Never mind Ferraris, Harley-Davidsons and speed boats. The new midlife crisis for celebrity men is all about drastic dieting, psychedelic drugs and woo-woo wellness.
Take buff Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — the ex-husband of Gwyneth Paltrow and current squeeze of actress Dakota Johnson — who, at 46, has revealed he only eats one meal a day after taking dieting tips from Bruce Springsteen.
Or Will Smith, 54, who fled to India for a month to practice yoga and meditation after he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
And four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers went into a darkness retreat — an off-grid “cave in the Oregon wilderness — to reach the decision to leave the Green Bay Packers and join the New York Jets. This is, when the 39-year-old wasn’t drinking hallucinogenic ayahuasca tea with boxer Jake Paul, who recalled “reflecting and going into the deepest parts of the mind” together.
“Self-control and extreme self-improvement have become the new middle-aged Alpha male mantra,” Tim Samuels, award-winning documentary maker and former host of BBC Radio’s “Men’s Hour,” told The Post.
“In the 1980s, it used to be, ‘I’m so successful I only sleep 4 hours a night.’ Now it’s, ‘I sleep eight hours a night at optimal room temperature whilst monitoring my circadian rhythms before waking up to consciously not eat breakfast.'”
Stars such as Jimmy Kimmel, 55, and Chris Pratt, 43, are also fans of intermittent fasting diets, and 51-year-old Phil Libin, co-founder of the start-up company All Turtles, leads the way in Silicon Valley extremes by fasting for up to eight days — which, he says, makes him a better CEO.
Twitter founder and billionaire Jack Dorsey, 46, only eats dinner — except on Saturdays when he has nothing to eat at all.
Sam Rice, British nutrition expert and author of “The Midlife Method: How to Lose Weight and Feel Great After 40,” said there is a “macho element” to this “bro mentality” super dieting.
“And now we have this bio bro hacking approach to health — trying to shed the years. This extreme approach to wellness seems to be far more prevalent among men,” she said.
“Since when did rock stars start giving dietary advice and should we really be listening to them?” Rice added.
There are also plenty of middle-aged gurus promoting this ultra-macho, push-yourself-to-the-limit trend.
Controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, 60, has said he only eats beef, salt and water — and lost 60 pounds on this diet, which allegedly cured his anxiety and depression.
And don’t forget the “Liver King”: Forty-five-year-old TikTok influencer Brian Johnson is famed for wolfing down organ meats — including a daily serving of liver — in his videos, which have attracted more than 1.8 million Instagram followers and show him shirtless and gnawing on raw meat like some kind of caveman.
He claimed that his “ancestral living” diet could cure depression and help attain peak physical health. But in December, he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and was slapped with a $25 million class-action lawsuit alleging he tricked customers into buying supplements and following “a dangerous and life-threatening diet” which caused “a large portion of consumers” to suffer from “severe” food-borne illnesses.
As with so many of society’s problems, Rice blamed pressure from social media for men to look good.
“There is something really fueling this midlife makeover,” Rice said. “With social media and so many more images of celebs out there, maybe they feel the added scrutiny to be in better shape? Although I still don’t think it’s the same pressure for men as it is for women.
“For me, dieting tends to be quite extreme when men do it … a lot of men get to midlife and it might be the first time they’ve ever had to think about their diet and they embark on the dietary equivalent of a triathlon.”
Coldplay singer Martin, 46 last week revealed how he had cut his meals down to one a day after visiting 73-year-old Springsteen at home.
“I don’t actually have dinner anymore ― I stop eating at four, and I learned that from having lunch with Bruce Springsteen,” Martin told Conan O’Brien on his podcast.
This is known as the Omad (one meal a day) diet, where you eat before 4 p.m. and then can only drink water, tea or coffee — no sugar.
But Rice said it can lead to “disordered eating … It’s quite dangerous to promote this kind of diet.”
She added: “Yes, there are some documented benefits of fasting. You can give your gut a rest, but even so this extreme nature of dieting outweighs any benefits.”
Samuels said fasting dates back to the Paleothic Era — but not by choice. “As cavemen, we’d have had unsuccessful days and come home empty-handed, so we’re wired to be able to miss meals,” he explained. “Regularly skipping two out of three meals a day sounds like an extreme form of self-control. Eating and control can easily be caught up with each other in an unhealthy way.”
It’s also a sign of celebrity privilege that, Rice pointed out, “doesn’t fit in with most people’s lifestyles — if you work, you’ve got a family and a normal job, I can’t see you being able to have just one meal a day. It’s a bit mad.”
On his BBC wellness podcast, “All Hale Kale,” Samuels delved into extreme routines and wellness hacks, including Dorsey’s love of ice baths and 51-year-old Mark Wahlberg popping himself into a cryo chamber to decompress
“We’re living in the same minds and bodies that evolved to basically hunt, gather and ideally not get mauled by lions. We’re wired to focus on finding food and staying alive. Our cave man brains aren’t wired to be bombarded by the madness of social media or, for some guys, the pressures of fame,” Samuels said.
“So you can see why for some they’ve had enough — and have literally gone back to the cave. Back to living in darkened rooms,” he added of the various woo-woo wellness practices that have overtaken privileged men of a certain age.
“Or doing tribal experiences. It’s our cave man brains saying ‘enough of this modern madness.’
“A lot of guys will relate to this: our brains have been held hostage by our smart phones — when, at times, all we want is a simpler life that matches how we’re wired.”
Like Aaron Rodgers, 38-year-old Prince Harry has turned to psychedelic outlets to cope.
He recently told Dr. Gabor Maté that ayahuasca triggered feelings of “release” and “comfort” that helped him deal with his trauma.
‘It removed it all for me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time,” the prince said. “It was the cleaning … of the windshield, the removal of life’s filters … “
But have no fear, celebs’ old-school vanity is also still firmly in check.
According to one highly-placed Hollywood exec, one Oscar nominee showed off his new hair plugs on the awards trail this year, while 2022 Oscar winner Kenneth Branagh’s hair color seemed to magically vary between several shades of orange and red as he promoted his film “Belfast,” industry insiders pointed out.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Hakimi, who works with the Elite Body Sculpture clinic in Beverly Hills, said he has noticed a “surge” in men coming to see him following the pandemic when they stared at their faces over Zoom.
“I see a lot of men,” he said. “Either their wife or someone [else] made a comment and they just run straight here.”
One of his top procedures is neck liposuction or radio frequency skin tightening, which takes less than a couple of hours. “It shapes the jawline and creates a more masculine look,” Hakimi said.
Then there’s chest liposuction to combat man boobs — a particular worry in Hollywood. “Quite often, celebrities need to go shirtless on TV and want to look good,” Hakimi said. “There are men working out and using supplements to create muscle, but they can start growing breasts. I’ve also seen a rise in gynecomastia [breast growth] as men smoke more and more marijuana.”
The biggest trend in male makeovers, the doctor said, is hi-def liposuction — full body lipo that can help sculpt six packs and muscles. “We can take the fat from the abdomen and waistline and transfer it to the deltoids in the arms.”
Famous or not, Hakimi added, vanity gets everyone in middle age.
“It blows my mind: Male celebrities come in with the same insecurities as a police officer or a school teacher.”
