Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Mike Pompeo Getty
Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Fortune Media

‘I started exercising, not every day, but nearly every day’: Mike Pompeo’s controversial weight loss, explored

Many aren't buying the politician's weight loss story.

Mike Pompeo‘s career has had some highs and lows in politics, going from CIA director to Donald Trump’s secretary of state. Another one of the politician’s high profile journeys was the road to weight loss. 

Recommended Videos

Like many weight loss stories, Mike Pompeo lost a startling amount of weight in a questionable amount of time. This has led to speculation and scrutiny over the methods in which he’s adopted. 

Mike Pompeo’s fitness journey, explained

Everyone’s weight loss journey is different. While changing your eating habits, or pushing your body past its limits can be difficult, almost everyone who has decided to lose weight remembers the moment that everything changed for them. For the former CIA director, it was on June 14, 2021. Pompeo stepped on a scale and realized he was dangerously close to the 300-pound mark. That was when he looked at his wife Susan Pompeo and said, “Today is the day.”

In exclusive interviews with the New York Post and Fox News, Pompeo opened up about what motivated him to begin and see through the journey that ended with him losing 90 pounds in six months. He said, “I started exercising, not every day, but nearly every day, and eating right and the weight just started to come off.”

Despite having the resources to hire personal trainers, dietitians, and an entire health team, he claims that he only opted to set up a home gym in his basement which included an elliptical and some dumbbells. He was vulnerable with the Post, saying: “The truth is losing weight has been a lifetime struggle for me.” He had spent years using an old foot injury as an excuse for his weight gain and reluctance to exercise. Like many people, Pompeo was able to apply discipline in aspects of his life like his career but not his health. He claims that finally enforcing this discipline to his lifestyle was what allowed him to lose all their weight.

As he kicked off his journey in 2021, he cut back on fatty foods, which he said used to keep him company during late nights working. He spoke about how he didn’t want changing his diet to change things for his family, saying: “We are Italian and we like to get together around a good meal of pasta and bread and cheeses and dessert. We are still going to enjoy these big meals with family and friends except I am going to be the guy that says, ‘Yeah, I’ll have a salad.'”

Criticisms over Pompeo’s rapid weight loss 

The internet wouldn’t be the same if there weren’t skeptics who questioned how Pompeo lost weight, and if his methods were legit. From curious internet users to health and fitness experts, everyone has had an opinion on Pompeo’s weight loss. When he initially began appearing less on his regular slot at Fox News, rumors began to fly. He attempted to put them to rest with the interviews as well as a photoshoot showing off his home gym and new physique. 

However, people weren’t buying it. Following the launch of his new look, the Kansas City Star editorial board released a highly speculative article claiming that Pompeo wasn’t honest about how he had lost so much weight in such little time. The article claimed that Pompeo would have had to be on a “massive starvation diet” to accomplish what he claimed. Another article by The Guardian cast more doubt on Pompeo’s methods. The article compared him to other politicians such as Chris Christie and Eric Adams who had lost weight due to a Lap-Band surgery and adopting a vegan respectively. Both of these are more believable than Pompeo’s claim that he just put his big boy shoes on and disciplined himself. The Guardian article also cast doubt on Pompeo’s story by calling him a “historically unreliable narrator.”

Health experts broke down his weight loss claims and ultimately debunked it but Pompeo has remained steadfast. If Pompeo used any alternative methods to lose the weight such as medication or surgery, it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to disclose it. His simple story of discipline and determination is a textbook example of the “American dream,” which is his job to sell as a politician. 

But, like all the experts said, his claimed journey is just too unrealistic to believe. It’s not that people aren’t supportive of his journey, they just want what they believe to be the truth to come out.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy