{"id":142506,"date":"2025-01-07T00:59:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/al-roker-says-a-final-promise-to-his-dad-led-to-his-gastric-bypass\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T00:59:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T00:59:39","slug":"al-roker-says-a-final-promise-to-his-dad-led-to-his-gastric-bypass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/07\/al-roker-says-a-final-promise-to-his-dad-led-to-his-gastric-bypass\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Roker Says a Final Promise to His Dad Led to His Gastric Bypass"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>

\n Al Roker<\/span> Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s been more than 20 years since Al Roker<\/strong><\/a> underwent gastric bypass surgery, but he still remembers what his father told him that inspired his weight loss journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I struggled with my weight for most of my adult life,\u201d Roker, 70, told People<\/em><\/a> in an interview published on Monday, January 6. \u201cAnd my dad had gotten very ill, and at one point toward the end, he made me promise that I was going to get in shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The promise and his father\u2019s blunt words changed the Today<\/em> show correspondent\u2019s life forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, point-blank, \u2018Look, we both know I\u2019m not going to be here to help you raise your kids. You\u2019ve got to be here for your children,\u2019\u201d Roker recalled of his father\u2019s final warning. \u201cAnd that really stuck with me, and that led me to do a gastric bypass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roker underwent gastric bypass surgery in March 2002, at the time weighing 340 pounds<\/a>. By the end of that year, he had lost 100 pounds.<\/p>\n

The beloved Today<\/em> cohost revealed in his 2013 memoir, Never Goin\u2019 Back: Winning the Weight Loss Battle for Good<\/em>, that he gained 40 pounds after the death of his mother in 2011. However, he managed to slim down to 205 pounds<\/a> by 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to use travel as an excuse to eat poorly. Now I don\u2019t go anywhere without my scale; I literally pack it with me,\u201d Roker told Parade<\/em><\/a> in December 2012. \u201cIt gives me permission to have a bad day, or even just a bad moment. In the old days it was, \u2018Well, I\u2019ve blown it; I may as well just go hog wild.\u2019 Now it\u2019s [like], \u2018OK, I made a mistake, let\u2019s get back on the wagon.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n
\"Al<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>Al Roker Talks Food Struggles, Says He Won’t ‘Judge Anybody’ Using Ozempic<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\t\t\tAl Roker has no judgment for people using medications like Ozempic for weight loss. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna judge anybody,\u201d the Today show host, 70, told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Saturday, November 9, while promoting his new cookbook Al Roker\u2019s Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion. \u201cListen, [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Twenty years after the surgery, Roker is still celebrating his health journey. He shared a photo of his 54-size Levi jeans that he wore when he arrived at the hospital, writing via Instagram<\/a> in March 2022, \u201cIt\u2019s still a struggle but I\u2019m never going back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The weatherman, who says he now tries to stay around the 190-pound mark, revealed, \u201cI have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far I\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roker\u2019s fitness journey has also been thwarted at times<\/a> because of other health struggles. In September 2020, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer<\/a>. After undergoing surgery to remove his prostate, lymph nodes and some surrounding tissue, Roker was considered cancer-free. His Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels dropped below 1 as a result of the surgery, which means it\u2019s technically undetectable.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Al<\/div>

\n Al Roker<\/span> JP Yim\/Getty Images for NYCWFF<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two years later, Roker had another health scare that resulted in him missing three weeks of work on the Today<\/em> show. He explained in November 2022 that he was admitted to the hospital<\/a> for a blood clot in his leg. According to a social media post shared by Roker at the time, \u201csome clots\u201d were sent into his lungs.<\/p>\n

Roker ultimately needed surgery to fix the blood clots and was readmitted to the hospital several days later<\/a> as a result of complications. He later shared that the surgeons found two bleeding ulcers and removed his gallbladder.<\/p>\n

He remained at home, recovering through the end of 2022. Roker returned to the NBC broadcast in January 2023.<\/p>\n

\n
\n