Mike Huckabee

Editor's note: This interview was conducted about a year ago, when Huckabee was still governor of Arkansas—and right about the time he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Presidential election.

Until about three years ago, Mike Huckabee was—no pun intended—a big target for his political opponents.

A lifetime of bad eating habits and an aversion to exercise landed Huckabee in his doctor's office with chest pains. At 5-foot-11 and 280 pounds, he was dangerously overweight and had Type 2 Diabetes. Combining these factors with the stress from his job, the doctor predicted that the governor would be dead within 10 years.

The doctor also said that without immediate action, "in the course of those 10 years I would find it increasingly hard to get around," Huckabee explained. "Further, with the diabetes, there was a good chance that circulation problems would force him to amputate some of my toes, and I would gradually lose dexterity in my hands—that is if I didn't drop dead of a heart attack before then. That prognosis really scared me."

But what most bothered Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, was the realization that he wasn't being a good steward of his body. "Not only was my condition going to kill me eventually, but those 10 years were not going to be good ones," he said. "Either way, I was not glorifying the Lord with my body."

That's when Huckabee decided to change his life.

Raised As a Christian
"I was raised in a good Christian home," says Huckabee. "My sister and I had two great parents. Our father was a fireman. Our mother was a clerk at the local gas company. They were both good people who loved us and worked hard their whole lives, but we never had a lot of money and material things."

To help make ends meet, Huckabee worked as a disc jockey beginning at age 14, a job he would hold throughout college. He became a Christian at age 10 during Vacation Bible School, and rededicated his life to Christ at age 16 when, as he puts it, "I just decided that I needed to have my life stand for something more.

"At that point I thought my career would take me into a job in Christian broadcasting. I didn't have the money to go to college, and my wife, Janet, and I married when we were both 18. I had to work, and I also had to go to college in the most economical manner. For that reason, I sat down at the beginning of my freshman year and planned out my college career so I could finish in slightly over two years, which is what I did."

In 1976, Huckabee went to work as the Director of Communications for James Robison, a move that would take him to a revival at Immanuel Baptist in Pine Bluff. The church asked him to stay as an interim pastor—an offer he accepted—and he remained for six years. In 1986, Huckabee moved his growing family to Texarkana, where he spent six years at another interim pastorate at Beech Street Baptist Church.

Huckabee jokingly "blames" Baptist traditions for his weight problems.

"I really believe that the Baptist church invented the potluck," Huckabee says. "I'd always been a chubby kid, but childhood activity kept my weight down. Between marriage and the pastorate, I started really packing on the pounds. It was nobody's fault but my own. I made the choices, no matter how bad those choices were. I love fried foods. I love mashed potatoes and gravy. I love biscuits. I loved going to state fairs and enjoying a fried Twinkie. Unfortunately, those bad choices were killing me."

More than Dark Suits
In 1992, Huckabee got a chance to revive a boyhood interest in politics when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. He lost to former Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers.

"That was not a good year for Republicans," Huckabee jokes. "But I got an opportunity to taste of something I have always had in the back of my mind. I like politics, and there's a lot more that ministers and politicians have in common than a closet full of dark suits. We both have an opportunity to serve and to really make a difference in people's lives."

Shortly after his loss, Huckabee was approached by friends who encouraged him to run for lieutenant governor. This time he won, and served three years in the office.

In 1996, Governor Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud during the Whitewater scandal, which led to his resignation of his office—and to Huckabee's promotion to governor.

A Rude Awakening
In 2003, Huckabee joined members of his cabinet in the Governor's Reception Room at the capitol. The room had recently been refurbished with a large antique chair for the Governor at the head of the table.

"The tradition is that we all sit down together," Huckabee recalls, "which is exactly what we did. Only this time, I sat down and found myself on the floor. The chair had gone to splinters. I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the table, but I knew everyone would find me. I did the only thing I felt like I could do, I got up and said, 'Boy, they just don't make them like they used to!'"

Soon, Huckabee found himself talking to Dr. Philip Kern, Ph.D., an endocrinologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, who would, as Huckabee says, teach him to be a student of his body.

"Dr. Philip Kern is probably one of the best endocrinologists in the world," Huckabee says. "He probably knows more about metabolism than anyone I know. I needed to lose weight, but I didn't have the time for a lot of diets. I'm busy, which was part of my problem.

"I used to live for fast food. I needed to get beyond fad diets, because to me going on a diet implies that at some point I would get off it. I didn't want that. I wanted to get healthy and stay that way for the rest of my life. That's what I decided to do, and let my body decide for itself what its optimal weight was."

Huckabee describes what that new lifestyle looks like.

"I don't have the time or patience for measuring and weighing food," he says. "Food journals are out of the question for me. I needed something that was easy to follow. What we came up with was something very easy: Basically, I eat no fried or processed foods. No potatoes or breads either. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I even eat meat, which surprises people, but only if those are lean cuts, and either broiled or baked.

"And if you think being a sitting governor makes eating healthy easier, think again. I go to a lot of banquets and breakfasts where I have no control over what is served. I solve the problem with a small cooler where I carry things I can eat. This not only allows me to control what I eat, but I can know how much I have eaten. I try not to be obnoxious about bringing my own food. I don't tell them that I eat healthy instead of the poison that they are eating. I just let people know that I don't eat heavy before I speak."

Exercising His Options
Next was the exercise part of the equation. "The key to exercise is to do something you enjoy," Huckabee says. "At first, I started getting up early and walking around the governor's mansion. Soon I was running. Now, I also enjoy working out in the gym. I spend a lot of time on my exercise bike. It was hard at first, but now, if I haven't been to the gym in a few days, I feel cranky and out of sorts. It's just a habit that I worked to acquire."

Huckabee has become so committed to his exercise routine that he refused an invitation to attend the 2004 Presidential Inaugural Parade, sending his wife instead while he worked out on his hotel treadmill. In July 2005, Huckabee participated in the Firecracker 5K of Little Rock.

"Finishing that race was one of the proudest moments of my life," says Huckabee. "As far as I'm concerned, it ranks right up there with being a husband and father, and being elected governor." He has since completed four marathons.

Not Easy, Just Simple
Where has all of this gotten him? He's lost 110 pounds. His pants size went from 50 to 35. His diabetes and heart problems are gone. "Not only that, but there is no evidence that I ever had these problems," he says. "I have the body chemistry of a teenager."

Huckabee notes the simplicity of his program: "It's not easy, but it is simple," he says. "It's a matter of simple math: Burn off more than you take in. There is no magic pill. If there was, I'd have found it, and I'd be touting it right now."

Huckabee has even taken his message to the masses. He introduced the Healthy Arkansas program that teaches a healthier lifestyle to citizens of his state. In early 2005, he received a call from former President Bill Clinton to assist in a program sponsored by the American Heart Association to reduce childhood obesity. He has even written a book about his healthy living gospel, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork.

"I learned something from Frank Broyles, the University of Arkansas athletic director, who told me something that has really helped," Huckabee recalls. "He said, 'Governor, nothing tastes as good as it feels to be thin.'"

Saying No to Neglect
True to his Christian roots, Huckabee credits his get healthy U-turn to his desire to cultivate his spiritual health as well as his physical health.

"When we really learn that God is our Heavenly Father and he really is there for us, we will stop neglecting our bodies," Huckabee says. "As with any good father, God is interested in our well-being for our sake, and He wants us to receive all of the benefits and pleasures that are possible with a healthy body and communion with Him. To deny that would be for me to deny who I am and what God has done for me."

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