Keeping it off! Al Roker reflected on his weight loss journey two decades after he underwent gastric bypass surgery.
“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,” the 67-year-old journalist wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, March 15.
The Today weatherman shared a series of photos highlighting his transformation, including a close-up look at the jeans he wore when he was at his heaviest. The pants fit him when he weighed 340 pounds.
Roker also stepped into the jeans on the anniversary of his surgery to show how far he has come. The TV personality dropped 100 pounds by the end of 2002 after having his procedure in March of that year.
“It’s still a struggle but I’m never going back,” Roker wrote on Tuesday. “I have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far I’ve come.”
The NBC anchor received an outpouring of love after sharing his before and after photos, including a message from Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “No one better than our pal, Al ❤️,” the Today With Hoda and Jenna cohosts commented on the inspirational post.
Savannah Guthrie added, “You are so inspiring. Every day. Every minute.” Carson Daly, for his part, wrote, “You’re the Yoda to my Skywalker Uncle Al!”
Roker previously opened up about his eating habits in his 2013 memoir Never Goin’ Back: Winning The Weight Loss Battle for Good. He explained that while trying to woo his now-wife, Deborah Roberts, when they first started dating he realized how much food meant to him.
“My life was centered around food. I could never live with no food in my apartment — not even in New York, where you can get everything delivered in 30 minutes or less,” he wrote, noting that Roberts’ fridge only had “champagne, a jar of mustard [and] a slab of half-moldy cheese.”
The Emmy-winning anchor, who now tries to stay around the 190-pound mark, recalled stocking her fridge with all the essentials to better feel like “home,” including milk, orange juice, cheese, eggs, butter, coffee, oatmeal, sausage, bread, cold cuts, fresh vegetables. “Last, but certainly not least, I put some Häagen-Dazs in her freezer,” he wrote.
Roker revealed in the book that, despite dropping 100 pounds after his surgery a decade prior, he gained about 40 pounds when his mom died in 2011. He was able to stop is yo-yo cycle and trim down to 205 pounds the next year by implementing a more nutritious diet and workout plan.
“I used to use travel as an excuse to eat poorly. Now I don’t go anywhere without my scale; I literally pack it with me,” the author told Parade in December 2012. “It gives me permission to have a bad day, or even just a bad moment. In the old days it was, ‘Well, I’ve blown it; I may as well just go hog wild.’ Now it’s [like], ‘OK, I made a mistake, let’s get back on the wagon.’”
Scroll down to see Roker’s pre-surgery pants and his current slimdown:
Al Roker in 2002 and ini 2022.[/caption]
“It’s still a struggle but I’m never going back,” Roker wrote on Tuesday. “I have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far I’ve come.”
The NBC anchor received an outpouring of love after sharing his before and after photos, including a message from 
