Mark Wahlberg’s astonishing transformation for the Gambler (2014)

Mark Wahlberg has always been known as someone who has performed some fantastic physical changes for his various roles. In 2010, Mark gained 30 pounds of muscle to play a boxer in “The Fighter”.  In 2012, he gained 40 pounds for the film “Pain and Gain”, as he admitted to having eaten 12 meals a day and had some grueling heavy weight lifting in between to bulk up; he even had to undergo military training for the “Lone Survivor”, where he played a Navy SEAL, but for a role in the Gambler, playing a college literature professor and a high-stakes gambler, he really pushed himself to the limit. Actors, just like athletes, like to push themselves to the limit in order to achieve impressive results. Every sport is straining, and knowing all about the sport is what makes it all the more interesting when you are betting; for example, you need to possess at least an elementary level of knowledge before you consider trying Boxing betting.

He stated himself that there is nothing he wouldn’t do for a role, both physically and mentally, as he likes to be challenged professionally. Even though it was challenging to stay focused on the goal, he managed to drop 60 pounds in four months for his role. He succeeded to shed 60 pounds via a liquid diet and a jump rope. Throughout the day, he performed some lightweight exercises two or three times a day.  His lips even turned blue due to a lack of nutrition.

Going up and down in his weight is a product of Wahlberg’s extraordinary work ethic. Because of the extreme lack of caloric energy, he had to rest very often. The whole “starvation” process was under surveillance by a medical professional.

 

The diet was especially hard because the actor has an extremely muscular body and had to undergo a drastic diet as he was used to eating a lot of carbs and proteins. He said that he was exhausted and lethargic all the time which is no surprise for someone who likes to eat and has 6-7 meals on a daily basis. But Wahlberg, being a professional he is, had set his mind on the goal.

He even said that the physical transformation was more accessible than his preparation for a role as a literary professor. Being able to play a teacher is the most rewarding challenges as he stated. Not everyone was happy about his radical diet; his family was afraid that something might happen to him, but he was persistent in his cause. He said that this diet has made him a bit miserable, but he doesn’t regret it as he doesn’t want to pass a movie because he was “too lazy”.

Extreme liquid diet

His gruelling diet consisted of eight ounces of almond milk, three times a day. He had wearying workouts that usually started at 4:30 a.m. Mark didn’t eat any food for the first six weeks and just had some small liquids through the day. The actor stated that he went through a rigorous diet like this only because he had just 4 months to slim down for the role.

He said that he had food cravings, even for the things that he doesn’t usually eat. The cravings also went along with the often mood swings while on a diet.

In all, Mark dropped from 197 to 137 pounds for “the Gambler”, but he’s back to his usual weight as he admitted that he went into the binge mode as soon as the movie was over.