Ethan Suplee is the actor from American History X, Remember the Titans, Blow, The Wolf of Wall Street, Mallrats, John Q, and Boy Meets World, and he played Randy Hickey across four seasons of My Name Is Earl. He hosts the American Glutton podcast, and he went from 550 pounds to a six-pack. The tool that finally worked was a free basal metabolic rate calculator he found through a Google search. Over twenty years he tried nutritionists, dietitians, personal trainers, keto, and eight-hour-a-day cycling. Every one of them worked, and every one of them ended with the weight coming back. In Episode 663 he explains what was different the last time, why he refuses to say the word calories, and what he had to stop doing entirely.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · or press play in the player above.
Ethan lost the weight by treating it as an energy balance problem rather than a diet problem. He worked out how much energy his body actually needs, then held a consistent calorie deficit below that number. Around five and a half years ago he ran a Google search for a basal metabolic rate calculator, took the number it produced, and spent two weeks measuring his intake against it. The calculator was not exactly right for him, so he adjusted downward until he found the real figure. From there he built his meals around that number and tested foods one at a time, dropping anything that left him hungry soon after eating. He did not use a coach, a chef, or a branded program for the change that finally held.
Ethan says he was 550 pounds at his heaviest, and in the episode he describes being roughly 300 pounds down from that peak while carrying visible abs. He is careful to point out that the total is the outcome and not the method. Much of that weight had been lost and regained several times over twenty years through different diets and programs before the last attempt held.
A basal metabolic rate calculator estimates how much energy your body burns at rest, before any exercise or daily movement is added. Ethan found one through an ordinary Google search and treated the output as a starting hypothesis rather than a fact. He spent about two weeks logging what he ate against that number and discovered he had to eat below the estimate to lose weight. Once he had his own real figure for a low-exertion day, he built everything else on top of it and held a calorie deficit against it. He describes it as knowing the amount of energy his body needs just to exist.
Ethan lost weight on keto and then stalled. He tightened the protocol, stayed strict, and still did not lose. When he finally started restricting how much he ate on keto, the weight moved again, and that is when the logic broke for him. The premise of keto as he understood it was that you could eat freely as long as you stayed within the food rules. If he had to limit quantity anyway, the food rules were doing none of the work. He put rice, bread, and pasta back into his diet, tracked his intake, and resumed losing weight.
No. Ethan addresses this directly in the episode because he takes pushback on social media from people who assume a Hollywood actor must have a staff behind the transformation. He says plainly that he has no personal chef and has never been wealthy enough for one. He has worked with nutritionists, dietitians, and personal trainers across the previous twenty years, and with every one of them he lost weight and gained it back. The method that finally stuck came from a free online calculator and his own record-keeping.
Ethan describes destroying a set of eating habits rather than adjusting them. Eating late at night, eating out of boredom, eating out of happiness, and eating to comfort himself all had to go, and he treats those as boundaries he does not cross rather than rules he bends. He allows rare exceptions around family holidays when his wife and children have cooked something and ask him to try it. Outside of those, the categories are closed.
His training is built around frequency rather than intensity. He is in the gym at least six days a week, keeps cardio machines at home, and walks his dogs daily. He has flat feet and does not consider himself a runner. His most recent addition is kickboxing, chosen deliberately because he has never been good at it and therefore has no old performance to measure himself against. He contrasts that with getting back on a rowing machine and being discouraged by how far he had fallen from once completing a full marathon on one.
American Glutton is Ethan's podcast about food, health, fitness, and the psychology of changing your body. It exists because a friend, the actor Kevin Connolly, kept asking him to start a show. Ethan turned down the political format he was offered and proposed talking about health, setting physical goals, and believing in yourself instead. He describes it as filling a gap: he already had a community of people to talk to about sobriety, and had nothing equivalent for weight.
Ethan Suplee is an American actor best known for American History X, Remember the Titans, Blow, The Wolf of Wall Street, Mallrats, John Q, and his run as Randy Hickey on My Name Is Earl. His other credits include Boy Meets World, The Ranch, Cold Mountain, Without a Paddle, The Butterfly Effect, The Hunt, Babylon, and the Hulu series Chance. He left high school early, found an agent, and booked two jobs on his first day of auditions. He is a sober person who has been through rehab several times, and he hosts the American Glutton podcast.
I had watched the whole run of Chance while I was trying to learn more about Ethan, and somewhere in there it clicked that this was the same guy from Remember the Titans and My Name Is Earl, and also the guy in the middle of a weight loss story I had been following for years.
What made me want the conversation was not the number. It was that he talks about the mental side of it the way somebody talks about work they have actually done. I described him on the show as the David Goggins of weight loss, and I meant it as a compliment about credibility. Plenty of people give advice in this space. Very few of them have been where he has been.
Late in the conversation I asked whether he could exercise his way out of the problem, and his answer reframed the whole thing for me. He said he had been fairly sedentary, but that the sedentary part was a symptom rather than a cause. The line he used has stayed with me since. It is a small sentence and it explains an enormous amount about why "just move more" fails as advice for the people who need it most. He says it plainly around the forty-one minute mark.
Ethan uses the word energy instead, and he is deliberate about it. He explained that the word calories carries so much accumulated baggage that it stops people from hearing the actual concept, and the actual concept is simple: the body is a machine, fuel goes into it, and there is a unit we use to measure that fuel. Changing the word changed how the arithmetic landed for him. It is a small rhetorical move that I think does real work. Listen to how he frames it in the twenty-minute stretch of the episode.
This is the part of the episode I keep returning to. Ethan had been to nutritionists, dietitians, and personal trainers across two decades, and every round ended the same way. The thing that finally worked cost nothing and took two weeks to calibrate. He walks through exactly what he typed, what number came back, why that number was wrong for him, and what he did to find the right one. The sequence matters more than the tool. Press play and follow the steps in his own words.
Ethan did not abandon keto because of a study or an argument. He abandoned it because of a contradiction he ran into himself. He was strict, he stalled, he got stricter, he still stalled, and then he did the one thing the protocol supposedly made unnecessary and immediately started losing again. The conclusion he drew from that is unsparing, and it is aimed specifically at people carrying hundreds of pounds rather than people looking to drop ten. He lays out the whole chain of reasoning about twenty-one minutes in.
The warning Ethan gives to anyone starting at 350 or 500 pounds is the one I had never heard stated so clearly. The amount of energy a body needs to hold its weight changes substantially as that weight comes off, which means any program built on not paying attention will eventually stop producing results through no fault of your effort. He explains why that makes the "never count anything" promise particularly dangerous at the high end. Hear him work through it in the episode.
Ethan lists the categories he had to eliminate, and the list is longer than most people expect. It is not just the obvious late-night eating. Eating because he was bored, eating because he was happy, and eating to comfort himself all had to go, and he treats those as fixed boundaries rather than guidelines. He is honest about the narrow set of exceptions he permits and why they do not undermine the structure. Listen to how he describes drawing those lines around seventeen minutes in.
Ethan is a sober person who has been through rehab more than once, and he draws a direct parallel that I found clarifying. The mistake he made coming out of rehab was believing the hard part was over because the substance was gone. He argues weight works the same way, that arriving at a goal weight and concluding you can stop working is exactly the thinking that produced the problem in the first place. He is careful about how far he generalizes it. Hear the comparison in his words around fourteen minutes.
Ethan started kickboxing this year for a reason that has nothing to do with kickboxing. He got back on a rowing machine, compared himself to the version of himself who had once done a full marathon on one, and found the gap discouraging enough to look for something else. What he chose deliberately was an activity with no personal history attached. There is a broader lesson in there about how to restart training after time away. Listen to that section for the full reasoning.
