2 weeks Ago
Josh Mankiewicz says eating right and exercising are the secrets behind his 70-pound weight loss. The 69-year-old "Dateline" correspondent opened up to about his new look, explaining that he was motivated to get into shape, in part, because he wanted to look healthier on TV. “I didn’t like the way I looked.
I didn’t like the way I felt. So I just decided to go ahead and do it,” said Mankiewicz. "This wasn’t any particular diet, it was essentially just cutting out all of the things that we all sort of intuitively know that we’re not supposed to eat.
" Mankiewicz, who said he was also encouraged by his doctor to lose weight, began focusing on getting into shape in May 2023. A year and half later, the television journalist is thrilled by the results. “I lost 70 pounds, and I felt great," said Mankiewicz.
Here's everything Mankiewicz has revealed about his weight loss journey. Mankiewicz told People he began his weight loss journey because he wasn't happy with how he looked on "Dateline." He also said his doctor encouraged him to get into better shape.
Mankiewicz said he began by cutting out foods he "intuitively" knew weren't good for him. After eliminating bread, potatoes, pasta, desserts and fast food, he increased the amount of green vegetables on his plate. “That seemed to do it,” said Mankiewicz.
“Now, I’ve pretty much permanently changed the way I eat because I’ve managed to adjust to this pretty well in terms of not craving any of that stuff that I used to love so much,” he added. Mankiewicz also began riding the Peloton bike his wife gave him as a gift. He was motivated, he told People, by a story about a man who got healthier after committing to riding his Peloton 100 days in a row.
"So I thought to myself, could I do 100 rides in 100 days? So I did. I ended up doing like 184 days straight, which was hard being on the road as much as I am for 'Dateline,'" he shared. “I didn’t really think of it as being difficult at the time.
But generally, once I start on something, I finish it. And I was able to keep it going. It was good to get into a routine.
” Mankiewicz told People he'd lost 47 pounds in 1998 on the high-protein Atkins diet, but struggled to keep the weight off. “It’s tough to say goodbye to carbs forever, particularly when your ancestors invented the pierogi,” he joked. “So over time I put weight back on, and every year I’d go in for my physical, and my doctor, she’d be like, you have got to work on that.
” Mankiewicz said when his doctor brought up the subject of weight loss, she mentioned he could try Ozempic. Mankiewicz decided against taking the drug because the idea of giving himself a weekly shot "did not seem like something that I wanted to do," he said. “And the idea of actually changing the way I ate seemed like a better idea," he added.
"I’m glad that I was able to do it just on willpower. But sometimes people need help, and there’s nothing wrong with that too." Mankiewicz said he got a new boost of confidence when he saw himself looking more healthy and in shape on "Dateline.
" "Deep down, I’m shallow,” he told People. “I care a lot about how I look on TV.” In fact, after losing 70 pounds, Mankiewicz required a whole new wardrobe.
“I had to throw out a bunch of stuff, and that was kind of fun," he said. "And now when I turn on 'Dateline,'I only flinch at what the murderers are doing, not what I look like,” he joked. Gina Vivinetto is a writer for TODAY.
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