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John Goodman, who has been sober for 19 years, says he doesn’t grill because standing over a hot BBQ was a “good excuse to get drunk”
Goodman compared alcoholism and overeating, saying both stem from trying to fill an emotional void with unhealthy habits
The actor has lost 200 lbs. since his heaviest weight in 2011, focusing on slow, sustainable lifestyle changes
John Goodman won’t be manning the grill at any BBQs this summer.
“I don’t grill anymore because I don’t drink anymore,” The Righteous Gemstonesstar, 74, said in a July 8 Instagram video for London restaurant Simpson’s in the Strand, owned by famed restaurateur — and Goodman’s friend — Jeremy King.
As Goodman explained, grilling “was a good excuse to get drunk — stand in front of something hot.”
The Conners actor, who quit drinking in 2007, previously told PEOPLE that he decided to give up alcohol after “a long weekend of ‘playing golf’ with my friends.”
“By the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was shaking — I was still drinking, but I was shaking,” he said. “I called my wife [Anna Beth Goodman], which was like turning myself into the Gestapo. She made some phone calls, we got me into a treatment center, and I detoxed there and decided I liked the feeling.”
He also kickstarted a weight-loss journey, previously sharing that he was “pushing 400” lbs. at his heaviest, back in 2011. Since then, Goodman has lost 200 lbs.
John Goodman in 2005Credit: J. Vespa/WireImage
“In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a 6-pack of Bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits,” he told ABC News in 2016. “Then this time I wanted to do it slowly, move, exercise. I’m getting to the age where I can’t afford to sit still anymore. And it gives me the energy to work, ‘cause work is very draining.”
Goodman compared alcoholism with eating, explaining, “I think you’re trying to fill a hole that can’t be filled unless it’s filled with goodness,” he told the outlet.
“You just acknowledge that it’s there. You can’t fill it. And you go on and live with it.”
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