Al Roker remembers life-saving advice received from his father, wife, and more
Al Roker wants to inspire you on your health and wellness journey through the new Start Today app.
Al Roker, who has been increasingly open about his health and wellness journey through the years, wants to inspire others.
On Monday, Jan. 6, the Today Show launched a brand new health and wellness app, Start Today, and named the famed weatherman its Chief Motivation Officer.
“It’s about the smaller choices that you make every day that add up to the big things,” Roker told People magazine when discussing the app.
He added, “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.”
Users who download the app can expect to find meal plans, live and on-demand workout challenges, and inspiration to keep pushing through. They can also find Roker both inspiring folks and leading them through walks, his favorite way to be active.
The 70-year-old feels equipped to inspire and motivate others because of his own experience taking life-saving advice. Speaking to People, he recalled what his father once said to him to kickstart his wellness journey.
“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, a father of three, said. “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.”
Since receiving a gastric bypass in 2002, Roker has experienced more health challenges in the public eye, including surviving prostate cancer after being diagnosed in 2020, and a 2022 hospitalization for near-fatal blood clots and internal bleeding.
Since launching his own health journey over twenty years ago, he has adopted a regimen of waking up bright and early to get in a 20- to 25-minute walk on the treadmill, followed by roughly 10 minutes of load-bearing workouts. Roker has also been influenced along his fitness journey by his “fitness-oriented” wife, Deborah Roberts.
“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,” he told the outlet. “And [my wife’s] 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.”
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