Al Roker Shares Wisdom His Father Gave Him That Ultimately 'Led' to His Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2002 (Exclusive)
Roker spoke exclusively to PEOPLE as the face of Today's new Start Today health and wellness app, launching Monday, Jan. 6
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Al Roker on 'Today' in December 2023Al Roker is reflecting on his decades-long health and wellness journey.
The beloved Today weatherman, 70, is leading the charge for the morning show's new Start Today fitness app, which launches on Monday, Jan. 6, and he tells PEOPLE that the app's ethos is what really speaks to him.
"It's about the smaller choices that you make every day that add up to the big things," explains Roker, who's been dubbed Start Today's Chief Motivation Officer. "I think part of the mindset for folks who struggle with weight or with any issue is that something happens and you go, 'Well, I've blown that,' and then you're off the reservation. I think you got to realize that it's not the end of the world. Now, okay, let's start today and start again."
Roker is no stranger to that concept. In 2022, he was hospitalized for life-threatening blood clots and internal bleeding. He is also a prostate cancer survivor, having been diagnosed in 2020, and he underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002.
"To be honest, I struggled with my weight for most of my adult life. And 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," Roker recalls. "And he said, point-blank, 'Look, we both know I'm not going to be here to help you raise your kids. You've got to be here for your children.' And that really stuck with me, and that led me to do a gastric bypass."
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While Roker has managed to maintain his weight in the years since the 2002 surgery, he recognizes that "everybody comes to their moment in their way and in their time," and even he isn't immune to the ongoing struggle.
"It's a means to an end, but it's not the end. It's not the final thing. Every day I work at this. You're never quite done, and that's okay because anything [good] in life is worthwhile," he says.
"You're going to continue to work at 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 parent. You're never done being a friend or a family member. You just keep working at [these things]."
So, while Roker admits the Start Today community won't see him teaching any aerobics classes on the app, he says he's excited to lead people on walks (his favorite way to stay active) and share what he's learned about nutrition over the years.
As for his own fitness routine, Roker says it depends on the day, but most often he'll wake up in the wee hours of the morning before the show and walk for about 20 to 25 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 10 minutes or so of load-bearing exercises.
Other days, Roker will simply enjoy a nice walk home from work "because that's what I can fit in," he says.
"I think that the mantra I have adopted — and I kind of adopted this thanks to my wife, Deborah [Roberts], who is very fitness-oriented — I was one of those people that if I didn't get in an hour's worth of workout, then I just wouldn't do it. And her thing was, 'Hey, look, something's better than nothing.' So that's where I am now. I do believe that something's better than nothing," he tells PEOPLE.
Ashley Codianni, vice president of content strategy at Today, echoes Roker's sentiment (and that of the app): Starting small is better than not starting at all.
"If you only have five minutes, that's okay. That's great. We'll give you something for your five minutes. We'll give you your one small thing," Codianni says. "We'll also help you go grocery shopping and purchase the healthy foods for the meals that are quick and easy. It goes back to that whole body approach."
For the users who are further along in their fitness journeys, the Start Today app also boasts plenty of more substantial offerings: instructor-guided workouts that include walking, yoga and Pilates, more than a dozen contributors to learn from and nutritionist-designed recipes for various dietary preferences such as heart health, weight loss and low carb.
Read the original article on People
