On Tuesday, Al Roker celebrated the 20th anniversary of his gastric bypass surgery by pulling out his old jeans and showing how his whole body fits in just half of the pair.
The 67-year-old is determined to “never” go back to his pre-gastric bypass surgery lifestyle.
The longtime Today weatherman wrote on Twitter and Instagram, “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.”
“It’s still a struggle but I’m never going back,” he added. “I have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far I’ve come.”
His post has since been filled with comments from his friends and coworkers. Savannah Guthrie told him, “You are so inspiring. Every day. Every minute.”
Carson Daly said, “You’re the Yoda to my Skywalker Uncle Al!”
Roker had to undergo the weight loss surgery in 2002 after repeatedly failing to see results with diets. After surgery, he was able to drop more than 100 lbs.
After undergoing gastric bypass surgery, he told PEOPLE, “I had a person say to me in the gym, ‘Hey, you don’t want to lose too much weight, ’cause that’s who you are — you’re the funny, fat weather guy!’ 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. The two are mutually exclusive.”
Roker has been keeping the weight off with healthy meals and regular exercise, which he has been documenting on his Instagram.
He has also been open about new weight loss tactics and had success with the keto diet. In 2019, he revealed that he lost 40 lbs. with the keto diet – a very low-carb, high-fat diet.
Roker said at the time, “I’ve lost about forty pounds.” His blood cholesterol levels, which was a common concern with the keto diet, were within normal limits. He told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, “Yeah, my cholesterol, just had it checked out a few weeks ago, everything’s good.”
