Stop trying to find something in food that will make you feel better. I used to have eating disorders; I'd binge and purge all the time: fried oysters, po' boys, muffulettas, beignets, coffee and doughnuts. I tried to medicate myself with food when people made fun of me or hit me with a bat in school. I'd always turn to food. Knowing what I now know, I'd turn to me.

This is my theater. This is where I can sing and act out a play and do sit-ups at the same time

If you don't love your mother you go straight to hell.

If I've got the right songs, I can weave a spell over everyone.

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

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

Truthfully, everyone knows how to eat right. They know the difference between oatmeal and a jelly cream doughnut. They know how to walk. Everyone has this in their brain. When I started, we didn't have all this knowledge. Forty years ago, I lost my weight, but only by watching what I was eating.