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| R J Harris |
As the officially declared “Mayor of Morning Radio,” WHP
580 AM’s R.J. Harris has a full-bodied, instantly recognizable voice.
But Harris himself is neither these days, according to pennlive.com.
After the 5-foot-8 personality dropped from
400 to 185 pounds, and from a pant size of 58 to a comfortable 34, Harris is a
much smaller version of his former self.
Fortunately, throughout his long saga of dieting disasters,
this local celebrity’s powerful voice, trademark smile, and
“tell-it-like-it-is” sense of humor hasn’t been lost at all.
Before the eyes — and ears — of thousands of incredulous
listeners, the 59-year-old has managed to stop the yo-yo diets, shed 215 pounds,
and keep it off for two years and counting.
Reinforcing his confession that his life is an “open book,”
Harris is sharing his diet secrets in a fast-paced read titled, “It Ain’t Easy
Being Fat but That’s Your Problem: Tough Love from a Recovering Foodaholic.”
In 107 breezy pages, he reveals such gems as he eats every
two hours, enjoys ice cream every day, hasn’t given up on butter and
mayonnaise, goes out to dinner with his wife every weekend and enjoys a glass
of red wine without guilt.
He eats breakfast every day and still eats what he loves.
Harris said he was inspired to lose weight, not by a harsh
insult, a disapproving doctor, or an embarrassing shopping trip, but by a
natural disaster.
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| pennlive.com photos |
He was watching a television newscast in 2006 when he saw
heart-wrenching footage of a grandfather who attempted to save his grandchild
from rising floodwaters, but couldn't. The child slipped away and drowned.
In that moment, he realized that his size would prevent him
from saving his own grandchildren or anyone else.
That epiphany occurred right before his first WHP listener
trip, slated for Italy that year. There he had a second epiphany.
Mesmerized by his size, two Taiwanese women asked if they
could have their photograph taken with him, like he was a grotesque American
prop. One even rubbed his belly. That photo of him, the women, and his wife
Bonnie, who weighs less than 120 pounds, is in the book, too, along with one of
two svelte models fitting easily inside his size 58 pants.
“I knew that picture would be the last one taken like that,”
he said.
When he got off the plane in the U.S., he vowed to break his
food addiction for good.
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