By the time he graduated from high school in the 1960s, Richard Simmons clocked in at nearly 270 pounds. A few years later, he received an anonymous note on the windshield of his car that read, “Dear Richard: Fat people die young. Please don’t die.” He tried everything from fad diets to laxatives to slim down. He even stopped consuming food altogether, dropping 215 pounds in about two months and winding up in the hospital before deciding to pursue a balanced lifestyle of moderate eating and exercise. The New Orleans native subsequently headed to the West Coast to share his inspiring journey as a self-proclaimed “former fatty” via classes and seminars at his Anatomy Asylum turned Slimmons studio/eatery in Beverly Hills, where his clients ranged from Barbra Streisand to Paul Newman.

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