{"id":158132,"date":"2025-06-04T18:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T18:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158132\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T18:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T18:09:22","slug":"al-roker-says-theres-no-magic-bullet-for-weight-loss-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158132\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Roker Says \u2018There\u2019s No Magic Bullet\u2019 for Weight Loss (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask\u00a0Al Roker<\/a> to name his favorite meal and he\u2019s quick to reply: \u201cA two- to three-inch, bone-in ribeye with creamed spinach or a baked potato,\u201d says the longtime Today show weatherman. \u201cAnd apple crisp with good vanilla ice cream.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

That steak dinner with dessert isn\u2019t just a fond memory for Roker. It\u2019s something he indulges in to this day. After losing 100 lbs. following gastric bypass surgery<\/a> in 2002, he has managed the remarkable feat of keeping it off for 23 years \u2014 and not by eliminating foods he loves. In fact, refusing to deny himself the pleasure of eating is one reason why he\u2019s been so successful at maintaining his weight loss and health.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cModeration rather than deprivation is better in the long run,\u201d says Roker, who also cohosts the third hour of Today<\/a>. \u201cIf you deprive yourself of stuff that you like, eventually you\u2019re going to snap and go crazy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Roker, who turned 70 last August<\/a>, takes a similar approach to exercise.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mantra is \u2018something is better than nothing,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker.<\/p>\n

Allison Michael Orenstein<\/a><\/p>\n

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 \u2014 such as heart-healthy, weight loss and low-carb \u2014 with menu plans, nutrition tips, grocery lists and community engagement.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a workout fiend, you can find workouts for you there,\u201d says Roker. But it\u2019s also geared to people who are \u201cmore like me, who maybe want to get going and up your game a bit.\u201d He is, after all, the app\u2019s Chief Motivation Officer. \u201cMy feeling is if you look at me and I can do this, probably you can too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 pancakes for dinner were a favorite \u2014 and he became overweight at an early age, describing himself as a \u201cportly kid\u201d in his memoir Never Goin\u2019 Back.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

His father died in 2001, shortly before reaching the age of 70. \u201cHe made me promise I would get healthy,\u201d recalls Roker. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t going to be there for his grandchildren and he wanted to make sure I was.\u201d The following March, Roker had his gastric bypass and began working to fulfill the vow he\u2019d made to his dad.\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker and wife Deborah Roberts on their wedding day in 1995.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Al Roker<\/p>\n

By that time Roker was in his seventh year as Today\u2019s regular weekday forecaster and married to ABC News senior national-affairs correspondent Deborah Roberts<\/a>, 64, whom he\u2019d met at NBC in 1990 and began dating two years later.\n<\/p>\n

They were married in 1995 and went on to raise their family<\/a> in New York City, where the couple still lives on Manhattan\u2019s upper east side: Courtney, 37, Roker\u2019s 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\u2019s first grandchild, Sky Clara<\/a>, was born to Courtney, a trained chef and recipe developer, and her husband Wesley Laga, a drama teacher, in July 2023.\n<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In November 2022 he was hospitalized with blood clots<\/a> in his left leg and lungs (likely related to a previous COVID infection), followed by severe internal bleeding.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d lost half my blood,\u201d 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 \u201ca tsunami\u201d 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.\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker in the hospital.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Al Roker<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was frightening beyond belief,\u201d 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. \u201cIt\u2019s the toughest thing we\u2019ve ever endured as a family and a couple.\u201d Adds Roker, whose years-long commitment to health probably saved his life: \u201cMy doctor said if I had not been in the shape I had been, I would most likely not be here today.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The PEOPLE App<\/a> 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!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

For the broadcaster, it\u2019s 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\u2019s app. \u201cIt\u2019s not so much to bulk up but to keep your bones strong, keep your flexibility, which is important as you age,\u201d says Roker, adding that right now it\u2019s easy for him to lift his granddaughter Sky, who turns two in July. \u201cBut you know, in a couple of years she\u2019s going to be a bigger load. So \u2018grampa\u2019 wants to be able to carry her up and down the stairs.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker’s People Health cover.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s studios are located. \u201cThey\u2019re like walking snacks,\u201d he says. \u201cYou just fit it in.\u201d Consistency marks his food routine, too: Breakfast includes yogurt, granola and maybe a banana, followed by protein at lunch, and what he calls \u201ca normal dinner.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He loves to cook\u2014 \u201cI find it relaxing\u201d\u2014and insists on food that\u2019s not only healthful but delicious, using a lot of olive oil and favoring pan-searing and roasting. (\u201cAny vegetable is better roasted.\u201d) He\u2019s a big fan of sheet-pan dinners, often with chicken or fish, since he eats less red meat than he used to. \u201cChicken thighs are probably my go-tos,\u201d says Roker, who\u2019s shared his recipes in three cookbooks, the latest Al Roker\u2019s 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, \u201cpolished it all off.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker.<\/p>\n

Allison Michael Orenstein<\/a><\/p>\n

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now<\/a>!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

Roker is the first to admit that staying on track isn\u2019t 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\u2019d relied on before and the weight came off.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no magic bullet,\u201d he says. Having gastric bypass, or taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is \u201ca means,\u201d he adds, \u201cit\u2019s not the end. You\u2019re still going to have to put in the work.\u201d For Roker, hitting the treadmill daily is non-negotiable, even when he doesn\u2019t feel like it. \u201cSometimes you have to push yourself to do the things you need to do.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He weighs himself every day\u2014 \u201cI think it keeps you more grounded\u201d \u2014 and doesn\u2019t panic if the number on the scale isn\u2019t what he wants to see. \u201cNo one\u2019s perfect\u2014you\u2019re going to screw up. Lord knows I have. But you just gotta say, \u2018That was then. And now we\u2019re here. What are we gonna do now?\u2019 You have to have that chat with yourself.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Al Roker with his granddaughter Sky.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Al Roker<\/p>\n

Roker\u2019s determination has enabled him to reach the milestone his father just missed. He freely acknowledges that some things have changed a bit with age.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI do realize now that I need more sleep,\u201d says Roker, who\u2019s usually in bed by 9 p.m. and admits to enjoying naps during the day. \u201cI used to poohpooh them, but now it\u2019s like, that\u2019s not so bad.\u201d Having the energy to focus on the things he likes doing is more important than ever. \u201cWhen you\u2019re 70, you know you\u2019re looking at the downslope,\u201d he says. \u201cI think you just try to enjoy yourself more.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

These days, that especially means spending time with his granddaughter.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be in shape for her,\u201d says Roker. \u201cI 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\u2019m going to take what I can,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut I want to make sure I stack the odds in my favor.\u201d\n<\/p>\n