Latest news with #Stonestreet
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Eric Stonestreet spends his 5 to 9 — from cooking outdoors to unwinding with 'Wheel of Fortune.'
At 53, Eric Stonestreet has been around long enough to know that life throws you curveballs. Some of the biggest jolts came in 2009 when he was cast as Cam Tucker on "Modern Family" and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Stonestreet spoke to Business Insider in partnership with Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the GLP-1 drug Mounjaro, which he uses to treat his diabetes. Big life changes are often accompanied by smaller but no less significant ones: going from a night owl at college to an early riser when shooting "Modern Family," and realizing his parents were onto something watching "Wheel of Fortune" religiously after dinner. That's how he, his fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer, and his 13-year-old twin step-sons wind down in the evenings, he tells me on a Zoom call from his home in Kansas. The transition Stonestreet seems most excited about? His new home that will enable him to grill marinated meats and veggies in an outdoor kitchen again. "I've kind of been deprived of my grilling in the last few years, but that's about to change when our house is done," he says like a true Kansan. He may have moved from the state to LA and back over the years, but some things never change. In BI's latest installment of "5-9," Stonestreet shared how else he spends the hours he's not working. What time do you get up most days, and what does your morning routine look like? Usually I'm up by 8 a.m. Tomorrow is going to be an early start because I'm shooting "Dexter" — I haven't got my call time yet, but it's going to be early, I fear. Eric Stonestreet as Cam, with Sofia Vergara as Gloria, in an episode of "Modern Family." Tony Rivetti via Getty Images When we were on "Modern Family," I looked forward to getting up early, getting to work, and beating traffic. I was up at the crack of dawn for 11 years. It became a game. I preferred to get to work early and nap in my trailer rather than sit in traffic for an hour and a half. Often we'd be shooting at 7.45 a.m. My mornings have changed a lot over the years. People used to make fun of me in college because I loved sleeping in. If I had a class before 10 a.m., I would usually drop it because I never made it to campus in time. Do you have a go-to breakfast? I love breakfast. Breakfast out is one of my favorite things. I'm a savory guy more than sweet, but I do love pancakes. Pancakes are one of my Achilles' heels when it comes to things that you should definitely have in moderation. I love oatmeal. When I was a kid, my mom always had cream of wheat. I never could understand why she liked that, but as I've gotten older, I love it too. I love a parfait. I like scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, maybe one piece of toast. Delicious. Do you eat before you go to set? If I'm on set, they always know to have a couple of scrambled eggs, a couple pieces of bacon, one piece of toast, and a coffee or water for me. I was never really a coffee drinker until "Modern Family." And then I realized, "Oh, I need this." I don't crave coffee every morning. I'll have it because it's there, and that's what people are drinking to stay alive and stay awake. I was a big diet soda drinker. I've cut down a lot, but I do have one Diet Coke a day, and I love seltzer water. Treating cooking like an art form I know you try to fit in 150 minutes of movement each week. What does that look like for you? I take a couple of laps around the hood. At the moment, we're building a house not far from our house, so it'll just be walking there, walking around the property, and doing what I can. We have some exercise equipment in our basement that Lindsay, my fiancée, uses more than I do. But I have my own program and, every once in a while, I'll get inspired to go down there and pull and push some weight around. What do you have for dinner, and who cooks it? Eric Stonestreet and his fiancée Lindsay Schweizer. Bruce Glikas/WireImage Well, Lindsay's a baker. And I love to cook. I love to grill. I've kind of been deprived of my grilling in the last few years, but that's about to change when our house is done. I had a great outdoor kitchen at my house in Los Angeles, and I'm not there as much as I used to be. I really enjoy marinating meats and grilling vegetables. My favorite thing is to grill asparagus, zucchini, carrots, and onions with good seasoning. I love a piece of steak, but I also love chicken, sausages, and all that stuff on the grill. I like making one-pot meals — in Kansas City, it gets cold. You're in England, so I guess you know? I do know. It's surprisingly not cold today, though. You know how nothing sounds better than a Sunday roast on a cold day? Right. Well, that's how it is in Kansas City. So I love making jambalaya or chili. Everybody loves my chili. I love making baked beans on toast, too. Does that sound familiar? Yeah! I love it. Beans on toast with a little cheese. That's delicious. I just introduced the boys to that not long ago. They couldn't believe that that was a proper English meal. And bangers and tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast. They were like, "We're eating real English