The origin story is better than I expected. Ethan was offered a podcast built around political argument, which he was well suited to and completely unwilling to do, and he counter-proposed a show about health and physical goals instead. The reason he wanted it was personal rather than commercial. He already had a room full of people he could talk to about sobriety and no equivalent for the other thing. Press play to hear how that conversation went.
Ethan's entire fishing career at the time of this conversation consisted of one very small bass, which he found so absorbing that he did not look at his phone for four hours. That was enough to send him shopping for a boat, and the sticker shock that followed produced one of my favorite exchanges in the episode. His wife set a single condition before he could buy anything, and I gave him the advice I give everybody who is about to buy too much boat. Listen to the back half of the episode for that.
The day after this conversation, the thing I could not stop thinking about was how unglamorous the answer turned out to be. There was no supplement, no protocol, no coach. There was a free calculator, two weeks of paying attention, and then years of not crossing a handful of lines.
I also came away thinking differently about the mental side. I went in expecting a story about willpower, and what I got was a story about arithmetic plus boundaries. Ethan does not describe himself as someone with more discipline than other people. He describes himself as someone who built a life where the old habits no longer had anywhere to happen.
If you are working on something long and hard, whether it is weight or anything else, the shape of what he did transfers. This is one of the more useful conversations I have had on this show.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
Ethan Suplee · American Glutton · Tom Rowland · Tom Rowland Podcast · David Goggins · Layne Norton · Carbon Diet Coach · Michael Chandler · Kevin Connolly · Hugh Laurie · American History X · Remember the Titans · Blow · The Wolf of Wall Street · Mallrats · John Q · My Name Is Earl · Boy Meets World · The Ranch · Cold Mountain · Without a Paddle · The Butterfly Effect · The Hunt · Babylon · Manodrome · God Is a Bullet · Chance · The Qualified Captain · Miami International Boat Show · Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, athletes, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Ethan Suplee is an American actor and the host of the American Glutton podcast. He is best known for American History X, Remember the Titans, Blow, The Wolf of Wall Street, Mallrats, and John Q, and for playing Randy Hickey across four seasons of My Name Is Earl. His other film and television work includes Boy Meets World, The Ranch, Cold Mountain, Without a Paddle, The Butterfly Effect, The Hunt, Babylon, Manodrome, God Is a Bullet, and the Hulu series Chance, which he names in this episode as his favorite job he has ever had. He left high school early, signed with an agent, and booked two acting jobs on his first day of auditions. He is a sober person who has been open about multiple stays in rehab. Outside of acting he is best known for a weight transformation that took him from 550 pounds to visible abs, and for talking publicly about the mechanics of how he did it rather than selling a program built on it.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 663: Ethan Suplee
In this episode: 550 pounds to a six-pack, the free calculator that finally worked, why keto stopped adding up, the habits he had to destroy, and what happened when he went boat shopping — in the exact words spoken.
Ethan Suplee: Acting, like, just coming up with a character, I think is very different from, what you actually do when you're when you're making a television show or or a movie, you know? So when you're when you're learning acting, it it almost seems like all of those settings are built for the stage. And the the actual nuts and bolts and technicality of of acting for television or movies is is really different. You know what I mean? Like, everything's chopped up into tiny tiny little pieces. And then occasionally you'll get to run through a scene one time in like a master shot, but then the detail comes in the close ups and stuff like that. And so there was no prep preparation for that at all.
Ethan Suplee: I'm Ethan Suplee, and this is the Tom Rowland podcast.
Tom Rowland: Alright. Ethan, how are you today?
Ethan Suplee: I'm good, sir. How are you?
Tom Rowland: Man, I'm just I'm just doing fantastic. I'm really really happy to have you on the podcast. I've I've been a fan. I've, I've certainly followed your career. It's very easy to follow some of the most iconic movies of of our time you've been in. And if you look at your IMDb page, it is it's crazy. You're you've been so prolific in in what you've done. It's it's just wild. And you've had this up these opportunities to be in these incredible movies and play these incredible characters. It's just really been very cool to watch. How, how did that start for you?
Ethan Suplee: I I left I I I kinda left high school early, and, I had a bunch of friends in I I was raised in Los Angeles, and I had friends who were actors. And it really seemed like me it seemed to me like the best way to work without getting a job was to be an actor. You know? That that was very appealing when I was a teenager. And, and so I I went out and found an agent who would represent me. And and, basically, the first day of auditions getting two jobs. And, I took one, and that was a show called Boy Meets World in the early nineties.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Wow. What a start. Yeah. That's that's pretty uncommon, really, for for for I mean, you you always hear about the, you know, the the struggling actor that tries so hard and and and just auditions and auditions and auditions. What do you think the difference was that I mean, that you you have such luck right away? Or maybe it's not luck. Maybe it's preparation, meeting, and opportunity. I don't know. I mean, I you know, as far as that goes, I'd preparation meets an opportunity. I
Ethan Suplee: don't know. I mean, I you know, as far as that goes, I don't there wasn't a huge amount of preparation. I I don't you know, it's acting, like, just coming up with a character, I think, is very different from, what you actually do when you're when you're making a television show or or a movie. You know? So when you're when you're learning acting, it it almost seems like all of those settings are built for the stage. And the the actual nuts and bolts and technicality of of acting for television or movies is is really different.
Tom Rowland: You know
Ethan Suplee: what I mean? Like, everything's chopped up into tiny, tiny little pieces. And then occasionally, you'll get to run through a scene one time in, like, a master shot. But then the detail comes and the close ups and stuff like that. And so there was no prep preparation for that at all. I I think I was just lucky, to be honest with you. You know? I I went and happened to audition for a couple of things that, that I was right for on day one and started working. And and, you know, I got to do Boy Meets World for, like, three years, which was which was also crazy.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome, man. And then, then your career just progresses and you just get I mean, one of my favorites of all time is remember the titans. I mean, that was so good, and you were so good in that that one. And just we just watched that movie the other day with with my son. He had never seen it. And so we watched it And just, man, that that movie makes me cry every time. The whole the whole movie. Like, it's just such a like, I don't know. There's so many good actors in that movie, and the story is so good. And it's just I don't know what it is about that movie, but those kinda movies always get me. Like, Like, Rudy and that movie, Miracle. Like, they just get me. Like, I'm a sports fan at heart. And then if you get a movie like that that can really tell that story, it's just I don't don't know. It's it's iconic. Like, it's Yeah.
Ethan Suplee: That's a special one for sure. It's hard to do, you know, be there's, like I I definitely feel like I've been in a handful of movies that are really good, but it's hard unless you're, you know, like, one of the main people who are who are making these decisions. I'm just going at that point from job to job, basically. And I feel like I got very, very lucky many times.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. Well, in your career also, one of the things that I followed is is this weight loss journey and this this relationship that you have, and you're you're quite open about it on your on your you have, and you're you're quite open about it on your on your podcast, American Glutton. I really like your podcast. I've listened to a whole bunch of them. And Thank you. It's it's really good. It's very interesting, conversations, really about food and and the relationship with food and and just your journey. Like, I look at you as, like, the the David Goggins of of weight loss. Because You know what I'm saying? Like because David Goggins, one of the things that he's talking about, he's like, man there's all these people that that talk about the theory of mindset and they talk about this and that. He's like, I am it. I have done it. And and that's that's you. Like, you you have done this, and you have been at these places that I just think that so many people that are giving advice on on weight loss and giving advice on on on mental preparation for it and just the whole process. I don't think that they've experienced what you have.
