Dateline correspondent Josh Mankiewicz has been opening up about his weight loss journey, revealing how cutting carbs and riding his Peloton helped him shed 70 pounds.
Speaking to People, Mankiewicz revealed how he’d dropped 47 pounds back in 1998 after trying the low-carb Atkins diet. However, he wasn’t able to maintain the weight loss, joking, “It’s tough to say goodbye to carbs forever, particularly when your ancestors invented the pierogi.”
“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,” he added.
After pressure from his doctor, plus his own self-image issues, Mankiewicz decided to make changes to his lifestyle in May 2023.
“I didn’t like the way I looked,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t like the way I felt. So I just decided to go ahead and do it. 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.”
The long-time NBC reporter explained that his doctor first suggested the trendy weight-loss drug Ozempic, an FDA-approved injection medication for people with type 2 diabetes. Ozempic has become popular among celebrities looking to lose weight; however, Mankiewicz chose to change his diet instead.
“Giving myself a shot every week did not seem like something that I wanted to do,” he stated. “And the idea of actually changing the way I ate seemed like a better idea. 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.”
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Mankiewicz cut out bread, potatoes, pasta, desserts, and fast food from his diet and increased the amount of green vegetables he was eating. “That seemed to do it,” he said.
By the end of 2023, Mankiewicz shared, “I lost 70 pounds, and I felt great,” before adding, “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.”
Mankiewicz didn’t just change his eating habits but also started exercising more. He credited his Peloton, which his wife gifted him, for helping him drop the extra pounds. Inspired by a man who turned his health around by completing 100 rides, Mankiewicz said, “I thought to myself, could I do 100 rides in 100 days? So I did.”
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“I ended up doing like 184 days straight, which was hard being on the road as much as I am for Dateline,” he continued. “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.”
He also credited the support he received from friends, both in real life and online. “It definitely helps to have other people supporting you. All my friends here in Los Angeles all told me how great I look, which definitely helped,” he stated. “And I could see it on the air. Deep down, I’m shallow. I care a lot about how I look on TV.”
Mankiewicz, who is approaching his 30th anniversary with Dateline, revealed he “got a whole new wardrobe” and can now watch the show without feeling shame.
“Now when I turn on Dateline, I only flinch at what the murderers are doing, not what I look like,” he quipped.
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