Simmons: Make time for exercise

In his trademark shorts and shock of curly hair, Simmons used his unique brand of humor and unabashed enthusiasm to entertain conference attendees with what undoubtedly were the most hilarious and entertaining moments of the conference.

“Get up! Get up!” Simmons yelled upon his arrival, running through the audience and forcing board members to their feet for a disco number that set the tone for the morning. “You’ve been sitting on your butts all these days.”

Soon enough, board members were alternately dancing and laughing at Simmons’ antics, as he chatted with board members and mugged for the audience. It didn’t take long before board members were on stage to demonstrate long-forgotten disco moves and perform cheerleading chants from school days long gone.

At one point, Simmons sponsored a Mr. Sensuous Superintendent contest that brought out the best -- and worst -- of administrators. One administrator aped a hilarious version of a pole dance to the music of “Let Me Entertain You,” while another stripped off his shirt and waved it over his head.

Near the end of his performance, Simmons finally set aside his buffoonery and turned serious, sharing his childhood battle with obesity.

By the time he graduated from high school, he says, he weighed more than 260 pounds and was throwing up and using laxatives in a vain attempt to slim down. “I hated being fat,” he told the audience. “I thought it was a curse. All I wanted to do was die.”

His destructive behavior ultimately landed him in the hospital, Simmons says, where he was forced to confront his eating compulsion. More than 35 years ago, there were few fitness and nutrition programs to help, so his response was to develop his own weight-loss program.

“After I lost my weight and kept it off,” he says, “I wanted to help people -- just like you do.”

With a $25,000 investment, Simmons opened a small studio dedicated to helping out-of-shape people lose weight and get fit, he says. Some of his clients showed up at his fitness studio weighing 400 or 500 pounds and had to sit in a chair as they exercised.

Eventually, Simmons says, he decided to go on the road with his fitness message, making numerous national television and radio appearances, including a four-year run on “General Hospital” and hosting his own nationally syndicated series.

In a nod to his unique public persona, Simmons says: “I am a clown and that’s why God put me here. I’m also a teacher. I travel all these days and years to try to make people understand how wonderful they are, and that they’re one of a kind, and God made only one of you to be you.”

Acknowledging that board members have a hard job that demands a great deal of their time, Simmons still encouraged audience members to not overlook their own health -- for the sake of themselves, their families, and the students they serve.

“When you’re helping everybody else up, what happens is you put yourself on a back burner,” he says. “You don’t take care of yourself. You’re not eating healthy. You don’t make time for exercise, because there’s only 24 hours in a given day.”

“I’m here to tell you, with all the wonderful work you do, don’t forget about you,” he says. “You can’t allow your job and your work to be so important that you forget about you.”

Simmons also urged board members to model healthy behavior they want to see in their students and encouraged efforts to engage parents in efforts to help children become fit.