Inside Comedian Jeff Garlins Lifetime Struggle with Food Addiction and Subsequent Weight Loss

May 2024 · 3 minute read

Comedian Jeff Garlin has struggled with food addiction for a long time. The urge to eat constantly prevented him from living a healthy life and his weight problems got so bad that he suffered a stroke just before starting the first season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Garlin had announced he was getting serious about weight loss multiple times in the past. Unfortunately, for a long time, the comedian’s weight loss journey showed little progress.

Garlin has got candid about his weight loss struggles in his memoir My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World. Here’s a look at his weight loss journey throughout his life.

Jeff Garlin’s Struggles With Weight Loss

Garlin’s food addiction has been something he has been trying to deal with for a long time. To change his relationship with food, the comedian tried many methods, including Transcendental Meditation and going to Overeaters Anonymous.

However, Garlin could never find a proper solution to his food addiction. He shared his perspective on it when he appeared as a guest on the Death, Sex & Money podcast.

It’s so strange compared to the other addictions like cocaine, alcohol, what have you, because you don’t have to have those to function. You think you do but you don’t. Whereas food, I have to keep myself nourished. So every day you’re faced with these choices and they’re quite difficult.

For the same reason, Garlin looks at diet control the same way he looks at sobriety.

Jeff Garlin Suffered From Stroke 

Though Garlin was having a hard time keeping his weight in check, he put on even more weight after he got into a car accident. The comedian grew stressed, which in turn exacerbated his food addiction and emotional eating.

Coupled with the medication he was taking at the time, Garlin quickly put on weight all the way until he reached 320 pounds and had a stroke.

In the same episode of Death, Sex & Money podcast, Garlin admitted to not taking his health seriously prior to the stroke. In fact, he didn’t commit to really prioritizing his health even after the stroke.

It was only when a Living XL catalog tried to sell him stuff, that he got serious about weight loss.

The premise of the catalog is, it says unique innovative products for tall and plus-size men and women. What it really is, is a catalog that helps you stay fat. Like, if you don’t have a chair that can hold you, we’ve got the chair. A thousand-pound capacity.

The catalog pushed Garlin to the edge and made him lose weight. And in order to achieve that, he didn’t diet but he actually stopped eating sugar. Learning to resist eating when he got emotional also played a huge part in his weight loss journey.

Previously, Garlin used to eat whenever he felt anxious, upset, or angry. However, once he learned to resist the urge to eat when he felt emotional, he saw results in just a few months’ time, losing tens of pounds.

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