Fitness guru and comedian Richard Simmons has lived a long and impressive life, but you may not know about everything he’s accomplished. In addition to inspiring people for decades to lose weight, he’s done these things as well.

• Simmons was born as Milton Teagle Simmons in 1948 with a disfigured upper leg, asthma and without a full set of bones in his feet.

• By high school, Simmons weighed 300 pounds.

• However, he dropped 100 pounds and has kept it off for 40 years through diet and exercise. In 1974, he started a gym to help overweight people.

• He claims to have helped people lose more than 3 million pound since starting his weight loss programs.

• He appeared as himself in a recurring role on “General Hospital” after fans showed a positive response to his guest spot.

• Simmons has authored multiple books and produced more than 30 videos, including the well-known “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.”

Keep Reading

Fireworks will be set off at dusk at Alpharetta’s Independence Day event at Wills Park. The photo shows a view of a previous year’s fireworks from the nearby Walk of Memories at American Legion Post 201. (Courtesy of Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau/Jack Tuszynski)

Credit: Jack Tuszynski/PhotoJack.net

Featured

Cabbagetown resident Nadia Giordani stands in the door of her 300-square-foot tiny home in her backyard that she uses as a short-term rental to help her pay for rising property taxes in the area. (Riley Bunch/AJC)

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com