Ethan Suplee: You know, it it's it's such a tricky thing to really even talk about because we are inundated endlessly with kind of what I think of as, like, get rich quick scheme diets. Right? Where a person just has to make one tweak and or they're sold on a thirty day program. And now look, if you wanna lose five pounds, maybe that's all you need. But most of the people I'm talking to and and a large portion of the country at this point is rapidly becoming morbidly obese, morbid morbidly obese. And so I don't think any of those, solutions, those one shot, like, you know, whether it's I'm just gonna stop eating seed oils or I'm gonna be a vegan or I'm gonna only eat meat. That that to me is not a solution for a bunch of nuanced issues that have kind of overtaken your life to get you to this point of being, you know, hundreds of pounds overweight. And I think if we if we don't have some kind of a perspective shift on that, if we keep looking for these simple one shot solutions to obesity, we're just never gonna get there as obesity, we're just never gonna get there as proven by the amount that we continue by percentage to get more and more obese. And, you know, every, you know, year, there's a new a new thing where it's like, you know, now coconut oil is a big thing. Right. And you're fine if you just eat coconut oil and and, you know, put butter in your coffee. That's it. That's all you have to do, and you won't be hungry ever again. And it's like, you know, I'm I'm sure if I'm sure if David Goggins put butter in his coffee and decided this is gonna fill me up for the day, it might. But he also can run an ultra marathon. So I'm talking to people who can't do that or who aren't doing that. And, like, we gotta have a a bit of a perspective shift on our entire lives, basically, to combat this thing that that we're mindlessly doing for our entire lives. You know?
Tom Rowland: Yeah. It is there is a lot of it that is mindless, because, you know, maybe it's even that you're eating the same thing that you've always eaten, but the food's changed. And so the same thing that you've always eaten, you like these particular types of meats, you like these particular types of vegetables, you now they're coming in a different looking package, and you don't know the difference. And you just eat the same type of thing that your parents ate, and the same type of thing that you ate all your life. And where did this come from? Like, what what's going on here? And I'm trying to eat healthy, and that's the other thing is like, I hear people say, well I'm eating clean. Or What does that mean? Yeah. I'm eating healthy. And it's like, I have to ask them, what is that to you? What do you think that is to you? What is eating clean? What is eating healthy? What is watching your diet? Like, what is it? And so, I don't know. I just kinda like having the conversation with people that have have been very successful with it or even the other way of of that it it just has never quite worked for them. And it's like, wonder what it is about certain people that it has worked and people have lost tremendous amounts of weight and kept it off. And then other people that try and try and try and try and try and and it just never seems to work for them. And I know that you would have a different perspective on that because you've probably been you've been both of those people. Right? Like
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. By the way, I've done every one of those get rich quick scheme diets. I I've done them all. I've lost weight and then I gained it back on every single one because none of those diets address the rest of your life, you know. So it's possible to lose a bunch of weight by making one alteration. But at some point, is that alteration gonna be enough to get you down to a really healthy weight? Maybe not, you know? And and if it's not, then what are you gonna how are you gonna make the adjustments to continue losing weight if you need to? And then if you do get down to a certain weight, you go like, this is the weight I wanna be for the rest of my life. How is that diet set you up for that?
Tom Rowland: Yes.
Ethan Suplee: You know, I often thought about weight loss as this magical thing. You know, like, you hear about, like, Buddha sits beneath the Bodhi tree and achieves the state of enlightenment. And I would think about weight loss in those terms. Like, if I just lose 200 pounds, I will be cured. And it just doesn't really work that way. You know, I'm also a sober person and it's the same thing. Like, I've gone through through rehab a number of times. This is many, many years ago. And you come out of rehab thinking, well, the drugs are out of my system. I'm done. I'm good. That's no such luck. You gotta really work at your life to kinda put it back back together. And I don't know that this necessarily applies to everybody, but I do think it applies to enough people that it's a statistical probability that if you've been a drug addict to the point where you need rehab, rehab, that it also requires a little bit more work towards staying clean once you're out of rehab. You know? And similar to weight loss, you lose the weight and then you just go like, well, now I don't need to work at this anymore. And it's like, yeah. Okay. Well, not working at it got you to be obese because that's what you're conditioned to do.
Tom Rowland: That's a great start to the conversation. We're gonna take a short break and get right back to the show in just a moment. And so what are somebody where do where do you go like that? Like, in in your case, like, you you seem to have really gotten it under control here recently because you're jacked, man. Like, you got a six pack. Like, that was one of the things that you you said in in one of the things that I read. Like, you have achieved your dream of having a six pack. And and you look at your Instagram, you got six pack. So how do you how do you do that? Like, lose 300 pounds and not only just do that, but also achieve a a a level of fitness that is incredible. Like, that's that's incredible. And that's that's to me, that's gotta be something that's not just a calorie in, calorie out kind of thing. That's a mindset thing that you that you've had to work on.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's it is it's less so now because I've kind of got, my life structured in a way where as it was twenty years ago, structured in a way where I was just gaining weight day in day out. Now it's structured in a way where the gym is a part of my life six days a week at least. Occasionally, if I get super restless, I go and do a really light day on Sunday in the gym. I have cardio machines at my house. I take my dogs on walks every day. My life has become more active physically. And then, you know, through really meticulous care, I have determined how much food my body can eat to maintain this size. And so if I want to lose weight, I know I just cut out a little bit. You know what I mean? But but, you know, it required, like, the destruction of a ton of bad habits, like eating late at night and eating out of boredom and eating out of, happiness or eating to comfort myself. Like, all that had to go out the window. Like, those for me are boundaries I don't cross. And that's not to say, you know, I've also had the odd Christmas or Thanksgiving where my wife and kids are like, can you please we've made this dish. You're at you've we can see your abs. You've got a good jawline. Can you please try the dish that we put all this effort in? And then and then I go, yes. Absolutely. Right. I can also, like, let my hair down in that way, but it just very occasionally.
Tom Rowland: That's where you go a lot on your podcast is, like, that's to me, that's a relationship with food. Like, you you cut out, like, the celebratory meals. You cut out the the the depressed meals. You cut out the stress meals. You cut out the boring meals, and you develop this relationship that food is fuel. And, you know, what I'm curious about, like, when you're when you're talking about that, that you have determined how much food you're eating now to maintain this certain size that you want. I'm sure over the this journey that you've been on, you've talked to probably, nutritionists, witch doctors. I don't know. Every possible person that could possibly help. Right? And and I'm just wondering when it gets right down to it, is it you that that ultimately is is in charge of it now, or are you still consulting with professionals or like
Ethan Suplee: No. No. Let me say this to you right away, Tom, because this is something I've actually gotten some pushback on social media from people who are like, you're a rich actor. You have a chef and trainers and this. Not true. I have no personal chef. I've never had a per I've never been that wealthy. That seems to me you know, I know a couple guys were chefs and they are really, really rich. So I think in order to to get that, you gotta be really rich. Yeah. I've been to all been to all manner of nutritionists and dietitians and I've had personal trainers, but this is over the last twenty years. And with each of those, I lost weight and then I gained weight back. And so the tool that I used five years ago that helped me was a Google search for a basal metabolic rate calculator. And I got a number and then I spent two weeks monitoring that number. So it said X amount of energy could be monitoring that number. So it said x amount of energy could be consumed by me per day and they call it calories. Calories, this word calories really upsets people. So I call it energy because that's what it means. It's energy. Right? We've got these machines, these body machines, energy, right? We've got these machines, these body machines that we put fuel into and that fuel we, the metric we use to, to basically weigh that fuel is calories. And, you know, the the Google search, the number the Google search gave me wasn't exactly accurate. I actually had to go below that because those things are not perfect. And it took me a couple of weeks, and then I had this number. Okay. On a on a low exertion day, here's the amount of energy my body needs just to exist. Mhmm. Right? And based on that, I constructed what I ate and I did some trial and error stuff and found there's some stuff where when I eat it, I don't feel great. Or when I eat it, I'm hungry right away. And so guess what? That stuff started to fall by the wayside because I don't really like being hungry, especially when I know I'm eating enough. And it had nothing to do with nutritionists. It had nothing to do and this has been this is like five, five and a half years ago now, you know? And so there there was a point before that where I was doing keto and I got to the point where I wasn't losing weight on keto. So I got super strict and then I still wasn't losing weight. And so then I started restricting my restricting my food on keto and I started losing weight again and I went, wait a second. If I have to restrict my food, because the whole thing about keto is like eat whatever you want. If I've got to restrict my food, what what is the point in this? Why am I doing this? And guess what? I added rice and bread and pasta back into my diet and watched my calories and started losing weight again.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Ethan Suplee: So, like, that is my big warning to people, especially with massive weight loss. You start at five hundred pounds or three fifty pounds. It's still probably massive weight loss. If you got to lose 100 pounds or more, you start at three fifty pounds. You do something that says just you can't you don't have to pay attention to what you eat at all. The amount of energy your body needs to maintain its weight or the, the amount you need to reduce to get into a deficit is gonna change so much when you lose 50 pounds that if you just continue eating the same thing, you're not gonna lose weight anymore.
