Al Roker marks 20 years since gastric bypass surgery with photo of old jeans: 'It's still a struggle but I’m never going back'

David Artavia
·2 min read
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Al Roker is looking back at a life-changing experience.

On Tuesday, the beloved TODAY show meteorologist shared a series of images of himself holding a pair of pants that appear to be twice his size. In the post, he reveals they were the pants he wore the day he had gastric bypass surgery 20 years ago.

"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," he wrote. "It's still a struggle but I'm never going back. I have setbacks and struggle every day, but I never forget how far I've come."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Al Roker (@alroker)

The powerful images sparked a wave of positive affirmation for Roker, including from his NBC family.

"No one better than our pal, Al," the official account of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna wrote.

"You are so inspiring. Every day. Every minute," wrote TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie.

"You're the Yoda to my Skywalker Uncle Al!" Carson Daly commented.

Roker also shared a video on Twitter, explaining a bit more about the day he went into surgery and how much commemorating it has meant to him over the years.

"These were the pants I wore for my gastric bypass, to my gastric bypass," he said in the video.

Roker has spoken publicly about the emotional toll being overweight had not only on himself, but on his marriage with journalist Deborah Roberts.

"For the overweight person, the person who's struggling, there are obviously issues that we're dealing with," he told TODAY in 2013. "It's not like we're being fat to spite the person who's in good shape. That's what the person who isn't struggling needs to realize."

"Here's the thing I say to the person in the couple who’s not struggling with their weight: Shut up," he said. "We know we're fat. We know we need to lose weight. You're nagging us and pleading with us doesn't help. In fact, in ways, it makes it worse. We're not going to change until something clicks within us."

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