Joe Rogan Experience #1644 - Ethan Suplee

Ethan Suplee is an actor and host of the "American Glutton" podcast.

Ethan SupleeguestJoe Roganhost

Jun 27, 20243h 16mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

150 min read · 30,057 words

0:00 – 0:46
Meeting the “new” Ethan: dramatic transformation and what changed
1. ESEthan Suplee
  (drum music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
2. NANarrator
  The Joe Rogan Experience.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) So what's up, man? Dude, you, if I didn't know who you were, and I ran into you, I would have no idea that you're the same guy.
4. ESEthan Suplee
  It's crazy.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  You're a fucking completely different human.
6. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  You went from this guy that looked like you were really in bad shape to a guy who looks like a guy I would avoid in jujitsu.
8. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs)
9. JRJoe Rogan
  I'd be like, "Fuck that guy. Let me get away from him. He's too big."
10. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs)
11. JRJoe Rogan
  You look fucking great, man.
12. ESEthan Suplee
  That's awesome. This is the greatest compliment I've ever gotten.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
14. ESEthan Suplee
  Thank you very much. By the way, all I want is to, to look like a big dude who's not just gigantic and fat. That's all I want.
0:46 – 5:59
Two decades of weight swings: numbers, milestones, and the actor’s body
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Dude, you look like a gorilla. You look like a dangerous human being. Like, how did you do it?
2. ESEthan Suplee
  Uh, well, over the past 20 years, I've gone back and forth with dieting. I've g- I've lost a shit load of weight. I've gained a shit load of weight back. Um, how did I do it? Uh, I think that the, the thing that I've done that has been sustainable is undoing kind of... Y- y- look, a lot of diets come in and say, "Just do this and you'll lose weight." But we're not focused at all on how we got to whatever point we were at that we consider non-optimal that we wanna change. And so, uh, undoing the bad habits that I had that I would associate with allowing myself to get up to 550 pounds is really more important than anything that I could say, "This is what I did to lose weight." Does that make sense?
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Yes. Yes. Um, so when did the process start? So you kind of went back and forth.
4. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  But you've obviously been on a very steady course for how long now?
6. ESEthan Suplee
  20 years.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  20 years.
8. ESEthan Suplee
  Uh, 19 years. 2002 was the first time I s- thought I really wanna change my life, and I started then.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  And how much weight have you lost since then?
10. ESEthan Suplee
  2002, I went from 550, I did a liquid diet for two months and lost 80 pounds. That 80 pounds, I've never dipped back into. But so I was 450, and I went down to close to just under 300, then went back up to 400, then went down to 200, then back up to 350. And for the past five years, I've been around the weight I'm at now. So I've, I've really gotten that under control.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  And what are you at right now?
12. ESEthan Suplee
  270.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  That is incredible. That is, that is so incredible. So you've lost more than 200 pounds?
14. ESEthan Suplee
  Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, I-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Solid.
16. ESEthan Suplee
  ... I've lost 200 pounds a couple of times.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  But you've also put on muscle. Like you're a different...
18. ESEthan Suplee
  Well-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  You're, you're different all, like you're unrecognizable.
20. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah, I think... Uh, listen, the other strange thing about weight loss is when you're building fat and you're storing fat, your body is naturally building lean tissue too just to support that fat. So under every obese person, there's a person with more than average muscle.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
22. ESEthan Suplee
  So-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  'Cause they have to carry around all that weight.
24. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah, you're, you're naturally building muscle just by like raising your heavier arm than the average.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  I used to always say that to Ralphie May.
26. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  'Cause Ralphie May was so heavy, and I was like, "Look at your legs, dude." I go, "You'd be able to kick someone through a fucking wall if you just lost weight."
28. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Like is the, um, that, just to be able to carry around.
30. ESEthan Suplee
  I have gnarly calves.
5:59 – 9:28
Body dysmorphia, self-criticism, and the childhood roots of shame
1. ESEthan Suplee
  It's incredibly satisfying. But y- y- you know, look, the reality is that, um, I don't... I...... I have mental illness and I can't... I don't look at myself and think, like, "God, I look great." I- I- I see nothing but negative stuff every day. And I try to convince myself, I try to find something that I'm happy with. Usually it's my traps. I can look at my traps 'cause it's lean. There's not a bunch of loose skin-
2. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
3. ESEthan Suplee
  ... hanging there. They're not all scarred up from surgeries. And I look at my trap and I go, like, "Okay, that looks good." And based on that, I can then start to feel okay about myself. Looking at those pictures, you know, that's also a- a long time ago, and I just don't... I cannot relate to how I lived then.
