Tom Hanks is not only famous for his award-winning movies; in 2013 he came out to the public about his struggle with type 2 diabetes on The Late Show With David Letterman.
Now, three years later, he looks back and calls himself an ‘idiot’ and part of the generation of lazy Americans.
He told the Radio Times: “I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady. I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies, you know what I looked like. I was a total idiot.”
“I am part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady.”
The Oscar winning 59-year-old actor recalls thinking about what lead up to him being diagnosed, and he laughs and shakes his head at how he handled it.
He admits that when he was first diagnosed, the doctor told him to get back down to the weight he was in high school, and he told his doctor there was no way that would happen, and that he will just stick to having type 2 diabetes.
Like many people in denial of their diagnosis, he believed he would beat the disease by not taking it seriously and only cutting back a little bit.
“I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers. Well, it takes a little bit more than that.”
Hanks admits that he tried his hardest to stick with a diet at the time, but one slip up lead to another, which lead to a continuous relapse. He doesn’t blame Hollywood, but he claimed that for many roles he had to either gain a bunch of weight or lose a bunch. Constant body confusion can lead to unhealthy habits and he clearly states that he will never lose or gain weight for a role again.
“I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers.”
Hanks keeps a positive outlook on life as always, but he explains his disappointment with his diagnosis. Not only is he disappointed with his diagnosis, but he knows exactly what caused it. He ate unhealthy his whole life and throughout his career. He regrets not taking better care of himself when he was younger.
Through his troubles, he keeps up with the positive vibes and explains that he will not be brought down by his diagnosis. He has continued to stay active and avoid vacationing in which he claims to gain the most weight, and maintain a healthy diet.
The actor also said he is thankful he had kids when he was young.
“I’m lucky. I was in charge of offspring at a very early age, so I didn’t have the luxury of being able to get stoned a lot. And I never drank too much. I was never what I call a s**tfaced artist.”