Former WWE star Braun Strowman has revealed an unusual weight loss story, shedding pounds while consuming enormous amounts of food during the filming of his latest television project.

Ahead of the premiere of season two of Everything on the Menu With Braun Strowman on USA Network, Strowman spoke with E! News about the demanding filming schedule and the surprising physical transformation that came with it. The series follows the former WWE powerhouse as he travels across the United States visiting restaurants and sampling large portions of their menus, often taking in staggering calorie totals along the way.

According to Strowman, some filming days saw him consume nearly 20,000 calories. Despite that, he finished the seven-and-a-half-week production period lighter than when he started.

“The cool thing is they do that calorie counter and things like that…Some of these restaurants, we were getting up there close to those 20,000 calorie marks. In that seven and a half weeks, I dropped 9 pounds and around 3 percent body fat while doing this. So it was a ton of work going into this,” Strowman said.

The former WWE star credited a disciplined fitness regimen for the results. To offset the massive food intake, he followed a strict schedule that included fasting, cardio sessions, and regular workouts throughout production.

“I would fast for 24 hours before I would film, hour of cardio the night before, get up in the morning, an hour of cardio, my workout, then go to the first location, pig out on that,” Strowman added.

His days rarely slowed down after the first restaurant visit. Once one stop wrapped up, he would move on to another location where he often tackled one of the show’s featured food challenges. Depending on his schedule, he would also fit in additional cardio later in the evening before calling it a day.

Strowman also suggested that his recent focus on slimming down is connected to future opportunities outside the wrestling ring. While he did not reveal specific details, he hinted that several upcoming projects will require him to be in peak condition.

“I’m cutting right now because I have a couple of things I got to take my clothes off for money later on in the year,” Strowman said.