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow.
5. ESEthan Suplee
  It- it- it- it's- it's- it's very bizarre.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Now, when you say you have mental illness, meaning that y- you're aware of this, right? So you're aware you have a distorted perception of yourself.
7. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah. Very much so.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  And it... What do you think is... What's fueling that distorted perception?
9. ESEthan Suplee
  I... When I go back to, like, my childhood, I was put on a diet when I was five, and prior to that, I had no sense of self. There w-... I existed, and clearly I- I had fun and I played, but I was not aware of my body as a thing, kind of... If it is external to me, as a separate component to me, or- or just as a thing itself. It just was. And at five, I was put on this diet and all these, uh, parts of me were pointed out as being super negative. And so I just-
10. JRJoe Rogan
  At five years old?
11. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah. And- and I really... And by the way, in fairness, if you look at the average five-year-old today, I- I wasn't, like... I wasn't obese at five. I was a chubby five-year-old. But I was super active, and I wasn't eating junk food all day long.
12. JRJoe Rogan
  And you're growing into your body too.
13. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  I mean, that's the thing about five-year-olds is like, I've seen kids that look kind of chubby and then you run into them a few years later, like, "Look at you, you're a beanstalk."
15. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah. Yes.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, you grew.
17. ESEthan Suplee
  I have four kids myself, and- and you watch them, they kind of go in different directions.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
19. ESEthan Suplee
  Wide and then tall and... Yeah. The- there isn't a set thing. Um, but I- I spent most of my life feeling wrong, like literally that I was wrong or bad, or there was some- some... Just super negative about myself. And so-
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Fuck.
21. ESEthan Suplee
  ... I still have to fight through that today. Like, no matter what I've done, I... 2012, um, I went and rode every stage of the Tour de France, or 2011 maybe, just for, just for fun, and I could do that on a bicycle. That's not fucking easy. That's thousands of miles on a bicycle in a very short period of time. I was much thinner than I am now, and I was miserable. I was not happy.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Why were you miserable?
23. ESEthan Suplee
  I didn't like the way I looked. I still thought I was fat, and I was 70 pounds lighter than I am now.
24. JRJoe Rogan
  (sighs) So it's body dysmorphia?
25. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah, something like that.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
27. ESEthan Suplee
  But I think being aware of it, I can talk myself through it. It's not like I'm hung up on it every day, walking around feeling like a piece of shit.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
29. ESEthan Suplee
  But I do catch certain glimpses of myself and feel bad and feel negative.
9:28 – 19:04
Determinism, compassion, and why “just decide” doesn’t work for many people
1. JRJoe Rogan
  See, this is the argument against fat shaming, and I've always said that, you know, I've had mom-... Like I've never, I've never... I mean, I- I- I've never been really overweight, but I've been fatter than I am now. I've had a belly. I've had... I got fat for a little bit. But not... But it's a joke. Like, I would, you know... I- I should be slapped for saying that, right?
2. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs) A couple pounds on you. I mean, we... Yes, I- I don't think so. Whatever you want for yourself, I think is what you should do.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  But I looked at it and I was like, "Oh fuck, I gotta lose some weight." And I went on this carnivore diet and I lost, like, 12 pounds and... But the- the point is that that worked for me, but I'm not in this mental state where I'm constantly judging myself, and some people are, and it's not their fault. You know- you know what determinim- determinism is?
4. ESEthan Suplee
  Sure.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. Some people don't. The- some peop-... There's a, there's an argument of free will versus determinism, and, uh, I think there's a real good argument for both, but the argument for determinism is you are who you are... I should explain this. Um, the idea is... Determinism is essentially based on the idea that you are... you're a product of all of your life experiences, and the idea that you are responsible for everything you do at every step of the day. That's not entirely plausible because there's childhood trauma, there's life experiences, there's emotions, there's genetics, there's- there's what you've had from all... All these life experiences that you've tried to assimilate, and those are different than my life experiences and everybody's are different. And who you are right now... Like someone said to me one day, and it was kind of a compliment, "I can never do what you did, what you do." Like, "I can never do what you do." I go, "You could, if you were me."