Tom Rowland: Right.
Ethan Suplee: This to me is the big fallacy of trying to use keto to handle massive obesity.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm. Yeah. Because you can be keto and to consume a tremendous amount of food. I mean, you can eat tons and tons of meat and and I mean, I don't know. I mean, eventually, I don't I don't know. It doesn't it it obviously isn't working for everyone because because it's not working for everyone. It works great for some people.
Ethan Suplee: And and And I'm not knocking it for those people. Do whatever works.
Tom Rowland: That's the thing. How important do you think it is, like, when this is where I I I look at someone like yourself, far more so than than to to some some weight loss guru person that that is is is giving advice on on Instagram. But like, a lot of people say, well you know, you just gotta hit kinda rock bottom where you just really really wanna make a change. But some people really do wanna make a change and they try to make a change and every time you see this person they're trying to make a change. And they're following something and they've been to a new nutritionist and they really wanna make a change, but it's just not working for them. Yeah. What do you think about that? Is it is that the is it that you really have to make the change? Or is it that you keep tinkering around with this until until you find something that starts to work for you like you like you just described?
Ethan Suplee: Well, yeah. I will say I I had many instances where I said aloud even, I will do anything. Tell me what to do. I will do anything. I need to give up bread. Fine. Done. Bread is done. Right? But I I didn't want it to be and when I when I would say I wanna do everything, I was thinking, like, just tell me the one thing to do. Yeah. Right. You know? And it turns out it's a little bit more than just one thing. You know, I would alter my my route home when I was driving home to keep me away from the drive thrus that I was accustomed to going through because it was safer in the beginning to do that. There there and and I could tell you every little thing, every little nuance thing I did to alter my life, to safeguard my life so that I could be successful. But, you know, it was this persistent idea of I'm gonna find the thing that I can do. And then it was also backed up with, oh, maybe it's gonna be more than just finding the right diet. Maybe it's going to be addressing my entire life and deconstructing it and pulling it apart and going how many bad habits am I not even thinking about? You know, like, I was teaching my kid, one of my youngest kids, recently how to drive. And I'm walking her through it going, oh, she really has no idea of anything. And I'm going like, okay, gentle on the gas. Now start to turn. Now feather the brake. Back to the gas. Now turn out. And and so she's starting to go like, okay. And she's talking herself through every little step. That's not how we live our lives. Once you learn how to drive, you're not doing that. So if you in the future have this problem where you keep getting like speeding tickets and you go
Tom Rowland: like, well, I'm just not gonna speed. Okay, maybe that handles it.
Ethan Suplee: But if you go, gonna speed, okay, maybe that handles it. But if you go, my driving is a disaster. As as a whole, my driving is a disaster, and you try to handle that by just not speeding, maybe it doesn't handle it. And maybe you gotta take it back apart to the point where you have to think through every step and put it back together in a better way. And that's basically what I did with my life. And now look. I think a lot of people are gonna hear this and go, that's too much work.
Tom Rowland: I'll
Ethan Suplee: just go keto. And I go, like, okay, fine. Do what you're gonna do. I'm just telling you, I tried keto. I tried, you know, fit for life, the Beverly Hills diet, the cabbage soup diet, the potato diet. I tried every single diet that's existed. South Beach, the zone. And I failed at all of them. Not not losing weight. I was successful at losing weight, and then I gained the weight back at every single one. And so to
Tom Rowland: Why is that do you think with all the different ones that you just mentioned that that you ended up gaining it back? Because I have this conversation with a lot of people that that have asked about weight loss and different things. And and is it that that's just not sustainable over time? Like you can do that for six months and your family's going to be like, okay, well all he's eating is cabbage soup now and this is gonna be okay for, you know, we're gonna support this for six months but I mean is that really are you really gonna do that for the rest of your life? You're gonna eat cabbage soup only? Or you're going to eat something only? Or you're making yourself this social pariah forever? Like, is that and and some people are fine with that. Like, yep. That's just the way it's gonna be. I've tried everything else and that's the way it's gonna be. But in your you know, you just reeled off eight of them. Like, what it was it because it's not sustainable or just too
Ethan Suplee: Well, a lot of those diets put you into a really, really severe caloric deficit. The you're basically starving. I mean, you know, some of them are five, six hundred calories a a day. The end product of that, if you go like, this is the rest of my life, you die. You starve to death. Mhmm. That's not you know, little kids eat more than 600 calories
Tom Rowland: a day.
Ethan Suplee: So that is definitely not sustainable. And then so so it's kind of two things. One, if you're doing one of these starvation super, super energy restrictive diets, that cannot be forever because you die. And you have created like now they've they've shown this study in animals. I don't think they've ever shown it in people, but many times scientifically, they can go at people and and go, like, well, this also applies. The human body, an adult human body has a certain fixed amount of fat cells. And when you get fatter, those cells just expand, they get larger. The only time you kind of create a window to actually produce more fat cells is after you've starved. So if you withhold an extreme amount of food from yourself and then you overfeed coming out of that, meaning you don't taper onto food slowly, you eat too much, you binge eat. Your body wants to store that food so fast because it just thought it was dying because you were starving. So it creates more fat cells. So you actually get fatter by doing those super, super low calorie diets. That's number one. Number two, the the kind of lifestyle changes where it's like, well, just don't eat carbohydrates anymore. Fine, if you want to lose a little bit of weight. But if you have hundreds of pounds of weight to lose or even 50 pounds of weight to lose, I would just suggest that you, are just as likely to overeat fat as you are to overeat anything else. Mhmm. There's no evidence that says, people just magically learn how to eat when they stop eating carbohydrates. They stop overeating. I know that I didn't only eat out of hunger. I ate many times for a myriad of other reasons other than just being hungry. And just eating fat is not gonna get rid of all of the other stuff going on in your life that you're using food for kind of pain.
Tom Rowland: For sure. I just lost 20 pounds. And, I did it just because I I just thought, well, I weigh a hundred and ninety one. That's too heavy. That's not what I should be. And I think, you know, I've had this this issue with my calf with running where, it's just I've just had lots of calf issues over the last couple years with running. It's been very difficult to run. So I started thinking, well I did this weight, weight vest workout where I was wearing a 20 pound weight vest. And I finished the workout and I take this 20 pound weight vest and I throw it off and I go, wow. That feels amazing. I bet if I threw another 20 pound weight vest off, maybe I could get my running back. And so that was really the the motivation for me is is that I really like to run. And I have not been able to run because of this this calf thing. And I think of running as like this moving meditation for me, and it's like this maybe it's good for my body, but it's definitely good for my head. And I just like it. And and I want to get back to doing it. And I used to run marathons and for some reason, I've I've encountered these issues with my calves that that I just, out of nowhere, just boom, just pops. And so I haven't been running. And I've been doing everything else and so it's been fine. I can do all kinds of other things. But I threw this weight vest off. And I thought, man, 20 pounds off. That sounds that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna lose 20 pounds. So I set the goal and I I did it. And in doing it, one of the one of my techniques of of doing this was that I'm going to track everything that I put into my mouth. When I put it in my mouth, what I put in my mouth, and I do it through an app. And I would get hungry and I would or I would get ready to go eat something and I would be like, why am I eating? I'm I'm only eating because I'm bored. I've got nothing to do right now and I'm bored. Or you would see someone and you'd be like, hey you wanna go get something to eat? But I'm looking at my app and I'm like, but I've already eaten breakfast and lunch. What am I gonna have a third meal here and then dinner? Like Right. It's it's like what you're saying. It's something else. It's boredom. It's a social thing. It's it's entertainment. It's celebration. It's whatever it is. We're gonna take a quick break and get right back to the show in just a moment.
