The Uncle Fatso show: sportscaster Barry LeBrock was embarrassed when he went to his own videotape, so he turned his belly blooper into the highlight reel

In Hollywood, a town where it's practically against the law not to look fabulous, overweight people tend to stay out of sight. Especially on camera, where being flabby simply doesn't fly.

Barry LeBrock, weekday anchor and reporter for Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles, didn't even notice at first that he was packing on the pounds--he thought he was the victim of an incredibly shrinking wardrobe. But when one of his nieces made a fat joke at his expense, he realized it was time to spring into lights, camera, action.

Here's a little primetime secret: Though LeBrock's gig may seem like the ultimate dream job--covering teams like the Lakers and Dodgers and recapping the evening's sports highlights at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday --the schedule can actually wreak havoc on one's body. LeBrock, 40, was no exception. He would slog home from work every night anytime from 11 p.m. to midnight, which allowed for only sporadic visits to the gym. While he played weekly pickup basketball and ice hockey games, he noticed they were increasingly exhausting. "I found that even if there was time for exercise," he says, "there was very little energy for exercise."

Barely having time to squeeze in a workout before he and his wife, Susan, had a child, LeBrock found he had to kiss even those precious moments goodbye once his daughter was born.

BIG DADDY

LeBrock was very clear about his priorities: Being a father was simply more important than being in shape. But he still worried about his ever-growing midsection. In an eight-month span during his wife's pregnancy and after his baby's birth, LeBrock gained 20 pounds, weighing in at 196 big ones and stretching his waist by two pant sizes. When he watched his own broadcasts, he was revolted by the pudginess of his face. "I could tell the difference in my body, but I didn't know anyone else could. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, but I always joked, 'We have these new cameras, and they add another five.'"

The main culprits were diet and exercise: too much of the former and not enough of the latter. He had always eaten well, but now his portions had gotten out of control. New responsibilities contributed to his inability to get to the gym. "If the baby fell asleep in the afternoon," he recalls, "then I would be freed up to go play. But regular exercise wasn't anything that I scheduled or structured rigorously" LeBrock's eating habits changed even more after the baby was born. "I would always go back for a second plate of whatever I was eating," he says.

If the home audience didn't notice LeBrock's shape shifting, his extended family did. While visiting relatives in the summer of 2002, one of his nieces caught him with his shirt off while he was shaving. "She called me 'Uncle Fatso,'" he remembers, "and it struck me that if a 7-year-old girl was noticing the difference, there was something serious going on with mc. So I decided it was time to shed a few pounds. From that point on, working out would be behind only my family and my job in importance" LeBrock then set a nine-week goal to get in shape--the length of time before he would see his brother's family again.

LOSIN' IT

LeBrock's fat-loss plan was structured almost entirely around hard cardio. He cycled the streets of L.A. three days a week, worked out almost daily on the elliptical machine, and followed that with light weight training. LeBrock's diet was also in need of an overhaul. Though he usually are healthy, "if you're consuming quantities that are beyond your metabolism, healthy eating won't matter."

LeBrock concentrated on reining in his diet by cutting serving sizes. "Where I used to eat two chicken breasts, two scoops of potatoes, and eight spears of broccoli]' he says, "I would now have one chicken breast, half a scoop of potatoes, and five spears of broccoli. Once I filled my plate, that was it." There would be no going back for seconds on this plan--it was just enough to fuel his workouts and keep his hunger in check.

LeBrock kept track of his workouts by devising a creative record-keeping method that put that loony-toons guy from Memento to shame. He put a piece of paper in the corner of his bathroom mirror and drew empty boxes on it to represent each workout session. The system provided LeBrock with a physical accounting of his mounting progress and also built his confidence that he was accomplishing his goals.

"At the end of every week, I made sure those boxes were checked" he recalls. On the same piece of paper, he created boxes for good eating. "If I stuck to my diet, I would give myself a cheek for the day" he notes. "If I broke down and had a chocolate-chip cookie at eight o'clock Wednesday night, I would give myself an X." This strategy helped him chart a course for the future.

The program was a smash success. LeBrock lost an average of two pounds per week, and after nine weeks he visited his nieces again, this time 18 pounds lighter at a lean 178. "It was quickly noted that Uncle Fatso no longer existed" he recalls, "and my brothers saw a person who was more along the lines of the guy they had grown up with."