It's terrible, the way obese children and adults are treated in this country [USA]. And I'm not leaving this Earth until that is changed.

I began reading cook books when I was six, cause my father had hundreds of cook books in the kitchen. I was obsessed with cooking and tasting different recipes. I got lost in being a compulsive eater. It brought me much happiness. Sadness too, sure. But I have to say, and compulsive eaters will agree with me, for that few seconds that you're eating, food tastes just great.

Every morning when I get up, I ask God what he wants me to do, ask him to lead me to the right people to help them.

The real pride, the real present, is your health and your longevity. My whole career, I have never done anything where competition was involved with weight loss.

I get tired of negativity in our country. I get tired of people who only want to know dirt. I get tired of people who don't believe in themselves.

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

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.