all alone by now with how I was pushing away my loved ones.
I did notice when I took an extended vacation from work that my food cravings decreased noticeably. So it’s still that alcoholic brain of mine wanting to do something unhealthy to cope with stress. Sugar sets off dopamine levels like alcohol used to. I am being open about it with my doctor, counseler and sponsor – I hope I can figure it out soon.
My chronic cancer diagnosis in 2020 had me dumping all alcohol straight away – couldn’t and still can’t tolerate it. But I slowly gained 30 pounds through an extra voracious sweet tooth. I started zepbound 5 weeks ago and I’ve found it altered my sense of taste so dramatically that ANYTHING sweet (including grapes and dates) tastes horrible AND sends me straight to the bathroom. But my brain is still reconfiguring and asking for that ‘something nice’ at the end of each small meal. But there is nothing that scratches that itch. I mourn it, but realize that I am so much better off, on all levels, without refined sugar in my life.
Hope you’re getting better!
Well, I guess my dad lucked out in a way. His heavy drinking gave him congestive heart failure and pancreatitis, which stopped his natural insulin production so he’s diabetic now. He has to monitor his sugar regularly and he has a pacemaker. Also, he had to have his gallbladder removed and his diet changed even further. He’s been doing well with it for 14 years now and he takes it seriously. He just needs to exercise more.
I did Dry January this year. It was good for me to get out of the habit of wine with dinner. I felt more energetic. The frustrating thing was that I didn’t lose weight because I was replacing alcohol with sugar. Not a lot of it, just a couple of pieces of dark chocolate or maybe one cookie. But that was enough. In my case anyway, the best thing to do is just have the drink. So long as I carefully control the amount of alcohol, I’m fine. I don’t really feel it the next day.
Good for him, he’s blessed to have lived to be 74. Sugar is hard to kick because its in everything that’s processed. You have to be really careful with your diet.
It’s so hard to change your drinking and eating especially of you are one that lives to eat instead of eats to live.
I did the Whole 30 a few years ago. The only time I lost weight post menopause. My skin glowed by the end. The thought of cereal for breakfast or something sweet makes me a little sick now.
I was tracking fats and sugars in Livestrong, and it was amazing watching the numbers flip. The good fat tripled and my sugar dropped to nothing. Need to do it again, but my dedication to red wine trumps it.
Wow, he is unrecognizable! I never would have guessed that’s him. But in a good way, he looks great! Good for him for getting healthy and staying on top of his addictions.
I’ve never cared about Megyn Kelly one way or the other…until now. She is utterly a foul and filthy person. Her comments about Jane Doe and now Christina Applegate are cruel and low. Does she really think being a heartless bitch is the way to go? Is this her niche?
All my life I thought it was crazy that I didn’t have a sweet tooth. People look so happy eating sweets and my kids even asked what kind of freak doesn’t like sweets. I turned 70 and suddenly like sweets. That’s weird right? Dem babies better watch out on Halloween. I’ve got to make up!
Good for him for taking control of his health, I hope he sticks with it! He’s been one of my favorite actors for decades, his collaborations with the Cohen brothers are some of his best roles imo, The Big Lebowski being high on that list.
You know, I just could not get all the way through the Big Lebowski. I’ve seen other Cohen Bros. films & liked them, but BL just bored me silly.
I get it. I actually didn’t care for it that much when it first came out but over the years has become one of my all-time favorite films. It’s like comfort food now lol.