Was Goodman’s Weight Loss In The Lap of The Gods?

Posted: Tuesday 22 June 2010 03:47pm

He’s always been teddy bear cute, in that big, cuddly, larger than life kind of way. Not to mention a fabulous actor.

Now former Roseanne star John Goodman is seriously cute. Within a matter of months is said to have shed as much as 50kg (though he’s not volunteering the notch on the scales) through “diet and exercise”, or so he told David Letterman on The Late Show.

Unveiling his new physique at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles on June 10, Goodman, now 58, gobsmacked spectators with how stunning he looked – and at least 10 years younger than in March. Therein lies something curious…

On March 27, Goodman attended a New Orleans fundraiser where he was photographed looking, well, as hefty as ever – certainly as big as last October, when he attended the premiere of his latest film, Pope Joan – although he has been a lot larger at other intervals over the past 20 years.

Some pundits in the US are sceptical as to whether diet and exercise alone could be responsible for such a drastic transformation in less than 11 weeks, although Goodman is denying he has bariatric surgery (whether gastric bypass or lap banding).

“Basically, he lost more than 100 pounds in about three months. Is that type of weight loss possible?” posed one health blogger.

“In order for him to lose at least 100 pounds in three months, Goodman would have to lose at least 30 pounds a month, at least a pound a day. That’s possible with a very strict diet and exercise regimen however; it still leaves open the question that something else aided in his weight loss. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”

Goodman – whose hit movies include Raising Arizona, The Flintstones, The Big Lebowski and Confessions of a Shopaholic – told David Letterman that he was “pushing 400″ pounds (nearly 182kg) at his heaviest and that dieting used to be an annual yo-yo ritual.

He would lose “60 pounds” (27kg) every spring during the off-season hiatus from the hit sitcom, Roseanne, in which he became a major star. Then “I got too fond of the corn and barley [beer] and just started missing it too much, and that screwed everything up. I just gained it all back and then some every year,” he said.

Finally his doctor warned him of serious health risks of carrying so much weight – added to the fact he was starting to break furniture at home by virtue of his girth – and he made dramatic changes.

He has quit smoking and drinking and will only say that “I’m getting a lot of exercise. I’m gonna base it on the fat content of my body. Whatever’s healthy and right – not go nuts.”

US plastic surgeon and celebrity online commentator Dr Anthony Youn remains unconvinced.

“It looks like he’s lost a good 50 pounds or more,” says Dr Youn. Could it be Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? Gastric Bypass? Lap band surgery? Large volume liposuction?

“I doubt he’s had any liposuction, but it’s definitely possible he’s had bariatric surgery. Even the more invasive procedures (like gastric bypass) can now be done with smaller incisions and less risk than 10 years ago.”

Let’s hope John reveals full details of his weight loss success – it will give a lot of people a lot of hope!

by Jenni Gilbert

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