6. ESEthan Suplee
  Right.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  It's not, it's not like... I'm not saying... There's nothing special about me. I am just who I am because of my life experiences and my genetics and all the things I've done. And you are who you are for all your life experiences and who you've done. And to expect someone who has had bad input and bad emotional guidance and, uh, bad perceptions of their own physical health and their identity, to expect them to just get their shit together is ridiculous.
8. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  It really is. And... But they can do it. Some people can do it.
10. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  You obviously did it. You know, and that's...... probably the best piece of fuel and inspiration for anyone out there that's looking to get their life together physically, metabolically healthy. To... How... What's the best p- The best is someone who was at rock bottom, who was 500 plus pounds, and worked their way back to, like I said, a guy who I, I would avoid in jujitsu class. (laughs)
12. ESEthan Suplee
  I love that.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  I mean, it's really what it is.
14. ESEthan Suplee
  That's really the greatest compliment.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  I'm like, "Fuck that, big guy. Get away from me, dude."
16. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  But that's what you did. And I think, um, in that you can help so many fucking people. I mean, you are a gift in, in so many ways, because what you've done is so extraordinary. The accomplishment is so... It's magnificent. I mean, it really is. It's an amazing accomplishment. Not just because of your own personal health and what you've done and the way you look, which is incredible, incredible achievement, but you, you are fuel, man. You're a rocket fuel for all these other people.
18. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  'Cause they, they look at you and go, "I can do that."
20. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  "I can do that if I just-"
22. ESEthan Suplee
  And they can.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  They can.
24. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah. Certainly. I, I, I think, um, I think you had him on the show too. Robert Sapolsky makes a-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yes.
26. ESEthan Suplee
  ... great argument for determinism.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  He does.
28. ESEthan Suplee
  He's the guy who I read and I go, "Oh, shit. I don't have free will."
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
30. ESEthan Suplee
  But I think that, uh, as my perspective shifts, I do today feel as though I have free will. I have to battle through everything that makes me me still, but I can do that and I can win.
19:04 – 33:13
Exercise for the mind: small starts, consistency, sauna/hot yoga, and momentum
1. ESEthan Suplee
  I, I, I worry sometimes for some people that trading or trying to handle being obese with exercise, f- for me, that's a scary proposition because I've, I've done that. And the minute that you miss a workout or miss a few or you hurt yourself, if you haven't a- adjusted your food-
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
3. ESEthan Suplee
  ... you're gaining weight again.
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
5. ESEthan Suplee
  So, I, I really do... I train every day. I, I take a day off a week, but, but... And it's very important to me to get into the gym, but I do that because it makes me feel better.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, me too. Yeah, um, I, I guess I do it for fitness and I guess I do it for health. I do it for all those things, for sure, but I really do it for my head.
7. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah, me too.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  And I, and I g- I feel... You know, I'm a, I'm a broken record. I talk... People don't even know what a broken record is anymore.
9. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs)
10. JRJoe Rogan
  These fucking kids today, they don't... You don't know what can happen.
11. ESEthan Suplee
  A broken MP3.
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Have you ever heard a broken record? Have you ever heard a record skip? You fucking young Jamie. Um, the... But the message is really clear. People out there that are not exercising, you're doing your brain a disservice more than anything. I know it sucks. I know you don't wanna do it. But if you can do it, it'll relieve so much anxiety. When I, when I talk to people that are on anti-anxiety medication or SSRIs and all these different things, my first question is always, "Do you exercise?"
13. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  And they'll look at you like you're talking to a cancer patient, like, "How'd you do this? How'd you get there?"
15. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs) Right.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  "Why'd you, why do you have cancer, man?" Like, that's not... I'm just saying, listen, if you exercise, I guarantee you feel... It might not fix everything-
17. ESEthan Suplee
  Right.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  ... but it'll fix a lot for a lot of people.
19. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah. And for me, it started with just taking a walk. Like, when I couldn't, when the idea of exercise was insurmountable, just how far can I walk? And then can I walk a little further the next day?
