Gov. Christie Has Big Plans for a Small Waist

NJ Gov. taking on his weight.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has cut more than the state budget his first year in office: the heavyset head-of-state has also dropped a few notches in his belt.

He’s not saying exactly how much he’s lost, but his suits have been getting noticeably baggy.

“I'm not going to put any numbers on it because you just set yourself up for failure,” the 48-year-old Republican said.
      
The governor has long struggled with his weight, which he says he started putting on after high school when he stopped playing organized sports.
      
His weight came up during his 2009 campaign against Democrat incumbent Jon Corzine, who ran an ad accusing Christie of “throwing his weight around” to get out of traffic citations while he was U.S. attorney. The ads included unflattering images of Christie struggling to exit an SUV.

In contrast, Corzine was running 5K and 10K races nearly every weekend toward the end of the campaign.

Christie confronted the ads head on, telling Corzine to “man up and say I'm fat.”

Christie said that more than anything else, the motivation to lose weight is his four children, who range in age from 7 to 17-years-old.

“I'm motivated by the fact that the job is pretty stressful at times and I have four kids, so I need to be around for them,” Christie said. “I don't want to be in a situation where, as I get older, my health is really at risk.”

Christie's weight has also made him extremely relatable to people.

According to former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell, who lost about 60 pounds during his final months in office, Christie’s weight is a “political plus.”
             
“Gov. Christie uses his weight to his advantage,” Rendell said. “He talks about it and people relate.”

Christie credits his recent weight loss to working with a trainer three mornings a week—Wednesday, Friday and Saturday—and eating better.

He started working with a trainer in June 2009, but for the past year says he has been more consistent.

“What I've done over the last 10 months is I've just watched what I eat, work out, and slowly but surely I'm taking the weight off,” he said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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