‘Sir Charles’ the new face of weight loss
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Everyone knows that Hollywood places a premium on being thin.
But in the celebrity universe, being overweight also can be a savvy career move – provided said celeb wrangles an endorsement deal to shed the excess poundage, and then successfully follows through.
Actress/author Valerie Bertinelli revived her career after hooking up with the Jenny Craig weight-loss program. Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson of American Idol fame is now a bona-fide sex symbol, thanks to her figure-trimming transformation via Weight Watchers.
And diva songstress Mariah Carey, whose twins were born in April, is currently dropping her post-pregnancy baby weight as Jenny Craig’s newest spokeswoman.
However, the latest unlikely, yet utterly appropriate, entry into this estrogen-soaked, fat-loss fray is a 6-foot, 4-inch, bald-headed man: former NBA star Charles Barkley.
Going back to his collegiate days at Auburn University, where he was nicknamed “The Round Mound of Rebound,” Barkley, 48, has always struggled to keep his weight in check.
During his professional prime, the Olympic Dream-Teamer and Hall-of-Famer played at around 250 pounds. But since he retired more than a decade ago and became an entertainingly outspoken commentator on TNT’s twice-weekly NBA broadcasts, Barkley’s weight steadily climbed, peaking last year at 350 pounds.
As he explained to ESPN, “My doctor told me, ‘If you keep going this way, you’re going to die. You’re going to have a stroke, or you’re going to develop diabetes, or you’re going to have a heart attack or hypertension. But A, B or C is going to happen.’?A”
Since last fall, while on Weight Watchers (which U.S. News World Report recently named “best weight-loss diet,” “best commercial diet plan” and “easiest diet to follow”), Barkley says he has dropped nearly 40 pounds. By strictly following the Weight Watchers “Points” system, he plans to reach a goal weight of 270.
Perfect pitchman
Barkley, who hosted Saturday Night Live for the third time this past weekend, is an inspired choice to be the face, and ever-shrinking torso, for a male weight-loss program. The appeal of his filter-free candor and common-sense insights crosses gender lines, and his popularity transcends the sporting world.
And let’s not forget: Sir Charles’ bluntness is often downright hilarious. For instance, during a commercial break in Thursday night’s telecast of a Miami Heat triple-overtime victory, Barkley thought he was off-camera.
He told his co-announcers, “?A’I've been on Weight Watchers three months. I have to lose 2 pounds a week. I’m at 38 pounds now. They come and weigh me every two weeks. I thought this was the greatest scam going – getting paid for watching sports. [But] this Weight Watchers thing is a bigger scam.’?A”
Understand: Barkley wasn’t ridiculing the program that has helped him trim down – but rather the concept of getting paid to do so. Such self-aware forthrightness is the epitome of Barkley’s persona, and it is what endears him to so many.
There’s delicious irony in the idea that the man who so famously, and controversially, said in a 1990s Nike TV ad, “I’m not a role model” has become just that for would-be dieters everywhere.
~steve_dorfman@pbpost.com
Article source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/health/sir-charles-the-new-face-of-weight-loss-2091417.html
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