Michael Weatherly Sheds 35 Lbs. – How He Did It

Michael Weatherly in January 2014 (left) and at a triathlon in September

Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto; Noel Vasquez/Getty

By Lynette Rice

10/03/2014 AT 11:40 AM EDT

The NCIS star took the summer off his top-rated drama to shed a whopping 35 lbs. from his 6' 2" frame. The actor told PEOPLE that he got so heavy that he "split five pairs of pants" during season 11.

"Here's the skinny," joked Weatherly, 46, who plays Anthony DiNozzo on the CBS series.

"I have two very small children, ages 2 and 1-year-old. That means I had been living with a pregnant lady for a long time. While my wife [Bojana Jankovic] never gave in too much to her Nutella craving, we weren't doing too much. And I found it very hard to say to my wife and children [Olivia and Liam] that I need to spend a couple of hours on me. And the job was demanding."

"This is not an excuse, but the craft-service table is not filled with a lot of super healthy options," continued Weatherly. "Then you get to working late, there's pizza and Chinese food. You try to be good. But while the crew guys are lifting things and pushing things, I just tended to sit at the trough and continue to graze. That's my long-winded way of saying things did get away from me. It reached a tipping point. Even the writers made jokes about Tony needing to go on a cleanse."

At the end of season 11, the actor turned to trainer Juliet Kaska, who encouraged him to cross-train with sports like boxing and swimming in the ocean. "I do it every weekend," he says. "I love it. You become very alive when you are in ocean."

As for his diet, Weatherly pretty much gave up most carbs. "No food that comes from a package like potato chips," he said. "I stayed away from pasta, rice, bread, potatoes anything that's fun to eat, I did not eat. And I pulled way back on alcohol consumption."

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Michael Weatherly Sheds 35 Lbs. - How He Did It