Al Roker underwent gastric bypass surgery to honour his dying dad's wishes.
Al Roker underwent gastric bypass surgery to fulfil dying dad's wishes
'The Today Show' weatherman and co-host struggled with his weight for "most of his adult life", but when his father Albert was nearing the end he pleaded for his son to "get in shape" to ensure he would be around to care for his kids, and so he decided he had to do something about his 340lbs size in 2002.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Roker said: "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.
"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."
In 2022, the 70-year-old TV star revealed in an Instagram post - which saw him holding up his old oversized trousers on the 20th anniversary of his gastric bypass surgery - that he has "setbacks and struggle every day".
Al said: "Everybody comes to their moment in their way and in their time.
"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.
"You're going to continue to work at it.
"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]."
The Meteorologist continues to stay healthy by doing 20 to 25 minutes on the treadmill, then 10 minutes of load-bearing exercises before work.
However, on some days, he walks home from the NBC Studios in Rockefeller Centre, New York.
Al added: "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."