food." I wouldn't say I do most of the cooking, but well, I would say I do most of the cooking. Brilliant. Does that mean you don't have to do the washing up? Yes, it does mean that, which sometimes I feel bad about because I make a mess. The other day, Lindsay said, "Can you use salt and not end up with it everywhere? It's like it snowed in the kitchen." And that's a fair point. But cooking is an art, baking is a science, and I'm an artist, salt, whatever. Meditating his own way You can't question art. Do you have any particular relaxation techniques? Are you into saunas or massages, or anything like that? When Lindsay and I first got together, I booked us a couple's massage at the Four Seasons in Maui. We were there to shoot an episode of "Modern Family" and we were just getting to know each other. We're in the room together, and the masseuse asked us, "How hard do you like it?" And Lindsay said, "Oh, please get in there. I can take elbows and everything else". Eric Stonestreet in April Norwegian Cruise Line And I said, "Just a little bit more than a tickle." She's never let me forget that. I've never felt super comfortable getting massages, but I've gotten better, and it always surprises me how great I feel afterward. I do love a Swedish spa, going between the hot and the cold. In Los Angeles, I go between the hot tub and the pool with the boys; it's so refreshing and relaxing. I've never done yoga. Everybody who knows me says I'm a perfect candidate for yoga, but I don't know if I have the attention span. I don't like being in the movie theater during the day because I'm worried about what I'm missing outside. I can imagine being in a yoga studio during the day, wondering what's going on outside. I get what you mean. I'm also my own sort of meditator. I've certainly never been taught to meditate, but I think I do my own version at different times of the day. Prioritizing sleep How do you like to spend your evening, and how do you wind down for bed? It's changed. I used to think it was funny that my parents watched "Wheel of Fortune" after dinner every night. And wow, here we are doing the same thing. So we have dinner, we usually watch "Wheel of Fortune," and then the boys go off and do their homework, dance classes, football, or whatever it is. We usually go to bed by 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. I was a night owl as a kid, but "Modern Family" turned me into an early-to-bed guy because I was an early-to-rise guy, and I've kind of stuck with that. So anything past 11 p.m., and I'm yawning. Very sensible. Sounds very exciting, doesn't it? It sounds healthy. Well, that's one thing I can say that I'm very good at as far as health is concerned. You can't underestimate the importance of getting proper sleep, and I get my fair share when I need it. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
How Eric Stonestreet spends his 5 to 9 — from cooking outdoors to unwinding with 'Wheel of Fortune.'
At 53, Eric Stonestreet has been around long enough to know that life throws you curveballs. Some of the biggest jolts came in 2009 when he was cast as Cam Tucker on " Modern Family" and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Stonestreet spoke to Business Insider in partnership with Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the GLP-1 drug Mounjaro, which he uses to treat his diabetes. Big life changes are often accompanied by smaller but no less significant ones: going from a night owl at college to an early riser when shooting "Modern Family," and realizing his parents were onto something watching "Wheel of Fortune" religiously after dinner. That's how he, his fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer, and his 13-year-old twin step-sons wind down in the evenings, he tells me on a Zoom call from his home in Kansas. The transition Stonestreet seems most excited about? His new home that will enable him to grill marinated meats and veggies in an outdoor kitchen again. "I've kind of been deprived of my grilling in the last few years, but that's about to change when our house is done," he says like a true Kansan. He may have moved from the state to LA and back over the years, but some things never change. In BI's latest installment of "5-9," Stonestreet shared how else he spends the hours he's not working. What time do you get up most days, and what does your morning routine look like? Usually I'm up by 8 a.m. Tomorrow is going to be an early start because I'm shooting "Dexter" — I haven't got my call time yet, but it's going to be early, I fear. When we were on "Modern Family," I looked forward to getting up early, getting to work, and beating traffic. I was up at the crack of dawn for 11 years. It became a game. I preferred to get to work early and nap in my trailer rather than sit in traffic for an hour and a half. Often we'd be shooting at 7.45 a.m. My mornings have changed a lot over the years. People used to make fun of me in college because I loved sleeping in. If I had a class before 10 a.m., I would usually drop it because I never made it to campus in time. Do you have a go-to breakfast? I love breakfast. Breakfast out is one of my favorite things. I'm a savory guy more than sweet, but I do love pancakes. Pancakes are one of my Achilles' heels when it comes to things that you should definitely have in moderation. I