New York Jets running back Jesse Chatman has been suspended without pay by the NFL for four games for violating the league’s steroids and related-substances policy.

According to Chatman’s agent, Brett Tessler, his client “never tested positive for a steroid or any other performance-enhancing drug.”  Instead, “near the end of last season, the league claimed he had a diuretic in his system that they said could be used as a masking agent.”

Diuretics, which cause an increase in urination, can be used to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs by diluting urine samples taken for testing.  Diuretics are also often abused by people with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia as abuse of diuretics can aid in the shedding of weight.

Chatman’s use of a diuretic could explain his ability to drop the 60 pounds he lost in 2006 after the 5′8″ running back ballooned to 285 pounds following a foot injury that forced an extended period of inactivity.

It could also explain why Chatman kept walking around the Jets’ locker room asking “do these shoulder pads make me look fat?”

That’s right kids, laxatives and diuretics aren’t just for supermodels and Hollywood actors anymore.  Even your favorite athletes are slimming down in order to look fabulous for bikini season.

For more on this story, visit the New York Daily News.