- Jim Gaffigan found that gardening had other health benefits besides taking the weight loss drug Munjaro.
- He said gardening helped him eat healthier and achieve his fitness goals.
- Including more vegetables in your diet can boost your sense of well-being, according to nutrition experts
Jim Gaffigan’s hack for eating more vegetables is to grow them yourself.
In an interview with Men’s Health published Tuesday, the comedian opened up about his weight loss.
“I’ve always been a compulsive eater,” he said in the magazine’s “Eat Like” video segment. “The whole concept of healthy eating and healthy living is very foreign to me. It took me a while to understand the concept,” he added.
Gaffigan, 58, said she decided to try to live healthier after noticing that her metabolism was slowing down.
“A big reason I started eating healthier was because I started gardening,” he added. “It was a big change and I love it now. Believe it or not, I can now achieve my fitness goals while walking around the garden.”
Gardening has inspired me to eat better. “When you grow vegetables, you get interested in eating those vegetables, which makes you healthier. As a result, you start to look at what you’re eating, and fast food starts to look like crap.” he says.
Gaffigan posts her gardening projects on Instagram. In a post from July, he gave his followers a tour of his garden where he grows onions, cucumbers, beans and artichokes.
Gaffigan, whose stand-up special “The Skinny” will be released Friday, also said: I am using Munjaro to lose weight. Mounjaro is the trade name for tirzepatide, a prescription drug used to treat type 2 diabetes and manage weight loss.
“Most of our lives we’ve been told, ‘Control your appetite. Stop being a fucking pig,'” he says. “The reality is, we can’t do that. Maybe our brains are a little messed up. In some ways, appetite suppressants are used by people who eat compulsively, to justify that they’re not weak. I think that’s the case. It can be fixed.”
Since her doctor recommended taking the drug two years ago, Gaffigan has lost 50 pounds. “I feel good,” he told People magazine. “I’m just grateful because my life has become so much better.”
A representative for Gaffigan did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment outside of normal business hours.
Incorporate more vegetables into your diet
A way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet is to try the 80/20 rule. This means that 80% of the food is healthy and the remaining 20% is more flexible.
BI’s Rebecca Harrington tried this rule on her own salad last August. She snuck treats like rice, chips, cheese, and breadcrumbs into her salad bowl.
“While it’s difficult to eat perfectly all the time, it’s generally beneficial to make the majority of the foods you eat nutritious and whole,” she writes.
Naomi Whittell, a nutrition expert and author of the wellness book Glow15, previously told Business Insider that another hack for increasing your vegetable intake is to add a second when heating up leftovers or making a smoothie. He said he would add a handful of spinach.
“I always tell people to think of eating vegetables as an investment in their well-being, because when you add more vegetables to your diet, your sense of well-being may be a change you notice before any tangible changes in your body.” she says.