Ethan Suplee: But And and it's omnipresent, dude.
Tom Rowland: Sure.
Ethan Suplee: You go to Home Depot and you're checking out a Home Depot and they got food for you at the checkout.
Tom Rowland: Hey, Evan.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. You cannot go anywhere and and and not have food thrown in your face in this country.
Tom Rowland: It's it is everywhere. You're like, oh, wouldn't it be we got we got an hour. Wouldn't it be fun to go get some ice cream? Like Right. And the kids are gonna have a great time. Yeah. Ice cream. Let's do it. And then the next thing you know, you're going to get ice cream. And Yeah. And it's like, why are we eating ice cream? Because we're only eating ice cream because this is this is an activity. Like, this is an activity that revolves around food. And everybody loves ice cream. Who doesn't like ice cream? It's fantastic. But when you it took it took like and I already knew this, but it took this app and showing me that look, in fact, you don't have anything left. Like it has these little three ring rings and when you fill up the fat, it fills the ring ring all the way up. And then you fill up the protein, it fills the ring all the way up. You fill up the carbohydrates, it fills the ring all the way up. So you can kinda it's kinda like a fuel gauge. Right? Like you look at it and that's when I look at it and I'm like, okay, well breakfast, I'm halfway through my day. Now I've got a small lunch and then I still have room for dinner. And so you start thinking, okay. Well, I not only was I going to eat for boredom here, but I don't have anything left. Like Right. There's nothing left. So if I wanna go do that, that's fine but I'm not gonna eat dinner. And then it's you it's like a fuel tank. And for me it worked really well but it also what what was the most evident to me is pointing out when I was using food for any other reason than fuel. And it was really often. Really often. Me too, dude. Yeah. And then and I don't have hundreds of pounds of lose. I was just using 20. So when you think about, like like, your journey, it's like, okay. There's a million things that you're using food for. Yeah. You gotta get you gotta get that under control. And, like, when you're when you're when we're explaining this and you're you're talking about your journey, there are probably a lot of people that are listening and going, woah, that's a lot of work, man. I'm that's that's a lot of work. But I guess that's where it really boils down to it goes back to, well, do do you want to make a change? And it's one thing to do you want to make a a change that's gonna be a silver bullet, a quick fix, or are you willing to do the work that maybe that's what's required? And that's not a popular selling point.
Ethan Suplee: No. Telling people it's telling people it's a total life kinda makeover. It's not it's not popular because people are also being sold at the same time. Just do this one thing Yeah. And it will solve all your problems. And, you know, for some reason, we keep as a society buying into that because it's there's a new one every year. Every year, there's a big new diet.
Tom Rowland: Even worse. Like, there's a pill or you could take this this this supplement and you won't be hungry at at all and and you'll just lose weight or you can get a surgery.
Ethan Suplee: Right.
Tom Rowland: Right?
Ethan Suplee: There's so it's it's there's endless quick get rich quick schemes out there for that that are to solve for dieting. But I I love what you're talking about with the, the food app because, like, one of the things big things that helped me was just journaling in the beginning. I did eventually find a food app also that I used for a little while, but I I first just started writing everything down. And I would write everything down and write down all its values. And I was doing math all day long and I was like, oh, you know, now I know what what the value of this is in terms of energy for my body. I just didn't know that before.
Tom Rowland: And you didn't know, like, oh, I could eat, a tablespoon of this, or I could eat a bowl of this, and it's the same thing. Like Yeah. I can eat a bowl of broccoli or I can eat three potato chips and it's gonna be the same carbohydrate value. Right? And and for me, like, you you you learn when you're writing it down, you're learning like, okay. This is is the value of this like you're talking about. But but also, what a lot of people don't even realize is like, this is a carbohydrate, a vegetable and junk food. This is a fat. This is a protein. And how these all come together to make your your daily caloric intake. And and also when you're writing down, sometimes you get ready to eat something and you're like, I don't wanna write that down. That's I'm not gonna write that down. So you just put it back. Right? Like, the it's the act of writing it down or putting it in the in the food app where you're like, man, that's good. For me, it's like these little circles. Like, if I put that in there and I can actually do it in the one that I've got, the carbon, diet. Yeah. Oh, great. Diet coach. Yeah. That's Layne Norton. Do you know him?
Ethan Suplee: I do. He's awesome.
Tom Rowland: Oh, I
Ethan Suplee: love that. That is a great app because it will make adjustments for you.
Tom Rowland: Right. But you can also put in whatever you want, and then you're like, woah. That sends me to the moon. I'm taking that out. And then you can like test it and put it in there and test it and see. But that's that that has been really good for me. As far as exercise goes, you're doing a lot of boxing. What are you what are you boxing so much for these days?
Ethan Suplee: It it literally was, this idea I had at the beginning of the year because I hadn't been doing a lot of cardio and I was like, I wanna do a little bit more cardio, but, you know, I I'm not a good runner. I have terrifically flat feet. I had done the last, like, real kind of, romance I had with cardio was on a rowing machine.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Ethan Suplee: And I jumped on a rowing machine early in the year, and I was so bad compared to what I had been able to do on a rowing machine. Like, I did a full marathon on a rowing machine once.
Tom Rowland: Uh-huh.
Ethan Suplee: And and then that was discouraging. And I thought, what what can I do where it doesn't matter that I'm bad? And I was like, well, I'll go do some kickboxing because, like, you know, I don't need to be good at that. I've never been good at that.
Tom Rowland: Right. So Michael Chandler, introduced us to one another. Yeah. Did you meet him through through boxing or through a gym like that? Or how do you know Mike?
Ethan Suplee: I think we knew each other on social media and then I just wound up going to a gym, not even realizing that he was there, that he was doing a training camp camp at, and that's how we met.
Tom Rowland: Oh, nice. He is he is a a great dude. I I really, enjoyed spending some time with him. He he's one of those guys that is very good at inspiration and motivation. I mean, he's transcending his his sport and he will easily be a a speaker or a or a personality in in that space, I think. He's just I don't know. I really really like him. But the boxing is is that's that is a good workout for sure. Yeah. So you also like cycling, right?
Ethan Suplee: Like. I haven't done that in a long time, but I used to do that was one iteration of weight loss where I just rode a bike eight hours a day, six days a week, didn't need anything, got really, really thin and then crashed and gained a bunch of weight.
Tom Rowland: So that's not the answer either. Right?
Ethan Suplee: I mean, I I think
Tom Rowland: Can you exercise your way to to it can I mean, that's the other question? Like, is it in the kitchen or is it in the gym or is it a mixture of both or is it a mixture of that and mindset? I guess it's like this whole conversation that we're having. It seems like it's all three.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. I think it's I really do think it's all of it. You whatever amount of energy you use up in the gym, you're gonna use a lot more just in your life just by moving around the house or doing or the way you talk. If you're animated when you talk, that all costs that all costs your body fuel. And so it's it's I think it's everything. I do, for me, think it is mostly the kitchen. I think that's the vast majority of the problem I had was I was fairly sedentary, but I think that came because I was overweight. And so the the the biggest hurdle for me is not that I want to sit and do nothing all day. It's that it was really tiring at five hundred and fifty pounds.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine. What are you working on now?