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
21. ESEthan Suplee
  And then can I beat that? You know. And I'm saying, like, when I'm used to just walking to my car from my front door, can I walk past my car? Literally, if that's it, at 550 pounds, it might be that small.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
23. ESEthan Suplee
  But if you go into it with the attitude of, of, of setting goals, and you see that you can achieve this goal, and then you can beat it, and you can go a little further, I wouldn't use that to address weight loss, but just to feel that you can accomplish something with your body is a big deal.
24. JRJoe Rogan
  There was a lady that I used to yoga with, and, uh, I watched her lose about 100 pounds in a year.
25. ESEthan Suplee
  Wow.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  It was incredible. And I remember I brought it up to her, and I was trying to figure out how to bring it up to her because I could tell she got, like, super uncomfortable. And I was like, "Shit," like, I'm trying to be nice here, but I'm addressing the fact that she was gigantic, and now she's just big.
27. ESEthan Suplee
  (laughs) Right.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Um, and I said... I, I don't, I don't remember what I said, but it's something along the lines of, "I think your, um, your consistency is incredibly inspirational." I sa- I think it's awesome. You're in here all the time. But I mean, by saying that, I'm saying...
29. ESEthan Suplee
  You're acknowledging.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. I'm acknowledging-
33:13 – 47:39
Values, diet culture, and the case for moderation over diet tribalism
1. ESEthan Suplee
  I think, though, I think, though, that, you know, and I- I think I know what you're talking about. I think we've come to another point where there's an assumption that we all have the exact same set of values.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
3. ESEthan Suplee
  And, like, when I hear people say, "I'm siding with science," my first instinct is to ask when science developed a set of values or morals-
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Hm.
5. ESEthan Suplee
  ... 'cause that's- there's no, there's no scientific moral code.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
7. ESEthan Suplee
  There's no... That doesn't exist. If- if you want to place some value on a scientific outcome, that's a human point of view. It's an opinion that forces that scientific outcome into a value system. And so if you sit back and you assume that everybody innately has the exact same set of values, then yeah, we can have these arguments based on science, not science. But if people don't necessarily have the same value system that you have, why would we want all the s- Like, this is where I get into people who want to protect other people and it's like, well, you're just assuming that all the things that you want are the things that they should want.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  Hm.
9. ESEthan Suplee
  And when I hear what people should want, I go like, "That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me." Right now, it's slightly difficult to talk about weight loss because I've been obese and now I'm not obese and I'm- I celebrate not being obese. I am much better off with the way I have structured my life because of having lost weight, but I can't tell anybody else to do that, and I don't even really want to. If somebody wants to be overweight, if that's a trade-off they're willing to make...
10. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
11. ESEthan Suplee
  That's fine with me. But, I think for the most part, most of the people I've spoken to, they don't want that. A lot of people seem to have goals that generally line up with mine, and then in talking to them, now there's this diet culture monster in the room where even that is attacked, because there's a whole new set of values that are born that must be enforced.
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
13. ESEthan Suplee
  And, a- at some point there's gotta be the recognition that we don't all necessarily have to want the exact same stuff.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. There's also so much biological variability, right?
15. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, the things that would work on another person just don't work on you. You know, the thing-
17. ESEthan Suplee
  Sure.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. In- including diet, you know, there's-
19. ESEthan Suplee
  Oh man, w- arguing about diets is another great one. And this, I, I, I really like talking about diets simply because there's, at the end of the day it's so much safer than politics 'cause there's no military backing up a diet system. But-
20. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
21. ESEthan Suplee
  ... you know (laughs) , you talk about politics and it's like-
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
23. ESEthan Suplee
  ... we have a fucking military-
24. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
25. ESEthan Suplee
  ... to force you to do the shit we want you to do.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
27. ESEthan Suplee
  Versus the other military that's gonna force you the other way. But diets, it's like veganism versus carnivore. If we're just talking about weight loss, the other thing, some of these things get into, like, the minutia of health. If you've got a guy who's got 200 pounds to lose, why are we focusing on the minutia of health? I don't know that that's the right goal. If the goal is just weight loss, I don't think these are the same, the- these are the same conversations.
