Ask Al Roker to name his favorite meal and he’s quick to reply: “A two- to three-inch, bone-in ribeye with creamed spinach or a baked potato,” says the longtime Today show weatherman. “And apple crisp with good vanilla ice cream.”
That steak dinner with dessert isn’t just a fond memory for Roker. It’s something he indulges in to this day. After losing 100 lbs. following gastric bypass surgery in 2002, he has managed the remarkable feat of keeping it off for 23 years — and not by eliminating foods he loves. In fact, refusing to deny himself the pleasure of eating is one reason why he’s been so successful at maintaining his weight loss and health.
“Moderation rather than deprivation is better in the long run,” says Roker, who also cohosts the third hour of Today. “If you deprive yourself of stuff that you like, eventually you’re going to snap and go crazy.”
Roker, who turned 70 last August, takes a similar approach to exercise.
“My mantra is ‘something is better than nothing,’” he says. “Maybe you’ll be running marathons or entering weight-lifting contests, but I think most people just want a level of fitness that improves their quality of life.”
Al Roker.
Pegging exercise and eating plans to personal goals is part of the thinking behind Start TODAY, the paid app launched by the morning show in late December. It offers a wide variety of instructor-led workouts and recipes designed for specific preferences and priorities — such as heart-healthy, weight loss and low-carb — with menu plans, nutrition tips, grocery lists and community engagement.
“If you’re a workout fiend, you can find workouts for you there,” says Roker. But it’s also geared to people who are “more like me, who maybe want to get going and up your game a bit.” He is, after all, the app’s Chief Motivation Officer. “My feeling is if you look at me and I can do this, probably you can too.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
From the time he started his weight loss journey in his late 40s, when he weighed 340 lbs., Roker has been very clear about his goal. One of six children, he grew up in Queens, N.Y. His parents were Isabel, a homemaker, and Albert, Sr., a bus driver. Carb-loading was the norm at mealtime — pancakes for dinner were a favorite — and he became overweight at an early age, describing himself as a “portly kid” in his memoir Never Goin’ Back.
His father died in 2001, shortly before reaching the age of 70. “He made me promise I would get healthy,” recalls Roker. “He wasn’t going to be there for his grandchildren and he wanted to make sure I was.” The following March, Roker had his gastric bypass and began working to fulfill the vow he’d made to his dad.
Al Roker and wife Deborah Roberts on their wedding day in 1995.
Courtesy Al Roker
By that time Roker was in his seventh year as Today’s regular weekday forecaster and married to ABC News senior national-affairs correspondent Deborah Roberts, 64, whom he’d met at NBC in 1990 and began dating two years later.
They were married in 1995 and went on to raise their family in New York City, where the couple still lives on Manhattan’s upper east side: Courtney, 37, Roker’s daughter from a previous marriage; Leila, 26, a freelance journalist who was recently engaged to Sylvain Gricourt; and Nick, 22, who’s pursuing a B.A. in communications. The couple’s first grandchild, Sky Clara, was born to Courtney, a trained chef and recipe developer, and her husband Wesley Laga, a drama teacher, in July 2023.
In the midst of a thriving family and career, Roker has faced his share of health issues, ranging from surgeries to replace both knees and a hip, to an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Diagnosed in 2020, he had surgery and was declared cancer-free three months later. But he was yet to face his most terrifying health crisis.
In November 2022 he was hospitalized with blood clots in his left leg and lungs (likely related to a previous COVID infection), followed by severe internal bleeding.
“I’d lost half my blood,” recalls Roker, who was allowed to go home after two weeks, only to be rushed back to the hospital by ambulance a day later, in the midst of what Roberts called “a tsunami” of life-threatening issues. He endured a nearly seven-hour surgery for two bleeding ulcers that included removing his gall bladder and having his colon resectioned. He came very close to dying.
Al Roker in the hospital.
Courtesy Al Roker
“It was frightening beyond belief,” Roberts told People. While she remained upbeat in front of her husband during his several weeks in the hospital she would go home and cry, fearful she might have to tell their children they would lose their father. “It’s the toughest thing we’ve ever endured as a family and a couple.” Adds Roker, whose years-long commitment to health probably saved his life: “My doctor said if I had not been in the shape I had been, I would most likely not be here today.”
The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
For the broadcaster, it’s simple: he wants to stick around, so he sticks with his plan. Every morning, he does 10 minutes of weight training moves from Start TODAY’s app. “It’s not so much to bulk up but to keep your bones strong, keep your flexibility, which is important as you age,” says Roker, adding that right now it’s easy for him to lift his granddaughter Sky, who turns two in July. “But you know, in a couple of years she’s going to be a bigger load. So ‘grampa’ wants to be able to carry her up and down the stairs.”
Al Roker’s People Health cover.
His early ayem regimen also includes 20 minutes on the treadmill, and during warmer months, a 30- to 45-minute walk in Central Park. Aiming for 10,000 steps a day, he uses walking desks in his office and dressing room and even does loops inside 30 Rockefeller Center, where Today’s studios are located. “They’re like walking snacks,” he says. “You just fit it in.” Consistency marks his food routine, too: Breakfast includes yogurt, granola and maybe a banana, followed by protein at lunch, and what he calls “a normal dinner.”
He loves to cook— “I find it relaxing”—and insists on food that’s not only healthful but delicious, using a lot of olive oil and favoring pan-searing and roasting. (“Any vegetable is better roasted.”) He’s a big fan of sheet-pan dinners, often with chicken or fish, since he eats less red meat than he used to. “Chicken thighs are probably my go-tos,” says Roker, who’s shared his recipes in three cookbooks, the latest Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By, which he co-wrote with his daughter Courtney. One recent homecooked dinner featured duck, delicata squash, brown rice and zucchini. Even little Sky, he says, “polished it all off.”
Al Roker.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Roker is the first to admit that staying on track isn’t always easy. When his mother was hospitalized in 2007 before she died, he gained 40 lbs. But he knew the drill. He got back to the regimens he’d relied on before and the weight came off.
“There’s no magic bullet,” he says. Having gastric bypass, or taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is “a means,” he adds, “it’s not the end. You’re still going to have to put in the work.” For Roker, hitting the treadmill daily is non-negotiable, even when he doesn’t feel like it. “Sometimes you have to push yourself to do the things you need to do.”
He weighs himself every day— “I think it keeps you more grounded” — and doesn’t panic if the number on the scale isn’t what he wants to see. “No one’s perfect—you’re going to screw up. Lord knows I have. But you just gotta say, ‘That was then. And now we’re here. What are we gonna do now?’ You have to have that chat with yourself.”
Al Roker with his granddaughter Sky.
Courtesy Al Roker
Roker’s determination has enabled him to reach the milestone his father just missed. He freely acknowledges that some things have changed a bit with age.
“I do realize now that I need more sleep,” says Roker, who’s usually in bed by 9 p.m. and admits to enjoying naps during the day. “I used to poohpooh them, but now it’s like, that’s not so bad.” Having the energy to focus on the things he likes doing is more important than ever. “When you’re 70, you know you’re looking at the downslope,” he says. “I think you just try to enjoy yourself more.”
These days, that especially means spending time with his granddaughter.
“I want to be in shape for her,” says Roker. “I would consider it a major milestone if I can see her enter high school. And God, it would be unbelievable to see her graduate and go to college. I’m going to take what I can,” he adds. “But I want to make sure I stack the odds in my favor.”