Film stars often find themselves pigeonholed into particular roles due to their physical appearance, but when one renowned sitcom actor grew tired of being stereotyped as the 'fat one', he embarked on an inspiring journey and dropped a staggering nearly 20 stone.

Ethan Suplee was a familiar face in numerous beloved sitcoms during the early noughties, featuring in hits like Boy Meets World, My Name Is Earl, Remember the Titans, among others.

Back in 2001, at the age of 24, Suplee was grappling with an unhealthy relationship with food that only fuelled his increasing weight. It was then that he found himself stepping onto a shipping centre's freight scale – after entering rehab for drug and alcohol addiction – which tipped at approximately 536 pounds, around 37 stone, leading him to experience congestive heart failure.

While overcoming his substance addictions, his weight further escalated by 14 pounds. Opening up to Today, he shared his struggles: "I'd eat and eat. It's what I'd always done."

He traced his eating patterns back to a restrictive diet imposed by his grandparents, expressing resentment towards it: "It was coming from a place of love and concern, but it had this terrible reverse effect where I was like, 'OK. I'm just gonna sneak food whenever I possibly can.' And that became my habit. "I would binge when nobody was looking. "", reports the Irish Star.

It wasn't long before the actor faced a dilemma due to the abundant catering on film and TV sets: "I'd fill my pockets and go back to my trailer. Then I'd hit a drive-thru and buy enough food to feed a small family and sit in my house alone and eat it."

However, following an extraordinary transformation, the star has overhauled his lifestyle and dietary habits, leading to a stunning loss of 300 pounds.

He had experimented with various restrictive diets in the past and witnessed temporary success, but the weight invariably returned. Everything changed in 2018 when he stumbled upon a TED Talk by Mike Isratel, which suggested that carbohydrates might not be the villain, but rather his relationship with food needed re-examination.

The start of his new regime revolved around tracking calories and ensuring he consumed just the right number to maintain a modest calorie deficit.

He also shifted towards nutrient-rich foods, such as leafy greens, chicken, and salmon—which satisfied his appetite without excessive caloric intake.

Reflecting on changing habits, he remarked: "As I became more calorie conscious, I started to binge less and fill up on healthier foods. After a few months of this, calories stopped being calories. They started being food."

Now a proud grandfather and father to four daughters, the desire for a bright future galvanised his endeavour. In an interview with Mail Online, Suplee disclosed: "I wanted to have this long life with my girlfriend that I knew was impossible if I didn't do something about my weight.

"She liked to go to the beach, and I did not like to go to the beach. She liked to go to museums, she liked to go hiking. She liked to go on walks just to enjoy the walk, and I couldn't do any of that stuff with her.

"Now she never asked me to [lose weight], but I knew that in the long term, our relationship would not survive if I didn't confront this."