How Did Jonah Hill Lose Weight?

Actor, producer, and screenwriter. 32-year old Hollywood movie star Jonah Hill keeps lining up one box office success after another.

Having supporting roles in blockbusters like “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Moneyball“, you might think that life couldn’t be better. Well, you might have to think again.

Jonah’s Weight Problems

Jonah had struggled with weight problems his entire adult life. He had come to a point where he felt like his physique and body composition was holding him hostage, forcing him to only play funny and nerdy characters. He wanted out, because he wanted to get more serious roles. And so in late 2010 he decided that enough was enough.

In preparation for “21 Jump Street“, he took the help of a nutritionist and a personal trainer, and was able to transform his body and lose 40 lbs in a matter of months. When appearing at the ESPY awards in July 2011, people were amazed to see a new and slimmer Jonah.

How Did Jonah Hill Lose Weight?

But how exactly did he do it? Well, he didn’t take a magic pill, and he didn’t follow any bizarre diet. Instead, he did the sensible thing and changed to a leaner and healthier diet, while starting to exercise at the same time. A proven concept.

Eating & Drinking

He changed from meat to fish. He started to eat sushi with laser-like focus. He ate lots and lots of sushi. The Japanese dish really became the base of his diet. Fish is leaner than meat, and its omega-3 fats are healthy. Vegetables and low-fat dairy products were also on his menu.

Meals at regular times – and no eating during the night– is a very important thing that people often neglect. And it’s something that likely contributed to Jonah’s successful body transformation.

By substituting sodas and beers (beer being his biggest weakness according to himself) with water, he was able to substantially reduce the number of calories he consumed.

Some reports say that he’s been taking l-carnitine to boost metabolism and a product called Phen375 to burn fat.

Working Out

Having a personal trainer is great for two things:

1. He or she can use their expert knowledge to design a workout regimen that’s custom tailored to your individual needs. In other words, you’ll get much more efficient workouts than if you tried to do it on your own.
2. He or she will motivate and push you far beyond the point of exhaustion. Pushing yourself harder means greater results.

Since Jonah hired a personal trainer, he too benefitted in the same way.

Although no details about his regimen are known, it’s reasonable to believe that his trainer put him on a combination of cardio and weight training. Cardio training will burn fat, and so does training with weights. That’s because building muscles increase your basal metabolic rate, which means that with more muscles you burn more fat by default.

In 2011, he looked like this:

After this picture was taken, Jonah hasn’t been able to maintain a healthy weight. Well, not all of the time. His weight has fluctuated heavily, both up and down. Let’s hope he finds the inner strength to return to his 2011 self!

Moral of the Story

The Jonah Hill weight-loss story is inspiring, yet it’s a wake-up call at the same time. It shows how a determined person can lose a lot of weight. But it also shows how that same person can gain it all back in a short period of time.

Keeping a slim and healthy body isn’t always easy!

For sustainable results, you really need to change your lifestyle, not just your diet.