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By ANNE RODGERS Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
When Richard Simmons graduated from high school, he was carrying 268 pounds on his 5-foot-6 1/2 frame. In those days, he was a compulsive eater - and he's still one today.
"I've been able to lasso it, but it doesn't change," he said last month. "If I came to your house and I sat on your couch and my hand went down between the cushions and I found an M&M, I'd blow the dust off it and eat it."
This kind of embarrassing confession holds the key to Richard Simmons' appeal. In all his foolishness, he is one of us.
"People relate to me as a cousin or brother or friend," he said. "I'm not some little aerobic prince on TV. I don't have fabulous pecs. I'm a real person. This stuff is not easy. It wasn't easy for me to lose weight and it isn't easy keeping it off. I get on the scale every day. When my mom died, I put on 15 pounds.
"But the thing is, I always pick myself up, put on my bedazzled tank tops and go to the next town and preach the word."
Simmons will be preaching the word Saturday
at the Southern Women's Show at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. His appearance at 1 p.m. will feature a workout of about 45 minutes, where he brings people onstage and "we have a lot of fun." Afterward, he'll stay to chat with locals face-to-face.
"Everyone talks at overweight people and not to them," said the star of 50 successful fitness videos. "I listen. I want to know how they gained the weight. I want to hear their story and see how to inspire them or how to help them.
"I'm the cheerleader," he said. "I have the costume and the pompoms and I'm there to make them laugh. Whether it's with me or at me doesn't matter."
With 30 years of experience, how has Simmons' philosophy of fitness changed?
"None. Not at all," he said emphatically. "Number one, like yourself, no matter what you weigh. Number two, try your best with food. Don't love it more than you love yourself. Number three, you've gotta move. There's no way of getting around it, you gotta move. I teach people in wheelchairs to move. I visit hospitals.
"This is my crusade. I've helped millions and it's just not enough. We have a horrible problem. My mail is unbelievable. People have no one to talk to."
Simmons has found a new way to talk to weight-conscious Americans with Lighten Up, a three-hour Sunday program on Sirius Radio.
"I read from my thousands of letters and pick up the phone and call people," he explained. "My mail has quadrupled since the show began."
How about shows like NBC's The Biggest Loser ? Can they help fat Americans?
"I'm very sad to see shows like that on the air. Years ago, people wanted to lose weight to lose weight. Now it's all about money and prizes and kicking people off. I think it's deplorable. I don't think it sends the right message."
Simmons prefers a lower-key approach, and will soon return to QVC to market some products he developed for the kitchen and his newest videos.
His weight-loss story endears him to viewers, since it includes common struggles with fad diets, laxatives, starvation, bulimia and anorexia.
Moderate eating and exercise finally helped Simmons lose 120 pounds, and today the court jester of health says he looks "pretty doggone good." At 57, he still travels 250 days a year and labels himself "a senior in progress."
He called from a cellphone on his way to New York to do Martha Stewart's daily show. From there it was back to L.A. to work on his newest video, which features a disco soundtrack and is set in Circus Disco, the first disco built in L.A. (Which probably explains why he broke into "Whoa whoa, you got the best of my love," before our conversation began.)
For Simmons, it's all about results.
"When I come to West Palm, we'll exercise, we'll sweat, but more than anything, people will go home and say 'I feel better.' "
1. Forget about your age. It's not about numbers, it's about how you feel when you wake up and how you feel when you go to bed at night.
2. As you're getting more mature, you've got to get closer to your ideal weight. It's just better all around.
3. We've all got to seriously, seriously count our blessings.
4. Only eat from the 'A' choices of food groups. No messing around with processed foods or falling for all the fake, quick weight-loss ways. It's all about portioning your foods and eating from all six food groups. God made those groups and there's a reason for it. Don't fool around with carbs and (dropping) food groups. Try your best to get the best choices. I do a lot of thinking before I put my fork into something because I don't want to spend 12 days working it off.
5. Stretch! There are two times in your life when you get stiff: One is when you die and one is when you don't stretch. Not stretching makes you walk old, look old and seem old.
6. You've got to do your cardio. There's no way around it. It just pours energy into your body, making that body wonderful and interesting and healthy and strong. I combine aerobic moving with dancing, 'cause we all love dancing. You have to keep dancing. Don't stop dancing!
7. Keep working on your sense of humor.
Q: What does Simmons do when he's feeling down?
A: 'I always pick myself up, put on my bedazzled tank tops and go to the next town and preach the word.'
Simmons is in town Saturday!
Time: 1 p.m. Saturday at the Southern Women's Show, Palm Beach County Convention Center
Show hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Admission: $8 at the door; $4 for children 6-12
Info: (800) 849-0248 or www.SouthernWomensShow.com
