9-1-1: Nashville‘s Hunter McVey is getting honest about how his “ever-changing” relationship with his body has influenced his career.
“It’s been a very interesting and changing relationship with health and how I view my body over the years,” McVey, 27, exclusively told Us while promoting his business, Bring Your Nutrition.
McVey recalled how he was “always insecure” as a child.
“Being heavier and bigger than everybody else, I always hated what I saw in the mirror. I was always self-confident and never liked the way I looked. Even when I would get skinnier or in shape or lose weight, I would be critiquing myself on, ‘Oh, I need to be skinnier around the waist,’ or whatnot,” he explained. “It’s not something that a lot of men talk about.”
The actor has heard similar stories from other men, saying, “I’ve talked to a lot of men over the years as well that are in the gym that look good and the funny thing is, the more and more you’re in the gym or in tune with your physique or your fitness, a lot of times the body dysmorphia continues to increase. Because then you’re being more picky and more picky.”
After booking his role as Blue on 9-1-1: Nashville, McVey’s relationship with his health evolved once more.
“Before I started filming 9-1-1: Nashville, I was about 225 pounds and that was mostly solid muscle. Because of how busy the 9-1-1 season was, I wasn’t able to eat as much, and instead of training six days a week, I could maybe train two. I went down to about 200 pounds,” he shared with Us. “I lost about 25 pounds of muscle all over. If you were to tell me that two years ago, I probably would have freaked out, because I tied a lot more of my value and my self worth to how I looked on the outside.”
He continued: “Now, I’ve just only — through experience and many, many years — been able to let myself know that I’m valuable even though I don’t have that extra 25 pounds of muscle on me. I still need to and like to stay in shape — obviously, not only for the camera, but for my peace of mind. The gym and fitness does a lot for my mental health, but I don’t tie my self worth, my identity and my confidence to how big or muscular or ripped I am, because if you compare yourself to others — especially in the age of social media — it’s a losing battle.”
McVey used his own experience with health and wellness as inspiration in his professional life.
“[It is] what I attribute some of my successes, discipline and good skills that have transferred to other areas of my life since I was 12. It was the first time I lost 40 pounds and started counting calories, macronutrients and going to the gym and working out,” he continued. “I had bounced up and down multiple times throughout my youth and through college. Then after school when I started doing social media and showing people how I’d lost weight, how I put on muscle, the transparency between between hormones, peptides and coaching people on how to improve their lives and some of the things that improved my lives, I wanted to create a business that provided value for people and helped people. That was one of my biggest goals. Because you can only post shirtless for so long on Instagram.”
In addition to starring on TV, McVey has been working in Bring Your Nutrition, which is set to launch a non-toxic food storage container line made from platinum silicone.
“The vulcanization process of that silicon allows these containers to heat up food in the microwave or the oven without leaching any toxins or microplastics into your food. Most Americans are consuming about a credit card worth of microplastics every single week and from many different sources,” he explained to Us. “Now, we’re finding that those microplastics are endocrine disruptors and we’re seeing in younger and younger people all of these issues — diseases, cancers, neurological disorders and problems — stemming from a lot of these microplastics.”
He added: “They’re meal containers that you can travel with and store your food in. The lid seal is perfect and keeps everything in there. You can bring them to the gym and they don’t break or they’re not heavy like glass. Then you’re not getting any toxins or any microplastics in your food when you heat them up in the microwave or in the oven up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.”
McVey is proud of the career milestone, which comes as he has balanced acting with other responsibilities. “I’m focusing on doing the best job that I can with 9-1-1: Nashville, with being the best husband I can and with running the businesses the best I can,” he said.
The model also acknowledged, however, that finding balance isn’t always easy.
“I’ve always thrived in the chaos a little bit. I’m lucky that at this point in my life and in my 20s I have the energy and the push and the drive and the ambition to [start my own business]. The most important things that I prioritize in my life are time and family, so I figured that if I can spend the majority of my 20s building what I want to build then I can set myself, my wife and my family up,” McVey told Us. “I attribute the balance in being able to do what I do all to my wife Julia because I don’t know and haven’t met anybody else that could handle what my schedule is like on a daily basis. The support that I have out of my partner is how I’m able to keep going and how I’m able to do this and I wouldn’t be able to do it alone. She recognizes the goals that we have in mind of time and time with family and she knows that I enjoy these things and what makes me happy is creating. I’m very passionate about it and I love what I do, so that makes her happy.”
Bring Your Nutrition drops November 2, with early access available on November 1.
