Rapper Fat Joe is using his platform to inspire people to lose weight and get healthy. Having slimmed down to 263 pounds from as high as 430 pounds, he's a living example of how eating better and moving more can lead to positive changes.
After over a year of changing his eating habits and working out at the gym, Fat Joe not only lost weight, but gained health. He is now diabetes-free after having had the disease for 16 years, this press release stated.
Fat Joe told MTV that losing weight is "all about education and knowledge." He encourages people to eat better (getting smart about carbs, for example) and get active — even if it's as simple as taking a short walk.
"If you don't want to run up and down, jump up and down, walk around the block," he said. "That's exercise. That's being active."
Now, in an effort to do his part in the fight against childhood obesity, he's taking his message to youth in Newark, NJ. On January 23, he will give a concert to the winners of Let's Move! Newark: Our Power (LM!NOP). (ACE is a sponsor of the of the LM!NOP program.)
In October of 2011, 1,500 high school freshmen from five different Newark high schools competed in an extension of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign to see who could move the most. Barringer High School won after having recorded a total of 619,600 minutes.
“Of all the challenges I have faced in my life, losing weight was probably the most difficult,” Fat Joe said. “I am so happy to be able to spread the word on the dangers of obesity and join the Let’s Move! Initiative with Let’s Move! Newark: Our power.”
What do you think about Fat Joe's weight loss and his effort to inspire youth?