Remember that episode of the Simpsons when Homer gained a lot of weight so that he could work from home on disability? Dr. Nick Riveria advised Homer on how to pack on the pounds, saying “If you’re not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it’s your window to weight gain.”

The glossies are full of celebrity diets and exercise plans to help us lose weight quickly and firm up, but many of the celebrities will also share the quick weight gain strategies they used to to bulk up for a role. There’s little call for that type of information, but it can serve as a cautionary tale for some of our excessive lifestyles.

Much maligned goth rocker Jared Leto gained a ton of weight for his role as John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman in the panned film Chapter 27. His tip for quick weight gain involved melting Haagan Das ice cream in the microwave and drinking it.

Beyonce says she gained the weight back after her ill-advised cheyenne pepper drink diet for Dream Girls by eating fried food. And Renee Zellweger’s Bridget Jones diet involved eating 20 donuts a day.

Matt Damon has revealed his method of gaining 20-30 pounds to look “doughy” to play a conflicted executive in the film The Informant Insider. He said he stopped working out, drank a lot of beer and ate a lot of burgers, and said that it was easier to gain weight at 37 than it was in his 20s.

Even though the weight-gain was required for a role, that doesn’t stop Damon’s friends from mocking him mercilessly.

“Some thing are just self-evident and don’t even require making fun of,” his B.F.F. Ben Affleck said at the Rio Hotel and Casino event, which raised money and awareness about the genocide in Darfur. “I mean, the man buys two seats on an airplane!”

So how did the Oscar-winner pack on the pounds?

“I just stopped working out and basically just ate whatever I wanted,” he said. “I ate a lot of In-N-Out, a lot of burgers, a lot of beer and basically had a great time … When you’re in your 20s you can do that kind of stuff. When you’re in your 30s, its a whole different ballgame.”

[From People.com]

Damon joked that he was about to get his “sexiest man alive” title revoked by People. He still looks damn good to me when he’s dressed like a normal guy. In a Hawaiian shirt with a faux stache and feathered hair he’s as fug as anyone would look in that outfit. It hardly has to do with his weight.

Dream team Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were at the Ante up for African poker tournament for charity last night in Las Vegas. Affleck took a journey to the Congo, his third in 8 months, earlier this summer in order to bring awareness to the immense poverty and human rights violations in the area. His trip was chronicled on Nightline and I think he did a great job that didn’t get as much attention as it should have.

Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jason Alexander are shown last night at the charity tournament at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Vegas. Affleck is an accomplished poker player and won the the California State Poker Championship in 2004.

Photo credit: Judy Eddy and Nikki Nelson for WENN.