*When it comes to losing weight, Al Roker is the last person to give anyone insight into reaching the finish line.
The 70-year-old “Today” show weatherman will tell you himself that he’s not putting any stock in his opinion on what particular way or drug to shed pounds. Especially when that path involves Ozempic.
“I’m not gonna judge anybody. Listen, it’s unlike any other addiction or dependence,” Roker told the Daily Mail while voicing his understanding of why people resort to the popular weight loss drug. “You can live without alcohol, you can live without cigarettes, whatever that drug of choice is, but you’ve got to eat, and so for some people, it’s just difficult.”
“If this is what works for them, I mean, who are we to say, ‘Oh, don’t do that.’ As long as it’s safe and effective, good for you,” he added. “I think everybody’s journey is their journey.”
While Ozempic is seen as a current solution, gastric bypass surgery was the Ozempic of Roker’s day more than two decades ago when he was struggling to be slim. At his heaviest, the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade host weighed 340 pounds and wore size 54 jeans, according to the New York Post.
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With that came failed attempts via multiple diets and ultimately, a decision to lose 100 pounds via gastric bypass in 2002. Despite undergoing the procedure, the effort was kept classified from Roker’s “Today” cohorts.
It wasn’t until he surprised them with his noticeably new appearance that his weight loss registered officially with those he worked with.
“I guess what I’ve come to [realize with] my relationship with food, which has happened over a period of time, is that I’ve learned about portions,” Roker added.
Decades later, In March 2022, the daytime TV fixture acknowledged his milestone, which resulted in more than 150 pounds lost.
“Hard to believe it was 20 years ago today, I wore these size 54 Levi jeans to my #gastricbypass at 340 lbs. and here I am today,” Roker captioned a photo on Instagram of himself holding up the aforementioned jeans. “It’s still a struggle but I’m never going back. I have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far Igs ’ve come.”
Although pressure from Roker’s “mixed-weight marriage” to second wife Deborah Roberts drove his desire to get healthy, it wasn’t until he promised his late father, Albert Lincoln Roker Sr., he would lose weight as he lay dying that things shifted into serious mode.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever had to make a deathbed promise to someone you love, but if you have, you know the kind of guilt and massive responsibility I felt in that moment,” he explained in his 2012 memoir, “Never Goin’ Back: Winning The Weight-loss Battle for Good.”
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