I just love what I do, and I'm a teacher more than anything.

I do not want any child in America to have my childhood because it was taken away from me because I just wasn't good enough; well I am good enough now.

I get an abundance of e-mail every day, some say 'dear Richard, can you call my husband, he weighs 400 pounds...' or 'my 14-year-old is 200 pounds...' or 'I just got divorced, no one wants me, I am 500 pounds.' So I pick up the phone and I call people.

Puberty for me was graduating from Thousand Island salad dressing to Caesar salads. It was like going from hot dogs and hamburgers to beef stroganoff, or from ice cream in a cone to creme brulee.

Some people like to look at pictures of themselves before they lost weight. I don't particularly care for that. Whenever I was overweight, it was a very sad time in my life.

Well mine is not gimmicky - it is the 6 food groups that God made, and exercising every day. Trying to think positively.

Being successful is something that's sometimes hard to deal with.