Alan Ritchson has revealed the unexpected diet he used to get in shape for the hit Amazon Prime series Reacher. With the third series going live, fans want to know how Ritchson achieves his famous bulky physique.
The books, written by Lee Child, sees Jack Reacher not worrying about healthy eating, famously seeing all calories as equal. And Ritchson, 42, told Men’s Health that he has a similar approach – with a real weakness for cookie dough and key lime pie.
He said: “To Reacher, a calorie is a calorie, it doesn’t matter if it comes from fat or sugar. Reacher will eat anything that works for him.”
Ritchson added that he takes a somewhat similar approach, saying he doesn’t bother to count calories or deliberately pile into protein: “I eat whatever the hell I want, and I’m not kidding. I eat the healthiest when I’m on set, because I have somebody cooking for me.”
Just under 6ft 3ins, Ritchson eats roughly 4,000 calories a day to maintain the build required to play Reacher, almost double the recommended daily intake of a man, which is 2,500.
When asked about what he eats daily, Ritchson has previously said: “I eat about every hour. I don’t know if they’re like full meals you know probably like four full meals.”
He added that his breakfast involves pre-made packs of oatmeal. Whilst for lunch he typically has a “meat and cheese taco,” consisting of Swiss cheese, turkey and a dash of mustard.
For dinner, Ritchson enjoys his wife’s homemade turkey meatloaf, emphasising lean protein complemented by a variety of greens. But despite his disciplined approach, the actor doesn’t shy away from admitting his indulgences, confessing: “I was given 8lbs of raw cookie dough for my birthday recently. I ate all of it.”
The actor shared that he is trying to take a more balanced approach, saying one of his go-to meals – chicken, rice, and steamed vegetables (with a cookie for dessert) – offers “balanced macronutrients” for building muscle.
Despite letting himself indulge in his sweet tooth, Ritchson revealed that he works out rigorously as a result: “People will be like ‘oh, he eats whatever he wants.’ When I go into that gym, I’m like, ‘I deserve to die for how I’ve eaten,’ so I’m going to try to work myself to death.”
However he reiterated his desire for a balanced lifestyle and diet: “What I would love to find in my life is a balance, where I kind of eat healthy and then don’t have to work quite as hard. But I’m not doing it yet. I like cookie dough too much.”