Health
&Fitness
InthemorningIâvegotenergy.IfeellikeIcan
start the engine. I have a trainer a couple of
days a week for traditional strength work and
Iâll hop on the treadmill and do pushups and
situps. If I have no time I do six 20-second
sprints just to get a sweat going. My wife and
Ialsohaveaweeklydate.EverySundaywe
hire a babysitter and walk along the Potomac
to catch up. Sometimes weâll go eight miles.- The new goal
Iâm looking forward to the conventions â talk
of a contested Republican Convention and
the Democratic Convention will be fascinat-
ing. Itâs going to be fun. But itâs easy to run
around and end up at some fast-food place and
finishupatabar.DemocratsRepublicans
it doesnât matter: Itâs bipartisan bad eating.
A good day for me will be a run in the
morning then some eggs to start a protein
shake at lunch and then dinner of a salad
with f ish or chicken and no alcohol. I need
that brain food because once I go on air it
doesnât stop from 6PM until as late as 2AM.
Right now Iâm cruising â 212 pounds and
dropping. Iâm striving for the 1 in front again
by November. âAs told to Bur t Helm
I HAVE THE METABOLISM of a
manatee. I couldlook at a piece
of pizza and gain weight. So I
really have to bear down on diet
andfitnessandIhavetobemotivated.An
election cycle does that for me. The chaos
helps me focus. Days are nonstop â meeting
with reporters and lawmakers digging out
stories working on scripts that change four
f ive six times before a six oâclock show â
and I need stress relief more than ever. But
instead of a bar with bad food and alcohol
I choose exercise. Sure I know how to hide
weight on camera â my life is wearing dark
suits and white shirts that conceal a lot â
but I look and feel better on air when Iâve
shed some lbs.
- A gradual weight creep
As a kid I played every sport â soccer tennis
golf. I was skinny. That changed in college
where I learned the deadly combination of
pizza and beer. After that I worked as a
bartender and the late nights made things
worse. My weight became a constant battle
and Iâve been on a roller coaster ever since.
My first broadcast job was in South Caro-
lina at Hilton Head. I was the Low Country
bureau guy covering big stories like log-
gerhead turtle nesting and what color the
azaleas would be. It gave me time to exercise
a lot to run on the beach. But by the time
IstartedtheFoxNewsAtlantabureauin
1998 I was busy traveling a lot and going
out for a massive meal every night. It added
up. I met my wife on a blind date in 2002 at a
porky stage and the fact that she loved porky
Bret tells me a lot about her. By 2012 I was 45
pounds overweight.
I tried diets. Name a diet I did it: Weight
Watchers that cleanse with the cayenne pep-
per the cookie diet which is not nearly as
good as it sounds. But with my cholesterol
way up my doctor put me on the statin Cres-
tor. I remember my wife saying âThis isnât
working. We need to be healthy for our kids.â
My son has heart issues. Heâs had three open-
heart surgeries. It was then I decided to get
serious about losing weight.- The up-and-down struggle
I set a goal to be in shape by Election Day 2012
but I didnât tell anybody. I recommend that.
Otherwise everybody asks âHowâs the diet?â
andif youslip they look atyoulike youârea
leper. I ate a lot of lean protein and a lot less
carbs and sugar especially pizza and bread.
I cut out coffee and cut back on my drink-
ing and started running or lifting weights
every day. By November I was down from 240
pounds to 195. I wanted to get a little lower
but as long as the f irst number is a 1 Iâm happy.
After that life hit stress hit my commit-
ment faded and I went back up. Iâm using the
2016 election to focus again. I try to work out
early because by the end of the day Iâm toast.
Election
Ye a r
Slim-
Down
How a campaign cycle gets the
Fox News anchor healthier.WHAT WORKS FOR ME
BRET BAIER
Democrats
Republicans it doesnât
matter: Itâs bipartisan
bad eating.MENâS JOURNAL 62 SEPTEMBER 2016 photograph by GREG KAHN