In a televised interview, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke openly about his ongoing struggles with his excessive weight. Christie said that his weight problem is “a really difficult thing to deal with” and that he is sometimes a target of ridicule for his gargantuan girth.

“There are some people who are just — you know, incredibly nasty and ugly and horrible,” he said candidly on ABC-TV’s “Nightline.” “That’s just the way it goes. I mean, you know, people have that kind of prejudice about them. I can’t do anything about that.”

Christie, who is publicly representing the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, used the televised forum to openly discuss his weight problem. The governor contended that losing weight is not connected to discipline or willpower, or similar to fighting alcohol or drug addiction. “You can go live every day without drinking. You can live every day without taking drugs. You can’t live every day without eating,” he said.
Touching on a related aspect of the topic, the New Jersey governor expressed his disagreement with Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large containers of soda, terming the idea “government run amok.’’ Asserting that it is ultimately up to individuals to make these kinds of basic quality-of-life choices, Christie added, “Sometimes, they’re going to make good choices, sometimes they’re going to make bad choices, but I don’t think we should have a daddy state.’’

Christie revealed that, unfortunately, he tends to be the recipient of cruel and mocking insults on his Twitter feed. At the same time, though, he said that other people have approached him who “genuinely are concerned about me and want me to be around for a long time, and really care about me.”

Christie, 49, claimed that he is sincerely attempting to diet. He works out with a personal trainer four days a week and is “trying to eat better,” he said. “I’m working at it. But obviously, I’m not there. But I also have hope that I can get there.”

Christie, who is afflicted with asthma, said he is generally healthy from a strict clinical perspective. “My blood pressure’s fine, my cholesterol is fine,” he said. “I’m in good physical shape in terms of those indicators. But I have to lose weight, and I get it.”

Noting that he has been fighting the “battle of the bulge” for thirty years, the governor said he has never contemplated gastric bypass surgery because it’s “too risky.”