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, I think, I mean, I think the, the vari- there's so many different things that need to happen to a person to force them into action. What do you think is the key things? Is it, is it inspiration? Is, is motivation? Is sometimes is it that you don't wanna die, or you don't wanna be sick any longer, that you're fed up? Or, is it being inspired by a guy like David Goggins or Cameron Hanes or someone like that?
29. ESEthan Suplee
  For, for me, it, for the very first time in my life, I, I was thinking about the future in a way, in terms of what I wanted out of life versus just, like, what makes me happy right this second. And I was seeing a girl who I'm now married to, we have a bunch of kids, and, and I couldn't have a better life. Like, 20 years ago if I had described to you the life I wanted in that moment, I've way surpassed that.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  That's awesome. Congratulations. (laughs)
47:39 – 1:13:16
From bread bait to invasive species: carp, pythons, wild pigs, and human rules
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, carp's is a odd fish. They, um, you know, they're really not supposed to be here. They're like, it's not, i- it's not native-
2. ESEthan Suplee
  Right.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  ... to a lot of the places around here. Have you ever seen those people where they're driving boats and the carp fly out of the water and hit them in the head?
4. ESEthan Suplee
  Yes.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  It's Asian carp.
6. ESEthan Suplee
  Yes. (laughs)
7. JRJoe Rogan
  It's like, for whatever reason, when boats come by, they want to fly through the air and slam into the people that are riding the boats.
8. ESEthan Suplee
  It's incredible, man.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  It's the weirdest thing, man. People have been knocked out.
10. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, out cold. Bam! Get hit by a fish.
12. ESEthan Suplee
  It's a wonder that those fish are still around, that they haven't just evolved extinct because of shit like that.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  There's so many of them.
14. ESEthan Suplee
  Yeah.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  That's the thing. They're so prolific. They're a real problem. 'Cause they're, they're one of the weirder invasive species. Like, I don't know how they got over here, but there's some lakes and river systems that are just choked with these ... I think they're Asian carp, I think that's what it is. 'Cause there's a, that big red carp that, uh ... I grew up, um, I lived in Newton, Massachusetts and I lived right across the street from the Charles River. And the Charles River had this waterfall, like, like down the street from my house. And I remember being there one day, we went on this little-
16. ESEthan Suplee
  Holy shit.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  ... like ... Yeah. Yeah, do ... You ever seen this?
18. ESEthan Suplee
  I never saw it that crazy.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Bro, they're, they're nuts.
20. ESEthan Suplee
  I mean, that was ... That's like a mosh pit of carp.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. They d- no one, no one knows why they do it. Or I don't know why they do it, maybe someone does. But yeah, when you're, when you're driving by, they just go flying out of the water and hit people. And sometimes they just do it here, like, they're just doing it on their own and they land in the boats. But I don't think they're necessarily good to eat.
22. ESEthan Suplee
  Right.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  But obviously, there's fucking way too many of them.
24. ESEthan Suplee
  So people need to eat them.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, so I go to ... Are they edible? Are Asian carp edible?
26. NANarrator
  In this video (clears throat) , in this video they do, or they are making, it says the highest population is in the Illinois River and it doesn't say why. I'm sure the video does. But yeah, they're making, like, fish all sorts of stuff with it and-
27. JRJoe Rogan
  What are they doing them? Jesus.
28. NANarrator
  Yeah, cooking it up.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh. Oh, they make, like, carp balls. So what they're ... but look at all the bones in it.
30. ESEthan Suplee
  A lot of bones.
1:13:16 – 1:18:27
Sedentary modern life and the lure of gaming: e-sports, addiction, and VR
1. ESEthan Suplee
  And, and I say all that and I'm like, if the dude who's a professional video game player loves to eat pizza and is perfectly happy, good for him.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
3. ESEthan Suplee
  Good for him.
4. JRJoe Rogan
  I was talking shit on professional video games once. Oh, boy, did they get upset.
5. ESEthan Suplee
  Oh.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  But this is coming from someone who pl- used to play a lot of video games. I have, uh, addictive tendencies towards games, like s-
7. ESEthan Suplee
  Me, too.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  Serious addictive tendencies, where I can't play video games. And, uh, I... But the thing is, is like, if you could play golf for a living, why is golf better than a video game? 'Cause those video game guys make a shitload of money.