Ethan Suplee: I've got a few movies coming out. A movie called God is a Bullet and one called Babylon and one called Manodrome.
Tom Rowland: Wow.
Ethan Suplee: And yeah. And I'm just doing my podcast and How do you how do
Tom Rowland: you manage, do those all shoot at the same time? I've always wondered that. Like, when I was looking at your IMDb thing, like you'll have some years where you're you got a bunch of credits and then a couple of years where it's just like one thing. And maybe, I don't know, maybe one of those years where you're doing a bunch of things is the busy year or the one thing or the time when you're doing just the one thing is the busy year. I don't know which is more which is busier having a bunch of jobs kind of going on throughout the year or if you're working on like a series.
Ethan Suplee: Well, I very rarely I mean, I have in my life had two jobs at the same time, which then there's all kinds of scheduling nightmares that get into that when one job goes later than it's supposed to and you've already agreed to start doing another job. That can be a real nightmare. So I try to make sure there's at least some cushion of space between them. But, you know, it tends to be a few months very busy and then a few months of not very busy. And, you know, it goes back. That's when
Tom Rowland: you can work on the podcast and stuff?
Ethan Suplee: Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And do you Yeah. Do you, stack the podcast up? Like, do you try to do a bunch of episodes and then release them regularly? Or
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. Once a week. Yeah. That's for me, that's the best.
Tom Rowland: But you'll record them all at you'll record a whole bunch of them at at one time and then and then let them go?
Ethan Suplee: No. I'll record I'll try to record one a week, and then I'll always have I'll always be, like, three weeks behind. So there's three episodes, but I'm still trying to record one a week. Mhmm. Does that make you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And so your your podcast, American Glutton, what was the idea, for starting that podcast?
Ethan Suplee: A buddy of mine, Kevin Connolly, another actor, he started a whole podcasting company, and he was he asked me a number of times to do a podcast, you know, with your friends. I'm I'm pretty much like a political contrarian where really I think of all politicians as criminals. You know, I don't let there's no team that's off the hook in my eyes. And so he we would often have these discussions, me and my friends, where it didn't matter who they were bringing up or what side. I would just take the opposing view and be like, well, that's b s. Those guys are criminals. They should all be in jail or hung for war crimes or something like that. And he wanted me to do a podcast like that, and I was like, you're crazy, dude. I'm a I'm a Hollywood actor. I can't do that. That's insane. Like, we can't I can't talk about politics. I certainly can't be a contrarian. This is for fun amongst friends. And like, I don't even know if I really believe any of that. I just think like it's funny to watch people get so bent out of shape about politics, which I I really do have some disdain for politics. And so he kept saying like, come on, do it. It'd be awesome. You'll upset people, but people will love it. It'll be funny. And I finally was like, I'll do a podcast, but I just wanna talk about health and fitness and setting physical goals and believing in yourself and stuff like that. And he was like, okay. And I found that it was really helpful to me, you know, to talk about this stuff. Yeah. You know, I I think, amongst a group of people who all share my ideals with sobriety, sitting around and talking about that with them is also super helpful. Helpful. But I didn't have that really with weight loss. And so it was like, well, I can talk to people about this in in the form of a podcast.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm. And and and the journey, has it taken some twists and turns for you? Or have you stayed consistent with I mean, it seems like that's what you do is you talk about that on your podcast. But I don't know. It's been going for a while. And Yeah. This podcast that that I'm doing has taken all kinds of twists and turns. I basically find people that I think are interesting and talk about things that I'm interested in. And a lot of times that's fishing and a lot of times it's health and fitness and a lot of times it's leadership and then I'll get a chance to talk to somebody like Michael Chandler or or yourself. And it's like, I just to your point, it has been as helpful to me as a as a tool to learn more and a tool to become a better communicator and a tool to have really interesting conversations that in this world of cell phones and stuff, it's hard to sit down with somebody for an hour and talk to them and get to know them even if it's across a computer screen like this. But it's taken lots of twists and turns and it's gone nowhere that I thought it was going to. And I just wonder like what your journey has been like in your in in the American Glutton.
Ethan Suplee: There have been so many, people where before having done it, I would see somebody say something or read somebody's book and go like, god, I would love to talk to that person. And so now to your point, I can because I can, you know, send an email or have my producer get in touch with them somehow and go like, would you come on my show? That's been invaluable to me because there is, you know look, I have, I didn't even graduate from high school, so I have no real education. But I'm super interested in things that I'm super interested in. And so I'm like a sponge for that kind of data. So I've I've had, like you mentioned, Carbon. I've had Layne Norton on my show. And just having a conversation with him is fascinating because he's like this PhD scientist, you know, and
Tom Rowland: No BS.
Ethan Suplee: No BS. I mean, with him. At all, and he's like, look. Here's what the evidence says.
Tom Rowland: Right.
Ethan Suplee: That's it. And so it's really, really fun, to get to have those conversations.
Tom Rowland: Before we wrap up our conversation, we're gonna take one final break. You right back? Yeah. I, and and I've I've done the same the same kind of thing even with with him. Now he likes to fish. So Yeah. There's like a there's like a real commonality on the way back from a trip. I dropped in at his at his house and worked out with him and dropped off some fish and did a podcast with him in his house. And that's what we were supposed to do today, but, we our plans change. But, we'll we'll do that. So I saw a picture of you on your Instagram with a with a little bass. What what is your what's your experience with fishing?
Ethan Suplee: That what you saw is about that's my that's my total experience with fishing. But, you know, I am super fascinated by it. I really wanna, you know, I really wanna get a boat, and I was looking I I had this whole idea about what a boat was for a long time. Then I went and started looking at them and come to find out, like, I really think the center console fishing boats are much cooler
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Ethan Suplee: Somehow than the kind of boats I was thinking about. And then I would and, you know, and then I was thinking, like, that's pretty weird because I don't really fish. Am I gonna start fishing? And I thought, like, that could be cool. And we I went on this trip with my family, and, you know, wasn't the most exciting trip I've ever been on in my life, but I found that, like, I could go and throw this fishing lure in the water and be completely captivated for four hours straight. Not not looking at my phone, not thinking about anything. And I was like, that's really fun. So, like, I I am definitely interested in fishing, especially, you know, that thing. It it felt like it put up a fight, but it it was like a a six ounce bass. Yeah. Or or, you know,
Tom Rowland: it was a tiny little thing. We need to get you, down to The Keys where where you can mix fishing and food and we go out and catch some fish that that we can eat like Mahi or you know, snappers or something like that. And then, I mean, then it's like, okay. Now this is a whole different experience with food because you're gonna eat it in a way that Yeah. That you want to and and keep some. That's that's really fun. I like that a lot. But I think you would like it, especially because the keys are the keys are are beautiful and and awesome. You're not very far away and, we should definitely we should definitely get you down there. The boat thing, the thing the advice I would give you about the boat is start start small.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. I mean, you know, the the ice I I've been on boats. I've, you know, over in Europe where you sleep on the boat and you, you know, and it's fancy and all of that. And I'm like, that's not that's way out of my reach like that. But I thought like, oh, there's this one boat that's much smaller but still got a couple bedrooms on it. And we went and priced them and I and I had no idea. So it'd be like buying another house.
Tom Rowland: Yes.
Ethan Suplee: And then my wife was like, okay, I want you to dumb down and and get the like, go to the smallest thing you'd be thinking of. And that's still because I had no idea what this stuff cost. That still was the price of a house. It's just not a mansion anymore. It's still a a a fairly nice house. So that was kind of a rude awakening just how expensive these things are. So They can
Tom Rowland: be they can be really, really incredibly expensive and and then on top of that, basically every boat's a compromise. So like you're saying, well, I wanna fish in this little pond for the bass but I also wanna go out there and and and catch Mahi on the weekend, you know, offshore.
