Peter Jackson, the visionary director who transformed the legendary tale of The Lord of the Rings into cinematic reality, is celebrated for his remarkable body of work.
He has gifted us with some of the greatest action movies ever made, and his prowess in the world of directing and filmmaking has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Creating such epic films demands an enormous amount of effort, time, and dedication. As you can imagine, it’s a laborious journey that requires unwavering commitment.
During the making of The Lord of the Rings, Jackson was deeply engrossed in his work, leaving little room to focus on his personal health.
Caught up in the demands of filmmaking, he lost sight of his well-being and found himself gaining unnecessary weight.
However, once he completed his epic project, Peter Jackson redirected his attention towards his health and embarked on a transformative journey, successfully shedding a significant amount of weight.
Weight Loss 2004-2005
Jackson started his weight loss journey and made a lot of changes to his diet plan. Jackson would have muesli, yogurt, and soup. He said “During shooting, I didn’t have much time. By the time I thought about my diet, I would have eaten a whole pizza.”
However, after Jackson was done with his work he gave up all unhealthy food. He also did a lot of exercises. He has his home gym.
Where he blended traditional cardio and strengthening training. In all this hard work he succeeded in losing 70 pounds. That made a lot of difference. But it didn’t sustain for a long time.
Other American actors have also lost an incredible amount of weight, some of them are Jorge Garcia, Bryan Cranston, and Frank Fritz.
What went wrong?
However, after 5 years when he appeared in public in 2011, people saw a very different Jackson. He had gained a lot of weight and seemed heavier than before.
Nobody knows the reason behind his gaining weight except, of course, his work. Peter decided to start a weight loss journey again. For that purpose, he started making huge changes.
The New Zealander star lost a huge amount of weight. But before discussing his diet and workout plans here is what might be the main reason why Jackson gained weight.
He is a director and producer of many great movies of the 21st century. As you can imagine he remains busy most of the time. Peter is so passionate about his work that he forgets his daily diet and exercise plan.
This time Peter was busy on working “Hobbit”. He put a lot of effort into the movie. The lack of sleep and stress contributed to his weight.
And when the Hobbit was conquering the box office Peter was struggling with his weight. He took some serious measures though. This time Jackson ended up losing 20 kilograms (44 pounds).
How Jackson lose weight?
The impressive fact about Jackson is that he doesn’t give up. And that is the main reason he has managed to get back in good shape multiple times.
After an increase in weight, Peter felt alarmed and started working to lose it. He built a strict diet plan and followed it with discipline. Here are the diet and workout plans that Jackson followed.
Diet Plan
With the help of a professional trainer, Jackson built an effective diet plan which he followed every day. His diet plan was simply a combination of healthy things that he would eat-in breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Breakfast: Peter would start his day by taking a walk. He woke early in the morning. For breakfast, his main choice was 2 pieces of lembas and a hardboiled egg. Unlike many people, Jackson would have fresh fruit juice in place of tea or coffee.
Lunch: For lunch, Jackson would have a warg steak and crispy crams. Sometimes he would have fish fried in olive oil. Peter made his lunch as simple as possible. He gave up heavy food like pizza and burgers in the first instant.
Dinner: Jackson ended his day with a bowl of green salad. He tried to eat light-calorie food at night. Because when we sleep our digestive system starts digesting the food we ate the whole day. So eating light food at night would be a very good courtesy for our digestive system.
Jackson’s diet plan was very simple and that simplicity helped him lose weight. You can follow his diet plan very simply. All you have to do is avoid junk food. Another thing that will do great for your health is drinking a lot of water.
Workout Plan
The LOTR director also followed a workout routine. Peter would run for an hour in the morning. As mentioned earlier with the help of his home gym he shed pounds.
He has installed few but very effective equipment in the gym. Jackson does weight lifting and cardio workouts. He also does swimming. With all this physical workout, Jackson succeeded in losing 44 pounds.
Before & After
At one point, Jackson’s weight had reached a dangerous level, soaring to 360 pounds. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, he made a conscious and healthy decision to lose weight, and he achieved remarkable success in this endeavor.
Where is Peter now?
After a lot of hard work and a great transformation Peter’s weight, however, is still increasing. In his new photos, the director seems heavier than before.
The fact that dieters tend to gain weight after a lot of hard work has long bewildered the experts. But as of now, a comprehensive reason has been provided by Dr. Abdul G. Dulloo, a professor at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).
According to the study people who aspire to lose weight tend to consume very fewer calories than a human body needs daily. And when the body does not get its daily intake of calories it starts converting carbohydrates into fat and then consumes it.
As in Jackson’s case, we don’t know the main reason behind his regain of weight. But a simple explanation can be his ‘Work’. Peter loves his work and does it passionately. While working he forgets other things and focuses solely on the work at hand.
Conclusion
Loving your work is a very great thing and is the key to success but forgetting your health will not do any good to you.
As we can learn from Jackson’s story stress only contributes to problems and does not solve them. So, be happy and stress-free.
