James Brown Weight Loss Journey

James Talmadge Brown, mostly known as J.B., was born on February 25, 1951. Over the years, he has successfully established himself as a leading American sportscaster, best known for his role of a studio host for ‘The James Brown Show’. ‘The NFL Today’, broadcasted on CBS Sports as well as ‘Thursday Night Football’ streamed on NFL Network, are the other popular television shows hosted by this eminent personality. He has also been a Special Correspondent for CBS News. During his career, Brown has earned a reputation for being the former host of the Fox Sports produced NFL pre-match show, names ‘Fox NFL Sunday’, where he worked for a whopping eleven years. In this post, we will be discussing James Brown Weight Loss Journey.

James Brown before and after weight loss

James Struggle With Excess Weight

Since Brown was already in the sports industry, he wanted to stay on top of his physical shape. In an interview, James revealed that he had been depressed about his weight for a long time without being able to figure out any possible exit. In the podcast, James said, “I would always tease and say when I started doing football . . . I really threw myself into the job”.

He also mentioned that his longtime colleague Howie Long, along with some of the others used to tease Brown for his overweight conditions. Somebody even threw tantrums about him, saying that Brown appears to be a swollen stick. James was disheartened by this hard time. People couldn’t believe that once, he was the star of his college football team. His colleagues often used to judge his ability to play on the ground, as they doubted his gamesmanship with a tone of disgrace. ‘Who hired him to play? What positions did he play in? The water-boy?”, Howie used to ask Brown, with the intention of humiliating him. James Brown weight loss journey began with this struggling phase.

Brown’s Inspiration and Transformation

James was an athlete by heart, and athletes often get hurt by negative talks. He thought working out with full prowess is his only option to break free of this lifestyle. He feels, having a religious approach towards regular exercise can help you achieve even the biggest of dreams.

According to him, the best part of James transformation was the day when he arrived at the studio and Howie looked at him, without saying a word. Of course, it was because of envy. Brown had lost a considerable amount of weight. However, naysayers never want to see you succeed. So, even when Brown’s workout regime was bringing results for him, his colleague compared his weight-loss by taking a glass of water out of the Atlantic Ocean.

This comparison has certainly boosted Brown’s motivation to achieve something extraordinary as far as his fitness is concerned. During the latter part of that football season, James had finally lost 74 pounds, which is a massive enough figure to take away smile from his critic’s face.

Some of the CBS viewers had noticed James Brown’s weight loss, however, he hadn’t still achieved his fitness goals. It was just during the last year’s NFL broadcast when his astonishing transformation came under the spotlight. The legendary 6 foot 5 inches tall football studio host got rid of 74 pounds since October 2016.

During the start of the football season, he weighed about 294 pounds, which was reduced to 218 pounds till the season ended. This means he had lost approximately 25 percent of his initial body weight, which itself is a record figure. Brown has gone through smaller weight losses at regular intervals during the last decade, especially few months before the Super Bowl in 2015.

James Brown Weight Loss Diet Plan

A journalist from the Sports Business Journal revealed a photograph that shows James snacking on brown rice, while in the studio. Unlike white rice, brown rice helps in weight loss (1). Again, in 2010 the New York Times reported that Brown lost almost 40 pounds.

They also revealed that James was able to undergo such a remarkable fitness feat based on a strict diet, consisting of Greek organic yogurt, along with maple syrup as well as raw sunflower seeds (2).

He continued to keep his eyes on the bigger picture, as one of his most remarkable transformations was noticed in 2008 when Brown successfully managed to bring his weight down to 275 pounds. He had reportedly hired professional nutritionists to help him achieve the feat. None of his previous weight losses has been as dramatic as the one he explained during a live podcast, last year.

Brown, who is already a grandfather, was surprised to see such dramatic results. However, he said that he had faith in his nutritionist, who according to Brown was the key behind such an amazing transformation.

Shred-it like James Brown

Brown likes to give credit to his diet as much as he admires the impact of following a strict workout routine (3). According to a report published in ‘The Washingtonian’, Brown hired a few nutritionists who could help him come up with an effective eating plan. James Brown weight loss was no miracle but continuous hard work and efforts.

