Early this month, former NBA star Charles Barkley said he was heading to a "fat farm" in San Antonio, Texas to lose weight.

The star of Atlanta-based TNT's Inside the NBA, said he has gotten lazy since his days on the court.

“Listen, I am embarrassed about how fat I have become,” said Barkley on television during the NBA Finals. “I’ve become lazy. Number one, I’m not healthy. I’m not healthy. Y’all not going to see me. I’ve got to come back for the [NBA] awards show. But I’m taking the next six weeks to get my fat ass in shape.”

WATCH: Shaq and Charles Barkley flame each other in hilarious video clip

Barkley, 54, retired from the NBA in 2000.

He said he plans to eat healthy, work out and cut back on drinking in order to lose weight.

But we here at the AJC know how hard that is going to be for him.

Back in the mid-2000s, when Taurus Restaurant was still serving up American cuisine in Brookwood Village Shopping Center, me and a fellow AJC-er encountered Barkley and a friend while dining at the bar.

Barkley took one look at my friend and her meal then turned and said to his friend, “I don’t trust people who eat salads.”

Hmm. Okay. We're both betting he has gotten over that personality quirk.

In 2011, Barkley became a celebrity spokesperson for Weight Watchers and he reportedly lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks. Back then he weighed 350 pounds.

He hasn't said what his current weight is or how much he plans to lose at the fat farm, but whatever he does, it is likely going to involve eating salad.

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