Al Roker, 68, looks TOTALLY different than he is now in flashback footage from 20 years ago before gastric bypass and 100lb weight loss journey
Al Roker looked like a completely different person in a snippet of flashback footage broadcast by his old home, the Today show.
The old clip was from before Al, 68, underwent gastric bypass in 2002 and quickly lost more than 100 pounds afterward.
In the throwback video shared by the Show todayNot only did Al carry all the preoperative weight, but he also had hair.
Today, Al’s footage aired as part of a montage that looks back at the program’s seven decades, featuring instantly recognizable faces like Katie Couric, the late Barbara Walters and the disgraced Matt Lauer.
Last year, Al revealed in an Instagram post marking the 20th anniversary of the surgery that he weighed 340 pounds before going under the knife.
Amazing: Al Roker weighed over 300 pounds in 1999 (left) during the early days of his fame before getting a gastric bypass; he is pictured (right) arriving on the Today show last month
Wow: Al looked like a completely different person in a snatch of flashback footage broadcast from his old home, the Today show
Al has been the beloved weatherman on the Today show since 1996, when he rose to fame for his megawatt charm and formidable size.
Before starting his weight loss journey, he could eat six Krispy Kreme donuts at a time and tended to eat two Quarter Pounders for one meal.
He finally underwent his gastric bypass in March 2002 and saw immediate results, telling People the pounds began to ‘drop like water’.
Eight months later, he had lost so much weight that his wife Deborah Roberts confessed that she “walked by the TV once and didn’t recognize my own husband.”
Al shared, “Someone said to me at the gym, ‘Hey, you don’t want to lose too much weight, because that’s who you are – you’re the funny, fat weatherman!'”
He argued, “No, that’s not who I am. I think I’m funny. I know I’m fat. But I don’t think I’m funny because I’m fat. Those two are mutually exclusive.’
At the time, in the immediate aftermath of the bypass, his weight-maintenance strategy was to eat smaller portions of the same foods he loved.
In the intervening two decades, however, he has experimented with other methods, including in recent years the fashionable keto diet.
Throwback: Al has been the beloved weatherman on the Today show since 1996, when he rose to fame for his megawatt charm and formidable size; pictured 2001
Foodie: Al is photographed in New York City’s Stage Deli in 2001 attending a ceremony to introduce their new sandwich named after him
Go for it: Before starting his weight loss journey, he could eat six Krispy Kreme donuts at a time and tended to eat two Quarter Pounders for one meal
He told me last year Today that with exercise plus ‘a low carbohydrate diet’ I have lost about 45 kilos in the last few months. I do about 100 grams of carbohydrates a day and I walk.’
He celebrated the 20th anniversary of his gastric bypass by posing a photo of himself wearing the cavernous jeans he wore to the hospital.
Al scrambled back into the pants for the camera to visually show how many inches he had since taken off his waist.
“Hard to believe it was 20 years ago today, I wore these jeans to my #gastricbypass at 340 lbs and here I am today,” he wrote proudly. “It’s still a struggle, but I’m never going back. I may have setbacks, but I work on it every day.’
Triumph: He finally had his gastric bypass in March 2002 and saw immediate results, telling people that the pounds “began to drop like water”; pictured last month
‘Here I am today’: He celebrated the 20th anniversary of his gastric bypass by posing a photo of himself wearing the cavernous jeans he wore to the hospital