Radio Show Producer Loses Over 90 Lbs. After Ditching His 'Out of Control' Eating Habits
Jason Kaplan; Nutrisystem
Jason Kaplan was overweight his entire adult life before his "life-changing" weight loss journey.
The 43-year-old executive producer of the Howard Stern Show opened up to PEOPLE about his journey of losing more than 90 lbs., admitting that his relationship with food and nutrition was "out of control."
"I saw every meal as an opportunity to celebrate myself," explains Kaplan, of Glen Gardner, New Jersey. "I had a good day, let's eat whatever you want. I had a bad day, eat something to make yourself feel better."
Kaplan, of says he weighed around 300 lbs. at his heaviest and didn't have the right mindset about food. "I was just a child about it. No exercise, no vegetables, no fruit. Really just the idea of eating healthy and saying, 'Maybe I'll have a salad and a piece of chicken instead of a cheeseburger,' I'd laugh at that thought. I'm an adult. I can do whatever I want. I can eat whatever I want," he continues. "And then it just got to a point where that wasn't tenable for me anymore."
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Kaplan, who has partnered with Nutrisystem, says the real wake-up call was when he signed up for life insurance and a doctor visited his house to weigh him and do blood work. "The doctor brought the scale out and asked me how much I weighed," he recalls. "I said I think I'm over 305 lbs. and he said, 'Don't bother getting on the scale, it only goes up to 300.' "
A combination of "not feeling good and quite frankly, being humiliated" in that moment is what pushed Kaplan to start Nutrisystem in January 2021. Although the first few weeks of the program left him a bit hungry, he says he wanted to commit to the necessary lifestyle changes.
"I told myself, I need to do this, I want to do this, I'm not gonna f— around," Kaplan adds, noting that relearning how to navigate food choices was a challenge. "I had to stay on top of myself to really say, no, you made this commitment to yourself, fight through it. I had to make a choice."
Not only was he able to follow the program, Kaplan says his mindset shifted and he views food and nutrition differently now. "I almost felt like I cracked the formula of how to put food together whether it's a snack or a meal," he says.
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Today, Kaplan says he feels better than ever and his energy levels are high. He realized that everyday tasks like walking up the stairs, tying his shoes, getting dressed, and going for walks shouldn't "leave me feeling gross and tired."
"I never thought I felt bad being fat. I never really felt like it was taking a physical toll on me. But after I lost the weight, especially that first 50 to 60 pounds, I realized that I just didn't have any concept of what feeling good felt like," he tells PEOPLE.
After starting Nutrisystem at 302 lbs., Kaplan is now down to 210 lbs. and hoping to lose more.
He boasts that his biggest milestone — excluding the many compliments — is that his wife of 14 years is now able to put her arms all the way around him when they hug, something he says has never happened as long as they've known each other.
"When I started it just felt like a chore but it's been pretty life changing," Kaplan admits. "I want to keep going. I want to get under 200 lbs. for sure. So I am right back on the program and looking forward to losing that next 15 pounds."
