People need the court jester, so I keep that smile on and keep going out there to do what I do.

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 you gain weight, for every pound that you gain, it adds four pounds of stress on your knees. So if you gain five pounds, you've got 20 pounds of stress on your knees. So that's why I'm extremely careful with my portions and my workout, because I can't be overweight.

I hope in my lifetime we can all continue to laugh at ourselves and not put down anyone for what they weigh.

I have two rules for living in the world. I never say anything negative about anyone, because that won't get you anywhere. And two, if people confront me with certain questions, if they are not right, I will not answer them.

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.

Back in the 70s and 80s, women felt the discrimination of being overweight. And now 35% of the letters I receive are from men.