His plate included more fish and green leafy vegetables with less carb (4). He used to divide his entire meal into a few smaller bites, that helped him keep his stomach full and eat less.

He even hired a personal trainer who accompanied Brown to the studio in order to keep a check on his diet. His lunch consisted of egg whites and fruit salad.

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However, he couldn’t follow his workout routine religiously for long because of an ongoing injury. He had an injury in his knee a few months ago, which restricted him from doing heavy weight exercises. Therefore he knew that he must focus on eating less junk and more of the right things.

Brown, from his personal experience, suggest his followers to not cross their limit in the gym. Otherwise, they might also end up getting injured, which is all set to impact their performance.

Let go of your Setbacks

James Brown weight loss transformation has only proved that age is just a number. If you have the right mindset, you can too get terrific results, day in day out. It all starts with a desire and hunger to answer all those naysayers who are waiting to see you fail.

Another thing to learn from Brown’s life is that excuses are everywhere, but they do not matter until you choose them. An injury in his knee meant Brown had enough opportunities to quit working on his fitness goals. He could have easily said that because of the injury, he couldn’t lose weight and dip his biscuits in the coffee while chatting with Howie. But he didn’t choose that route. He knew, at the end of the tunnel, there’s always light waiting to be revealed.

Read More: How to Lose Weight Fast: 51 Fast Weight Loss Tips for Women and Men

Of course, you need to work hard and sometimes, your surroundings won’t let you succeed. But your determination and patience, along with highly targeted goal-setting process would enable you to break the barriers. As you probably have heard, blood and sweat are what you give to get respect in return!

Read More: Chris Pratt Weight Loss Journey

A look at J.B’s achievements

James Brown started as a footballer

Although today James is considered to be a legendary television personality, his beginnings were not that favorable. He was always fond of sports, particularly basketball. He even tried his luck in the game when he was in college. However, he couldn’t make that much of an impact as a sportsman as he did as a sports broadcaster. Initially, he failed to secure a spot in the team roster, when he went for a trial for NBA’s Atlanta Hawks during mid-1970s. With the broken heart, he gave up his dreams of being an athlete. Instead, he joined the corporate world, starting with Xerox and later went on to work with the Eastman Kodak Company. However, his struggle didn’t live long, as life had some other plans for him.

Brown debuted as a sportscaster in 1984 when he joined the Washington Bullets television broadcasters. Soon, he got an opportunity to work as an anchor at WDVM-TV, which later changed its name to WUSA. In the meantime, he also tried securing a better career in established broadcasting organizations, namely CBS Sports. Brown joined it in 1987. There he served as a commentator for NFL as well as college basketball broadcasts. He had also been a reporter for the NBA Finals along with the National League Championship Series in 1990. His illustrative career was yet to add more feathers to the crown. James has also hosted the afternoon show for the 1992 Winter Olympics, held in Albertville, France. He also got an opportunity to host the Winter Olympics of 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway.

Awards and Recognitions

As a career-oriented person, Brown achieved quite more than what an average person dreams of. James has certainly done justice to his talent. He had the opportunity to interview some of the greatest NFL players of all time. J.B has also worked alongside the game’s biggest commentators. He understood the importance of being an influencer and was aware of the responsibilities that come with it. Aside from his regular day job, James also made headlines for his extensive charitable actions. He represents the DC College Access Program along with The Ron & Joy Paul Kidney Center at George Washington University, and The Salvation Army, to contribute to the less privileged population.

During his career, Brown was honored with multiple awards. The most recent award is the 2016 Pete Rozelle Award Radio-TV Award offered by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The award was passed on to James Brown in order to recognize his exceptional contributions to the radio and television media. Brown’s extraordinary leadership has also earned him many accolades. His approach to his profession has played an instrumental role in transforming the way the NFL is broadcasted today. He was also awarded “The Uncommon Award” in 2016 by Tony Dungy. Tony Dungy also happens to be a member of the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.