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NBC Today’s Al Roker remains one of the most accomplished weathermen on television. During his four-decade tenure at NBC, Roker has carried off multiple seemingly impossible feats, including setting the Guinness World Record for fastest time to report a weather forecast from all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, having the Today Plaza renamed Rockefeller Plaza in his honor, and covering catastrophic weather events well into his late sixties.
As it turns out, the father of four’s knack for beating impossible odds extend to his personal life. Roker has undergone an astounding weight loss transformation in recent years, shedding over a third of his body weight between 2002 and 2022. Here’s how the 68-year-old avowed foodie completely revamped his lifestyle and attained his fitness goals.
Al Roker Underwent Gastric Bypass Surgery Twenty Years Ago
Although Al Roker has battled his weight since childhood, his tipping point didn’t come until 2002, when his father passed away after a year-long battle with lung cancer.
“After my father was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001, he was at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and I would go in every day,” Roker disclosed to Parade. “We’d talk and joke, and then one day he got serious and said, “Look, we both know I’m not going to be here to help you with my grandkids, so you gotta promise you’re going to lose weight.” Seven days later he was gone.”
Following his father’s tragic passing, Roker came to the startling realization that some drastic changes were needed to alter his weight trajectory. The father of three decided to get bariatric surgery, which brought about a major milestone in his weight loss journey; losing over 100 pounds. Unfortunately, the 68-year-old later suffered yet another family crisis, which plunged him back into old habits.
“My mom got really sick, and unlike my dad, who was gone before we knew it, her illness dragged on for months. I was out of my routine, commuting [to Long Island] to see her, and feeling guilty,” he told Parade. “Either that or I wasn’t spending enough time with the kids and Deborah, or that I wasn’t being there enough with my mom… I consoled myself with food. I got blindsided and, I think, to a certain extent, I got cocky.”
Al Roker Credits His Weight Loss To Responsible Food Choices
Following his mom’s death in 2011, Roker gained about 40 pounds, almost annihilating all the progress he’d made after bariatric surgery. However, the father of four persevered through the crisis, picked himself up, and continued pursuing his fitness goals.
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To ensure that his old habits didn’t catch up with him again, Roker decided to start making responsible food choices. “My old modus operandi was, if you’re going to have a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich, don’t have one, have two,” he confessed to Parade. “If you’re going to have vanilla wafers, you have the whole box,” he continued. “Now it’s two or three. You learn the secret of most normal-weight people, which is I’m full.”
The 68-year-old also implemented some ground rules to ensure that he didn’t subconsciously backslide into old habits. “I weigh myself in the morning and at night, so that I know where that number is,” Roker told Today in 2013.
“Unless there is breaking news, we don’t allow TV watching at home while we’re eating. I also try not to read and eat, and interestingly, since I stopped that habit, my comprehension is even better.”
Regular Exercise Is A Top Priority In Al Roker’s Life
While exercise might not always come easy for Al Roker, he considers it critical to survival. “I know I need to exercise,” he said in an interview with US News. “For some people, exercise is like breathing; for others, like me, it takes effort. Exercising is what I need for my metabolism and for a better sense of well-being.”
Astoundingly, the legendary weatherman’s transformation has not been brought about by an extremely rigorous workout regime.
“Exercise, and not extreme exercise — we’re doing that 30-day walking challenge — that improves, I think, your mental health, combined with a low-carb diet,” he shared on an episode of the Today show. “I’ve lost about 45 pounds in the last several months. I do about 100 grams of carbs a day and I walk.”
Despite lacking in intensity, Rocker’s exercise regimen has dramatically improved his physical health. The 68-year-old has even completed multiple marathons, an often impossible feat for most people his age.
“It isn’t setting any land speed records, but it was faster than any of my training walks,” Roker said after power-walking his way through the 2022 Brooklyn Half Marathon. “There is a sense of accomplishment. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is something 22,000 people did. Not everybody can do it. And you do feel like, ‘Oh, okay, I did that!’”