Al Roker reflects on his decades-long journey to health and wellness.
valentine Today forecaster, 70, takes stock of the new Start Today fitness app on the morning show, which launched on Monday, January 6, and tells PEOPLE that the app’s ethos is what really speaks to him.
“It’s about the smaller choices you make every day that add up to big things,” explains Roker, who has been named Start Today’s Chief Motivation Officer. “I think part of the mindset of people who struggle with weight or any other problem is that something happens and you go, ‘Well, I blew it,’ and then you’re off the hook. I think you have to realize that it’s not the end of the world, okay , let’s start again today.”
Roker is no stranger to this concept. In 2022, he was hospitalized due to life-threatening blood clots and internal bleeding. He is also a prostate cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2020, and underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002.
From left: Al Roker in 2000; Al Roker in 2022. Nick Elgar/ImageDirect; Theo Wargo/Getty Images
“To be honest, I struggled with my weight most of my adult life. And my dad got really sick and at one point near the end he made me promise to get in shape,” Roker recalls. “And he said, bluntly, ‘Look, we both know I’m not going to be here to help raise your kids. You have to be here for your kids.’ And that really stuck with me, and that’s what led me to get a gastric bypass.”
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Although Roker has managed to maintain his weight in the years since his 2002 surgery, he realizes that “everyone comes to their moment in their own way and in their own time,” and even he is not immune to the ongoing struggle.
“It’s a means to an end, but it’s not the end. It’s not the final thing. I’m working on this every day. You’re never quite done, and that’s okay because anything [good] it is valid in life,” he says.
“You’re going to keep working on it,” he continues. “It’s like my dad used to say about me and my siblings: ‘No matter how old you are, you’re always my kid.’ You’re never done being a friend or family member. You just keep working [these things].”
So while Roker admits the Start Today community won’t see him teaching aerobics classes on the app, he says he’s excited to take people on walks (his favorite way to stay active) and share what he’s learned about nutrition over the years.
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As for his own fitness routine, Roker says it depends on the day, but most often he’ll wake up in the early morning before a show and walk for about 20 to 25 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 10 minutes or so of weight training.
Other days, Roker will simply enjoy a nice walk home from work “because that’s what I can fit in,” he says.
“I think I adopted the mantra — and I adopted it to some extent thanks to my wife, Deborah [Roberts]who is very fitness-oriented — I was one of those people who, if I couldn’t work out for an hour, I just wouldn’t do it. And her thing was, ‘Hey, look, something’s better than nothing.’ So here I am now. I believe something is better than nothing,” he tells PEOPLE.
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Ashley Codianni, VP of Content Strategy at Todayechoes Roker’s opinion (and the app’s opinion): It’s better to start small than not start at all.
“If you only have five minutes, that’s fine. That’s great. We’ll give you something for your five minutes. We’ll give you your one little thing,” Codianni says. “We’ll also help you go to the grocery store and buy healthy foods for quick and easy meals. It goes back to the whole-body approach.”
For users who have progressed in their fitness, the Start Today app also boasts a host of more substantial offerings: instructor-led workouts that include walking, yoga, and pilates, more than a dozen associates to learn from, and recipes designed by nutritionists for a variety of dietary preferences like heart health, weight loss and low carb.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education