love oatmeal. When I was a kid, my mom always had cream of wheat. I never could understand why she liked that, but as I've gotten older, I love it too. I love a parfait. I like scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, maybe one piece of toast. Delicious. Do you eat before you go to set? If I'm on set, they always know to have a couple of scrambled eggs, a couple pieces of bacon, one piece of toast, and a coffee or water for me. I was never really a coffee drinker until "Modern Family." And then I realized, "Oh, I need this." I don't crave coffee every morning. I'll have it because it's there, and that's what people are drinking to stay alive and stay awake. I was a big diet soda drinker. I've cut down a lot, but I do have one Diet Coke a day, and I love seltzer water. Treating cooking like an art form I know you try to fit in 150 minutes of movement each week. What does that look like for you? I take a couple of laps around the hood. At the moment, we're building a house not far from our house, so it'll just be walking there, walking around the property, and doing what I can. We have some exercise equipment in our basement that Lindsay, my fiancée, uses more than I do. But I have my own program and, every once in a while, I'll get inspired to go down there and pull and push some weight around. What do you have for dinner, and who cooks it? Well, Lindsay's a baker. And I love to cook. I love to grill. I've kind of been deprived of my grilling in the last few years, but that's about to change when our house is done. I had a great outdoor kitchen at my house in Los Angeles, and I'm not there as much as I used to be. I really enjoy marinating meats and grilling vegetables. My favorite thing is to grill asparagus, zucchini, carrots, and onions with good seasoning. I love a piece of steak, but I also love chicken, sausages, and all that stuff on the grill. I like making one-pot meals — in Kansas City, it gets cold. You're in England, so I guess you know? I do know. It's surprisingly not cold today, though. You know how nothing sounds better than a Sunday roast on a cold day? Right. Well, that's how it is in Kansas City. So I love making jambalaya or chili. Everybody loves my chili. I love making baked beans on toast, too. Does that sound familiar? Yeah! I love it. Beans on toast with a little cheese. That's delicious. I just introduced the boys to that not long ago. They couldn't believe that that was a proper English meal. And bangers and tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast. They were like, "We're eating real English food." I wouldn't say I do most of the cooking, but well, I would say I do most of the cooking. Brilliant. Does that mean you don't have to do the washing up? Yes, it does mean that, which sometimes I feel bad about because I make a mess. The other day, Lindsay said, "Can you use salt and not end up with it everywhere? It's like it snowed in the kitchen." And that's a fair point. But cooking is an art, baking is a science, and I'm an artist, salt, whatever. Meditating his own way You can't question art. Do you have any particular relaxation techniques? Are you into saunas or massages, or anything like that? When Lindsay and I first got together, I booked us a couple's massage at the Four Seasons in Maui. We were there to shoot an episode of "Modern Family" and we were just getting to know each other. We're in the room together, and the masseuse asked us, "How hard do you like it?" And Lindsay said, "Oh, please get in there. I can take elbows and everything else". And I said, "Just a little bit more than a tickle." She's never let me forget that. I've never felt super comfortable getting massages, but I've gotten better, and it always surprises me how great I feel afterward. I do love a Swedish spa, going between the hot and the cold. In Los Angeles, I go between the hot tub and the pool with the boys; it's so refreshing and relaxing. I've never done yoga. Everybody who knows me says I'm a perfect candidate for yoga, but I don't know if I have the attention span. I don't like being in the movie theater during the day because I'm worried about what I'm missing outside. I can imagine being in a yoga studio during the day, wondering what's going on outside. I get what you mean. I'm also my own sort of meditator. I've certainly never been taught to meditate, but I think I do my own version at different times of the day. Prioritizing sleep How do you like to spend your evening, and how do you wind down for bed? It's changed. I used to think it was funny that my parents watched "Wheel of Fortune" after dinner every night. And wow, here we are doing the same thing. So we have dinner, we usually watch "Wheel of Fortune," and then the boys go off and do their homework, dance classes, football, or whatever it is. We usually go to bed by 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. I was a night owl as a kid, but "Modern Family" turned me into an early-to-bed guy because I was an early-to-rise guy, and I've kind of stuck with that. So anything past 11 p.m., and I'm yawning. Very sensible. Sounds very exciting, doesn't it? It sounds healthy. Well, that's one thing I can say that I'm very good at as far as health is concerned. You can't underestimate the importance of getting proper sleep, and I get my fair share when I need it.
