Al Roker has opened up about his past struggles with food, saying he will not be judging people who turn to Ozempic to shed a few pounds.
The former “Today” show weatherman, 70, has been open about his own weight loss journey, undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2002 in a desperate bid to lose 100 pounds.
And as the popularity of weight loss drugs like Ozempic continue to soar, Roker understands why people who are locked in a battle with the scales would try it out.
“I’m not gonna judge anybody,” Roker told the Daily Mail. “Listen, it’s unlike any other addiction or dependence.”
“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,” he went on.
“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.”
Roker opted for the gastric bypass surgery over two decades ago after failing at numerous diets. At his heaviest, he weighed 340 pounds, and wore size 54 jeans.
He initially kept the process from his “Today” co-workers, before surprising them and the viewers with his slimmed-down frame.
“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,” he added.
In March 2022, Roker marked two decades since his procedure.
“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,” he 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 I’ve come.”
The TV host first thought about getting healthy when he started feeling pressure from his “mixed-weight marriage” to second wife Deborah Roberts.
However, the turning point for him was when he promised his late father he would lose weight as he lay dying.
“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 memoir.
Following the life-changing surgery, Roker ended up losing more than 150 pounds.
