RICHARD SIMMONS

I show them the funny part, the silly part, the laughing part, the crazy part and then the really deep, deep part where I'm talking from my heart to these people. Because I've been through everything they've been through.

Even though my work is whimsical. I have a very serious job. I cry more than I laugh.

My persona has always been what a man was never supposed to be. Outrageous, gregarious, crazy, silly, funny.

I consider myself a court jester - motivator.

I have been up to my head just with calling people, I call about 50 to 100 people a day.

When I was growing up, I did not exercise at all. I was raised in the French Quarter in New Orleans. If I saw someone running, I would call the police because I thought they stole something on Royal Street.

When you're feeling down, sad, lonely, negative, you don't want to take care of yourself - and the weight problem and the diabetic problem and the heart attack and stroke problems and high cholesterol set in.

When I go to teach, that's not my workout. It's my show. I'm 134 pounds - I'm a teeny thing. I work out 11/2 hours a day and eat 1,600 calories. I can't stray because I have to fit into these Dolfin shorts!

You have to make your own decisions. That's what the freedom in America is all about.

Ninety percent of people who lose weight gain it back. It's very sad.

But if you pick up every other magazine, it is the peanut butter diet, or the cabbage soup diet, and then you go to the radio and you hear that you can drink some solution and you will lose weight overnight. It just does not work that way!

We overweight people, we say terrible things to ourselves. Oh, you wouldn't believe it. 'You fat pig. How can you do this? You're a disgusting jerk.' And that gets you nowhere. That gets you right back into a bowl of pasta fregula.

I don't talk about my personal life, and I don't talk about death.

I don't have to teach anymore, I don't have to work anymore, God has been really good to me.

I have rules about eating, exercising and rules about staying positive. And these rules are sacred to me.

My father offered me a dollar for every pound I would lose as a kid. It didn't work. And it doesn't really work in the long run. Who are you competing against? It's you. You need to be doing this for you and only you.

I do not want any child in America to have my childhood because it was taken away from me because I just wasn't good enough; well I am good enough now.

Our children are obese, either have or being threatened by diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and not socially adjusting properly to others because of a lack of fitness.

Count your blessings. You are one of a kind. There's no one in the world like you. You are amazing.

Right now many schools have no recess. Most schools have no PE.

You are one of a kind and unique. Never forget that.

I used to think that if someone gained their weight back, it was my fault, but all I can do is be God's motivator and try to instill the motivation in others so they do it themselves.

I put a spell on people so they don't know they're working out... An enchanting spell, where they just don't think about it, or over think it, and then at the end they go, 'Wow, I feel good.'

My way is the sensitive, emotional way, because that's who I am. I try to be the clown and court jester and make people laugh. At the same time, you have people in the hospital who have had gastric bypass or lap-band surgery, and they still have to work out. If you don't work out and eat healthy, you'll look like a melted candle.

I suffered from eating disorders when I was just a kid. I did not like me or the way I looked. But back then, you could not tell anyone.