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Modern Family star, 53, reveals the weight-loss drug that helped him achieve dramatic slim down
Eric Stonestreet is the latest celebrity to open up about using a GLP-1 weight loss drug. On Thursday the 53-year-old Modern Family alum showed off his impressive weight-loss in a new Mounjaro campaign with his mother Jamey. 'My mom Jamey and I are proud to share our success stories with Mounjaro. We hope to inspire others to talk to their doctors to get the treatment they need,' he wrote in a joint Instagram post with the brand. He said he used to think he was 'fairly' healthy aside from struggling to lose weight, but after he was diagnosed with diabetes in 2009, the actor said he was ashamed. 'I was embarrassed. I didn't want to tell anybody. I knew my mom and dad were both type 2 diabetics and didn't share it with them. If I was dating a person, I never shared that with them. I didn't tell my two best friends for a long time,' he revealed to People. The diagnosis came right around the time he was cast as Cameron Tucker on Modern Family. He recalled, 'It was like this crazy happy moment cut with this diagnosis that I truthfully didn't take very seriously.' Eric opened up about how his doctor at the time neglected to provide any encouragement. 'I had a doctor that sent me on my way with a couple pills and said, "Take care." No inspiring moment of, "You need to seize the day and change this," which I guess technically isn't their responsibility, but I just didn't do anything about it,' he said. He went on to say that he even hesitated to tell his now-fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer about his health early on in their relationship. The Emmy-winning performer revealed: 'I would hide my injectables and my pills from her. I didn't want her to open the fridge and see something in there.' Once he started seeing a team of doctors who stressed the gravity of his type 2 diabetes, he finally made a change. Stonestreet thought of his dad, who suffered from 'very painful' diabetic neuropathy before his death. Stonestreet said he used to think he was 'fairly' healthy aside from struggling to lose weight , but after he was diagnosed with diabetes in 2009, the actor said he was ashamed Eric explained about his late father, 'He passed away from leukemia, but the thing that was the most painful for him was his diabetic neuropathy. And I just decided, well, I can't go down that road.' While making a change to improve his health, the TV star also considered the 13-year-old twin boys he raises with his fiancée. 'They're her kids but I've known them since 3 so they're my kids as well,' he said about taking on parenthood. 'And just like every parent, I want to be around. So I just decided, I gotta stop this train from going that direction and reverse it a little bit as best I can.' Stonestreet began taking weekly Mounjaro injections in May 2022 and has overhauled his health. 'It's a game changer,' he said about his experience, adding, 'It has just been incredible. It's changed my lifestyle, changed my approach to eating, changed my approach to exercise.' The show ran for 11 seasons on ABC from 2009 to 2020; seen in 2020 Due to his success with the medication, he felt inclined to make lifestyle tweaks to keep up his results. 'I felt like, well, if I don't do something along with it, I'm disappointing it. I'm letting it down. Here these people have invented this incredible thing that clearly does its part. Now I need to contribute my part,' he reflected. 'It turns out that when you do that and make some really great choices, weight loss is also a byproduct of that,' the actor noted. Stonestreet continued: 'I experienced a little weight loss. My mom, she lost a significant amount of weight in her experience with it, but I'm down quite a bit.' Adding some more context, he shared: 'I kind of was at the same weight for many years, but then in the last year when I started to really contribute more to it, I've dropped substantial amount of weight.' Now, he says there's 'a pep in my step,' which he notices during moments like when he's walking through the airport with luggage. 'I'm just lighter on my feet. It feels good. I mean, everyone's experienced that. You lose a couple pounds and you feel better.'
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Modern Family' star Eric Stonestreet reveals he's been taking Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes since 2022. It has changed his life in 2 ways.
