In a new piece that will appear in the September issue of Men's Journal, Eminem opened up about his physical health following the "Rap God" rapper's 2007 overdose. Mathers reveals that because of his drug use, he gained significant weight due to overeating and managed to hit about 230 pounds. Much of the story, told in a first person narrative by Eminem, then explains how he was able to shed those pounds and how he has kept them off since.
"In 2007, I overdosed on pills, and I went into the hospital, Em starts. "I was close to 230 pounds. I'm not sure how I got so big, but I have ideas. The coating on the Vicodin and the Valium I'd been taking for years leaves a hole in your stomach, so to avoid a stomachache, I was constantly eating - and eating badly."
After the 2007 overdose, Eminem went away to rehab and once he came out he knew to shed some of those pounds and function sober. Eminem has an addictive personality, so something else had to replace the drugs in his life. Exercise did that, specifically running as it gave him the high he used to seek in drugs -- only this was a natural one.
The Detroit rapper explains how he became obsessed, running 17 miles per day. He would start with eight and one half in the morning before heading to the studio.
He admits the whole process is like an addiction to him.
"I guess I'm pretty compulsive working out. I feel like if I step away from it for too long, if I have a crazy week and take a five-day break, it'll be like starting over. I'm afraid that if it goes beyond that, I might lose the motivation," he shares. "Once you're at a place where you've made progress and you've got some time invested in it, you don't wanna quit and give up what you started."
The piece comes after Eminem's involvement with new boxing film Southpaw starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which Em executive produced the soundtrack and had a chance to be the film's star.