Ethan Suplee: So you need two boats.
Tom Rowland: And so you either need two boats or you need a boat that's not gonna do either one of those very well. Or it's gonna do one of them really well and the other very poorly. And, and so that's like the things. Like every boat's a compromise. But the boating world is a is an interesting one and you're in a great place, you know, around around your area kinda, South Florida area of being able to go to the Miami Boat Show and being able to go to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show and basically being able to see every type of boat under the sun right there in one little place to walk around.
Ethan Suplee: I've been to both of those boat shows and I just I just I walked out going like my wife's never gonna say okay to any of this.
Tom Rowland: She's
Ethan Suplee: never gonna be okay with any of this. Because it you know, even some of the tenders for the bigger boats are hundreds of thousands of dollars. Right. You know? And that's just to get you to the dock. Mhmm.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. But it doesn't have to be like that. You know? No. No. The the thing is is like the the funny thing about this conversation about choosing a boat and then the conversation that we had about, like, weight loss and the conversation that I have with people about, fitness is it's like what you have to do is you have to find something that is going to enhance your life. It's not going to cause undue stress and turmoil in your life. Like if you're gonna go out and buy a $700,000 boat and your wife is was thinking it was gonna cost maybe 20 and you come back with a $700,000 boat and it's you it's it's all you wanna do and you spend all your time waxing it and riding around in it and and it's taking away time from the family and it was way too expensive and nobody supports this this idea. As opposed to finding a boat that is a family oriented boat that everyone is gonna have a good time on and, oriented boat that everyone is gonna have a good time on and it's going to enhance your life in this in this way. Just like a diet program, like, you're going to do something that is going to make every part of your life better and your wife and your family and your and your loved ones and your friends and everyone is gonna support this as opposed to being on the cabbage diet or or whatever. Where you know where it's like no one or they're gonna support it for a little while. This is kinda cute and everything but it's kinda like
Ethan Suplee: And then they're gonna get fed up.
Tom Rowland: The house smells terrible all the time. Yeah. But but finding a boat is kinda like that. Like it really is. It's like you you can find a way that you can get into the into the space fairly inexpensively and the boats do hold their value very well. And that's what I was gonna say earlier is like, if you start kinda small then you get used to that boat, you're comfortable with it and you're thinking okay now it's time to go to a little bit bigger one. If you've only put a year on that boat it's almost worth what you paid for.
Ethan Suplee: Oh wow. And you can
Tom Rowland: like, especially right now with all of the, with right now, there's like this whole supply chain thing and outboard engines are incredibly hard to come by. And so many parts on the boats are incredibly hard to come by. So if you can get a complete boat, people are willing to pay over market price for a boat that is perfectly ready to go. Turnkey, ready to go. They're they're they're ready to pay because otherwise they're gonna have to wait a year and a half. And Yeah. That's kind of the world we're living in. Like, I don't know. Harley Davidson was like that many years ago where you couldn't even buy one. Right? So if you had one sitting in your driveway, it was worth 25% more than when you paid for it six years ago. Right. So people were, you know, okay. Well, I guess I'll let it go. And people are doing that with boats now. But you can, you you you know, it's it's just a matter of finding the one that you can do something with the whole family and everybody is kind of enjoying it, you know?
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. I've I've I've also gotta show her that I can park it. Is that what you say?
Tom Rowland: Well, you say dock it. But Dock it. Yes. But yes. That is a challenge. And and also putting it in the in the water from the from the, boat ramp. But that's where, a little bit of instruction goes a long way and, trying to do it by yourself, you can learn how. But have you never done it before then you end up on this this this Instagram called the qualified captain.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. I watched that one. That's pretty great.
Tom Rowland: You don't wanna end up there. That's not where you wanna be. That's what you wanna be.
Ethan Suplee: It seems like there are a lot of issues, where people go from the intercoastal out to the ocean. There seem to be a lot of videos in that spot.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, those those those, those those inlets can get incredibly rough.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah.
Tom Rowland: And people are trying to go through there and boats that really shouldn't be going through there and with the big deals is when they have someone in the bow of the boat, which you should never have because the bow is going, you know, the the stern's barely moving and the bow is going, you know, going eight feet up in the air and then slamming down and people are going unconscious in the in the bow and taking a huge amount of water over it and it's just, it it it they really shouldn't be doing that. And then Right.
Ethan Suplee: You know,
Tom Rowland: somebody that's good at it, if you kinda keep your speed the way it needs to be and and end up kinda surfing down a wave and accelerating into the next wave and surfing down the next wave and really working this throttle like a good captain is gonna be able to do, you'll be able to just go through there, No problem. Or even if you're a great captain, it still can be very challenging to go through those places. And some people just have a hard time and some people just set up a camera and just, like, sit there
Ethan Suplee: and wait. And they and they know they'll get something. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: They're gonna
Ethan Suplee: do it. I have a question for you about docking. Mhmm. We we have a boat lift and on it, somehow, I guess, you get the keel in between these two things.
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Ethan Suplee: Is that that seems unbelievably hard to to to line that up.
Tom Rowland: No. No. It won't be because you're also gonna have, if it, you know, if once you were to get a a boat, you would fit it to the to the boat lift. Right? So
Ethan Suplee: Okay.
Tom Rowland: There would be these, these pipes that would come up on the side that would help kinda guide the boat in there. So you would it's PVC and you would kinda bump into the pole on one side and the other if you, I mean, if you didn't hit it perfectly, the pole would keep you from kinda going too far over to the right or too far over to the left and then you can get the boat to where it's it's just gonna slide on there just like a just like the trailer. And, then you would just lift the lift the, the boat lift out of the water and you could get familiar with that very very quickly.
Ethan Suplee: Okay.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Within a half a day, you could Oh. You could have it to where I mean, and I say a half a day because if you've never used that before, you know, you're gonna pull in and sometimes you're gonna get the boat just a little too far one side or the other or maybe a little too far forward or maybe just a little bit too far back. And then then you're gonna start to to work it out and maybe there's a cleat on the dock and you're like, okay. I need to get the steering wheel exactly to this cleat and it's gonna be here perfect. You know, there'll be some sort of marker or you could make a mark on the dock somehow to where it's like, okay. I need to get the front of the console to to this mark and we'll be on perfect. If it's too far forward, that's a bad thing. If it's too far back, well, that's a bad thing. And then you can have these guide poles on there and you'll be able to get it. No problem. So it just takes Okay. You know, four or five times you'll get it.
Ethan Suplee: Right. But I this is the one the stipulation my wife made. I have to prove I can park the boat.
Tom Rowland: Well, it seems fair. Having someone like whoever sells you the boat boat or or, I don't know. If if I'm around, I'll come down there and and just show you how to do it. And once and then you do it a couple times on your own. Okay. Or it's like maybe maybe maybe a couple more times before I'm super comfortable with this. This. But you can get it to where, you know, it it's going to you're gonna be able to put it back in the same place at exactly the same way every single time.
Ethan Suplee: Right.
Tom Rowland: It it wouldn't take it wouldn't take you long. Now depending on what kind of boat you're talking about cause you can get a boat that's hard to handle, you know. Right. The wind starts blowing and things like that and then there can be some difficult, positions there. But I would imagine that, you know, what we're talking about is just putting it on a boat lift, not not gonna be a big issue.
