I finally admitted that obesity and diabetes were part of a life-threatening legacy - and I had to deal with that reality or die.

The way to deal with the devil of obesity and diabetes is literally one day at a time.

There are life-threatening issues related to diabetes.

When my parents died, they both were 47, and they died of complications of different diseases, one being diabetes. I became a diabetic at 17 and went on this road of kind of self-destruction, eating-wise, until I was 40.

When I auditioned for 'Animal House,' I had only done some plays at a local dinner theater in Virginia.

Like most severely overweight people, I had to hit a rock-hard bottom before I'd take responsibility for the consequences of neglecting my own health.