Eric Stonestreet told Business Insider that he has type 2 diabetes and uses Mounjaro to treat it. Stonestreet kept his diagnosis a secret for years because he was ashamed, but decided to speak out. Mounjaro helped him control his diabetes and motivated him to develop healthier habits, he said. In 2009, Eric Stonestreet took on the role that would change his life: the fun and flamboyant stay-at-home dad Cam on "Modern Family." But Stonestreet's life changed in more ways than one that year: he was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The Emmy-winning actor told Business Insider that he started taking Mounjaro — a GLP-1 agonist drug similar to Ozempic — in 2022 to treat his diabetes. He is speaking publicly for the first time about having the condition and using Mounjaro, in partnership with its manufacturer, Eli Lilly. The active ingredient in GLP-1s mimics a hormone of the same name, which the gut produces naturally to help balance blood sugar. After researchers realized GLP-1s were causing patients to lose significant amounts of weight, largely through appetite suppression, medications such as Wegovy (known as Ozempic for diabetes) and Zepbound (the Mounjaro equivalent) were approved for weight loss in 2023 and have soared in popularity in the years since. Stonestreet, 53, said the medication changed his life by helping him keep his diabetes under control and motivating him to adopt a healthier lifestyle. He said he wants to raise awareness of type 2 diabetes. "We have to get people talking about it and take away the stigma," Stonestreet said. Stonestreet said his type 2 diabetes diagnosis was wrapped up in shame about being a bigger person. He grew up on a farm in Kansas and played lots of sports. He looks back on himself as a slim kid, but didn't always think that way. "I've never thought of myself as anything other than a fat or overweight kid," Stonestreet said. "In seventh grade, I was almost six foot, 175 pounds. I was the biggest kid in class. But when I see pictures of myself back then, I'd do anything to have that physique now. So I think in a way, how I viewed myself and how I look sort of manifested itself." Stonestreet started putting on weight in his senior year, and stayed a similar size for about 20 years. "It's only in the last 15 years that I felt like I started to put on too much weight," he said. After he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Stonestreet was in denial. He "took some simple treatments that the doctor recommended," but didn't tell anyone about it. "I was embarrassed by it, ashamed, just because here I am, this heavy set guy, of course I have type two diabetes, and everybody would just be like, 'Well, duh,'" he said. But type 2 diabetes doesn't only affect people with larger bodies. It's caused by insulin resistance, and while research suggests that 80 to 85% of the risk is tied to obesity, other factors — including genetics, activity levels, race, and age — also play a role. "You never know what someone living with type 2 diabetes looks like," Stonestreet said. "It's easy to paint with a broad brush in that way." Stonestreet decided to open up to his parents about having the disease when his dad was diagnosed with leukaemia. He later died in 2021. "Seeing my dad's health fail and my mom have other health issues unrelated to type 2, that got them really talking about their diabetes. And then that got me to admit to them that I had it," he said. This Easter, he found out two of his cousins have type 2 diabetes, too. "Never knew that in my life," he said. Stonestreet said he and his cousins feeling comfortable to open up about having type 2 diabetes is what he hopes his campaign will achieve on a wider scale. Stonestreet had tried other treatments for diabetes, but nothing had as profound an effect as Mounjaro, he said. "My doctor at the time was very excited about it coming out; he told me, 'Eric, when this drug hits the market, you're going to be one of the first people on it. It's going to be great for you.' And it has been," he said. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for diabetes in 2022. Mounjaro is injected weekly, and Stonestreet built up to the highest dose. It has helped him lower his A1C (average blood sugar levels) to pre-diabetic numbers, he said. The medication's efficacy inspired him to work on his overall lifestyle, and he started moving for 150 minutes a week, mostly by walking. Patients on Mounjaro and other GLP-1s are advised to eat a nutritious diet and exercise regularly. "It's been crazy. The numbers don't lie, and it's just been slowly ticking down," Stonestreet said, referring to his A1C. "Once I really started focusing on diet and exercise to go along with Mounjaro, my A1C just fell off a cliff. It's remarkable." He added: "All of a sudden, I felt like I needed to be accountable to it, because it's showing up every day to do something for me." By changing his outlook on his lifestyle, the medication has been a "life-changer," he said. "Those doctors at Lilly, scientists, researchers, they did all the work to create it. And so I'm not going to just spit in its face and all their faces by not doing at least my part to make the drug as effective as it can," Stonestreet said. In studies, patients have lost up to 20% of their bodyweight on Mounjaro, but that was never Stonestreet's focus, and he lost a few pounds when he started on it. He also said he didn't experience common side effects of the drug, such as nausea and constipation. GLP-1 drugs are considered a long-term treatment, and some patients have found the side effects too challenging to continue. Stonestreet uses a continuous glucose monitor to track his blood sugar levels and treats it like a game. "I'm logging information constantly, and it's turned into something I'm addicted to," he said. "Making sure my blood sugar is always where it needs to be." He watches what he eats but allows himself to "mess up every once in a while." Ultimately, Stonestreet thinks it's important to have realistic expectations in life. "If I had moved to Los Angeles to be a lifeguard on 'Baywatch', I would've had a very unfulfilled career," he said. "Could I have been a sunburn victim on 'Baywatch'? Sure. On the beach, visiting from Kansas? Completely realistic." He added: "So I think if I can give people advice — and it's not always easy to take advice from somebody that's doing it — but it's just set yourself realistic expectations. Don't say, 'Man, I'm going to run a marathon', or 'I'm never going to have a piece of candy again in my life'. Just bit by bit, piece by piece." Read the original article on Business Insider