Ethan Suplee: Okay. Okay. It you know, I look at the size of the boat that I was looking at, and I look at how small that space is, and I just think hitting that tiny little space It
Tom Rowland: might be you might not have the appropriate boat lift there for the size of boat that you're that you're looking at. How big is the boat that you were considering? 40 feet. Okay. So I
Ethan Suplee: don't know what it weighs. The boat lift, it could hold it.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. So, I mean, maybe they might need to come and and, and adjust the boat lift. It could be set for for a much smaller boat. Right. Even though it's a very powerful boat lift, you the previous owner or whoever put it in might have have had a much smaller boat. So you could have a boat lift that's a giant boat lift but it'll it's only it's only set up for a small boat where Yeah. Then you could, move those out a little bit and and set it up for the boat that you would get. But 40 feet, you know, 36 to 40 foot boat, that's that's a that's legit for sure. It's a
Ethan Suplee: big boat. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: That's a big boat and it probably has at least two engines, if not three or sometimes four on sometimes four on, on that. So there's there's a learning curve to that to that boat, and it might be kinda well, maybe a 26 is where you should start. And then
Ethan Suplee: Is that something you can take into the ocean?
Tom Rowland: Yes.
Ethan Suplee: For sure. Sure. 26? Okay.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. For sure. We we have a '20 six yellowfin, both with a single engine and then another one with with twin engines. And and we'll go, you know, way out into the ocean on the right day. You know, it's just the kind of thing where you pick the right day. And if it's a wrong day for a 26 to be out there, I'm not sure you're gonna wanna be out there in a 36.
Ethan Suplee: No. Yeah. No. The whole the whole reason I thought, like, well, this looks safe to go in the ocean. Right. But if
Tom Rowland: '26, I you know? I mean, we just need to, you know like, the whole thing about, boat size and all of that is is is expectation. Like, where exactly are you thinking about going and under what weather conditions and and, you know, what's a what's a good choice to start.
Ethan Suplee: Right.
Tom Rowland: Right. Because a lot of people get too much boat and and it's just it's overwhelming and it's hard to handle and they're uncomfortable with it and they never use it. And so they've got a, you know, $300,000 boat, $500,000 boat sitting there that they're afraid to use and that's not what you want. That's why I would say kinda maybe start smaller and maybe get a boat that you can use inshore and and get comfortable with and go offshore on the right days and then and then maybe upgrade that in a year. Yeah. And and then you get like, go from a single engine to twins and go from, you know, a a 26 to a to a 32 or something like that. And then all of a sudden, it's not as big of a jump.
Ethan Suplee: But Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Rowland: Can you do it? Sure. You know, just take some just take some time.
Ethan Suplee: Take some time. Yeah. And until then, my wife will keep trying to sell me a a kayak.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, you know, kayaks are fun too. Sure. Sure. So It's
Ethan Suplee: not quite
Tom Rowland: a boat. What, when are these movies that you're working on now coming out?
Ethan Suplee: Babylon comes out around Christmas, I believe. I am not sure. You know, sometimes you do a movie and you you have no idea when it's gonna come out.
Tom Rowland: Sometimes you do a movie, I would guess. I've, you know, I've always heard these these, interviews with actors that the movie just turns out amazing, and they're like, I didn't know that it was gonna be so good when we were doing this. Sure. Yeah. You know? And is it which ones have you been surprised about that turned out better than you thought or you just had no idea and they turned out to be these iconic
Ethan Suplee: Well, I I had a movie that had really weird stuff happen, called The Hunt, which I really liked. I actually thought The Hunt was a really, really good movie. And it and it, again, it was so right up my alley because it kinda made fun of every political side. But when that was supposed to come out October 2019, and they, they ran ads during, I believe, the Democratic National Convention, which was on CNN or something, some Democratic thing. And the Democrats were enraged because the way the preview looked, it it looked like it was not a pro Democrat movie. And then the next weekend, there was, like, a shooting, and this movie is called The Hunt. And the Democrats were so pissed off, they pulled the movie. And then something happened. And then Trump got mad at the movie, and he said it was anti Republican. So then the Democrats were like, oh, okay. We'll let that movie come out then. And then he got pissed off and and was saying, like, a bunch of stuff. This movie is attack on Republicans, which it's not. It's not an attack on it's an attack on politics. Mhmm. And then there was a shooting, and then the move then they were like, we can't release this movie right now. It's too like, the Democrats hate us. The Republicans hate us. This is too much. And then the next release date we got was 03/13/2020, which was the weekend that everybody stopped going to the movies. Yeah. So and that was one that kinda came and went. And I I really thought that was a you know, if you like, it's it's a comedy and it's super violent, so there's that. But I thought the the humor was really smart.
Tom Rowland: And and so did it ever come out or to go
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. I mean, it came out for that weekend. Nobody went to see it because COVID Right. Had just begun.
Tom Rowland: That was, like, right when the NBA shut down. Right? Like, March? Yeah. That's when I that's when I when I've whenever I think about when did COVID start, that that certainly got my attention when I remember just hearing the NBA just canceled the rest of its season. What? There's no way that happened. Are you
Ethan Suplee: kidding me?
Tom Rowland: And that's that was it. Boy, right after that, things got serious.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. That's the weekend they decided to release our movie. And and then it was on it might be on HBO now, but it it's it's around. It's called The Hunt. And and that was, one one of those ones where while we were shooting it, I thought, like, I don't know how this is gonna be. And then I really liked it. I actually genuinely liked it.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. I've always heard that with with, you know, actors that do the do the, they post interviews of, you know, either it turned out way better than I thought or, you know, I really thought this was gonna be pretty good and it didn't Yeah. Just didn't come together as as, I don't know, someone envisioned. But, last last question. What is it what which has been, the movie that you've that you've liked or or series that you've liked working with? Whether that's because of the director, because of the other actors that you're working with, or or I don't know. What do you have one that stands out?
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. My all time favorite job was a television show called Chance. Oh, I
Tom Rowland: know that.
Ethan Suplee: Yeah. We did two seasons of that. It's on Hulu. That's my favorite job I've ever had.
Tom Rowland: You know, the the funny thing about that, I was just telling Jake, our producer here, I was like, he he had this one that I was I was watching. And so about that time, that that came out, that's when I decided, man, I'd really like to get this guy on the podcast.
Ethan Suplee: Oh, nice.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. And I and I so that was one of my things that I did. I watched that whole series because I was trying to learn a little bit more about you and I was following, you know, this whole journey and then then I put everything together. I'm like, oh, that's the guy that's been in all these other movies and then you've had this incredible weight loss journey and it just seemed like I I could have a great conversation with you. And so I watched that one and it was spooky. And and you were great in it, but it was a good I don't know. There was a good balance between Hugh Laurie and and and you and the story was I don't know. It was just pretty cool. So Jake and I were talking about it, and he hadn't seen it yet. And we watched the trailer yesterday. But that one was good. What was it about that one that you liked so much?
Ethan Suplee: I I like playing a smart person. I don't often get to play a smart person. And and, you know, I I, like, I really knew what I was doing in that, which was really fun, you know. And I was tough. I'm not often tough.
Tom Rowland: Yeah. Well, you were in that one. That one was that one was pretty awesome. Yeah. Well, cool, man. Well, it's been, great to get to know you a little bit and, hope that we'll be able to go fishing together. And
Ethan Suplee: Me too.
Tom Rowland: And, we'll get you down to the get you down to the Keys. That'd be that would be awesome.
Ethan Suplee: Yes, sir.
Tom Rowland: So are you working all through the the winter here or should we try to get together?
Ethan Suplee: Is Let's let's try to get together. I mean, look, I I have some sporadic work plan, but I'm not, like, leaving the country or anything.
Tom Rowland: Okay. Cool. Well, we'll stay in touch, and we'll we'll get together. And, really appreciate you coming on the podcast and, and telling us your story.
Ethan Suplee: It's awesome. Thanks for having me.
Tom Rowland: Hey. Thank you. Okay. We'll be back next week with another awesome guest just like Ethan
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