When I was younger, I ate nothing but fried food. Everything was fried, from oysters to chicken to potatoes to vegetables. When you die in New Orleans, they deep fry you before they put you in the coffin. When we baptize children in New Orleans, we baptize them with a bordelaise sauce; we don't use water.

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.

I consider myself a court jester - motivator.

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

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

Everyone in this world is somehow connected. So why not just be nice to everybody.

For many years, my formula has been to love yourself, move your body and to watch portion size. But the No. 1 thing is to love and value yourself, no matter what you've been through.