USA Today
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Modern Family' star Eric Stonestreet talks weight loss, Mounjaro and facing stigma
In 2009, Eric Stonestreet's life changed forever in two major ways. First, he landed his role in "Modern Family," a critically acclaimed ABC sitcom that went on for 11 seasons and catapulted him to fame as Cameron Tucker, the theatrical and tender-hearted husband to Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Mitchell Pritchett. But it was also that same year that Stonestreet received some medical news: He had Type 2 diabetes, a diagnosis that made him feel a great deal of shame, just as his star was on the rise. "I would dare say the only person probably in the cast that would even know I had Type 2 diabetes is Jesse. It's not anything I ever talked about," Stonestreet says. "I just kind of was ashamed and embarrassed, because, 'Of course, a guy that looks like me has Type 2 diabetes.' That's what everybody thinks. 'That's what you get for looking like you and eating like you,' or whatever." What turned the actor's health around, he says, was Mounjaro, a weight-loss medication he started in 2022 on his doctor's recommendation. Since then, Stonestreet says, his blood sugar is at a healthier, prediabetic level. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Stonestreet emphasizes he did not go on Mounjaro for appearances, though he acknowledges some "Modern Family" fans might notice he's thinner now than he was on the show. On a late April Zoom call, the actor doesn't share exactly how much weight he's lost but admits he's "down a couple shirt sizes, for sure." Now, Stonestreet is doing a paid partnership with Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical brand behind Mounjaro, to share his experiences on the drug in hopes of destigmatizing weight-loss medication, which has become a hot-button cultural and political topic in recent years. "I just never talked to anybody about it. I was embarrassed, so I just kind of kept it to myself," he says. "Now, I'm talking about it, and I hope other people will do the same thing." 'I was like, I don't like looking at myself' As an actor, Stonestreet says, he's never liked watching his own work. He finds watching his performances back can sometimes get in the way of being spontaneous and in the moment while he's acting. During his run on "Modern Family," Stonestreet says he found it especially difficult to watch himself on TV. A lot of this, he says, had to do with feelings of shame that came with his Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. "I know when I was doing great and when I wasn't and when I was like, 'I don't like looking at myself,' " he says of his time on the sitcom. "And I'm like, 'I don't like how I look out there.' Just like everyone else experiences. People are always like, 'You must love watching yourself on TV.' Actually, it's the opposite." Stonestreet hasn't told his former "Modern Family" castmates that he started Mounjaro; however, he expects many will likely find out when the rest of the world does, with the announcement of his Eli Lilly partnership. He expects they'll be supportive when they do. "I think most of them will be surprised, and I think they'll be happy for me. I mean, we all want the best for each other, and not anybody ever was like, 'Hey, you're really unhealthy looking,' " Stonestreet says. "But there's no doubt that people over time would probably think 'Eric should take better care of himself.' And I thought that (too)." Stonestreet's not sure if or how his weight loss might affect his career. His main motivation for starting Mounjaro has always been his health and managing Type 2 diabetes. But he does think costumers on future projects may be less stunned when they take his measurements. "Look, I'm not all of a sudden going to be Brad Pitt over here and chiseled at 175 pounds. Let's be real clear about that. I'm always going to be a big-boned, Kansas, corn-fed dude," he says. "But clothes fit better, which is exciting. I'm going down in size, which is exciting. Wardrobe people on shows won't be so shocked when they hear I'm a size 50 jacket. One thing that's funny in Hollywood is anything that's more than a 45 or 46, it's like, 'What size are you? How big?' It's funny. So that's exciting." The stigma of weight-loss medication Weight loss medications have broken into the mainstream in recent years, in part thanks to Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities coming forward to share their experiences with them. Still, these drugs often carry stigma, even though medical experts emphasized there's nothing wrong with taking them under proper medical guidance and supervision. Stonestreet expects he'll receive some mean comments when the public learns he went on Mounjaro. "People suck on social media, and people will say mean things inevitably, and that's fine. I get it. You have to wake up and be mean to somebody to make yourself feel better," he says. "But it's worked for me and I can't judge anyone else's reason for getting on any of these other drugs." But Stonestreet also knows that his coming forward will likely mean a lot to people in similar situations. He hopes he can let these people know that they're not alone and there's no shame in weight-loss medication. It's a lesson that he admits it took himself some time to learn. "Hopefully what everyone takes away from it is find someone that you can talk to about it and sort of shine the light on it versus hiding it," he says.
