There's been plenty of political debate over whether or not New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would be a viable presidential candidate given his, um, girth. That debate may be over, though, as Christie recently revealed he had lap-band surgery.
And before doing so, he'll reveal during a Friday interview with NBC's Brian Williams, he consulted with Jets coach Rex Ryan.
"Last fall, I was turning 50 and it really was a moment of reflection for me,” Christie told Williams on Rock Center. “And so I really just felt like for Mary Pat and for the kids that I needed to take a more significant step to try to get my weight under control so that I could have a really active next half of my life."
Gov. Christie didn't exclusively talk with Rex, of course. He also consulted with doctors (good idea!) and his family, with all parties ultimately deciding that if he dropped some pounds and reduced his appetite, it would be a healthier alternative for him to being large and in charge.
Ryan famously lost a whopping 106 pounds after having lap-band surgery, getting down to 242 pounds from 348, as chronicled by CBSSports.com's Ryan Wilson in photo form here:
And Ryan praised the surgery for helping turn around his health.
"I couldn't believe it. I turned around and looked to see if someone was behind me," Ryan said in July of 2012. "To me, the answer was without question having the lap-band, and it has been great."
Christie's reaction is similar, having spoken with a doctor who made it clear how beneficial it would be for him.
“I said, ‘Well, do I really think I need this?’ And he said to me, ‘If you came in here with cancer and I told you that I had a 40-minute surgery that'd give you a 90 percent chance of cure, would you sign up?’ And it just really crystallized it for me. And I said, ‘Yeah, I would.’ And he said, ‘Well, then why wouldn't you do that to cure obesity?’" Christie recalled.
But just like Ryan, Christie also sounds humble about the surgery, noting that he's not taking a "victory lap" and that he'd prefer people not spend a ton of time dwelling on how much he weighs.
He might have that option now, but good luck with it come 2016.
