Photo: Courtesy of Frank Bruni

Amidst a childhood of overeating -- we're talking tantrum-throwing if he didn't get that third burger he wanted -- Frank Bruni, 44, went on his first diet at age 8, beginning a what would become a decades-long struggle of weight-loss and weight gain. "I was born with just an enormous appetite, clearly," says Bruni. "Going on the Atkins Diet at 8, that was a measure of how self-conscious I'd become about my weight, just how much teasing I'd been exposed to and just how intensely eager I was, even at that young age, to do something about it. And so I kind of stepped on that whole binge-purge cycle at an early age."

After reaching his largest size -- upwards of 270 pounds (Bruni, then as now, didn't measure his size by the scales) and a 42-inch waist -- a breakdown helped him confront his compulsive eating habits. A new job with hours he could control allowed him to stress less and exercise more. Bruni, who now wears a size 34, says he's content with the way he's managing his eating. Instead of bingeing three to four nights a week like he did in the past, Bruni has an episode once every three or four weeks, at most.

In an interview with That's Fit, he shares how he quit the yo-yo dieting cycle, what his fitness routine entails and how others can begin to address their issues with food.

That's Fit: How did you break your pattern of yo-yo dieting?

Frank Bruni: A couple of things happened. I hit rock bottom in terms of I just so hated the way I looked and I felt so disgusted by it, there was a certain point where I was like, "I just can't put up with this anymore. It just makes me too sad and ashamed." At that time, I had just changed jobs, so I had less stress because I had more control over my hours. I was able to commit to 90 minutes to two hours of exercise every day -- and that's what I would do. I mean hard exercise. After that, when I was in more of a weight-maintenance mode, I happened to reassigned to Italy and the natural portion control and the emphasis on food quality over quantity that you find in Italy was like the perfect recipe to help me maintain the weight loss.

Photo: Courtesy of Frank Bruni

That's Fit: What are some of the exercises you did when you were in weight-loss mode and what do you do now, both in terms of diet and exercise?

Bruni: When I was in weight-loss mode, I did very rigorous strength-training sessions with a personal trainer twice a week. After the sessions, I would do 30 minutes on a Stairmaster to get cardio, so the whole workout would be 90 minutes. On the days when I wasn't with him, I would run somewhere between four and five miles, so that at least six out of seven days I was exercising. Now, I run about 12 miles a week. I do one private Pilates session a week and I do one strength-training session with a trainer.

I just don't binge the way I used to. I tend to have a very, very moderate breakfast, and a very, very moderate lunch, and a very, very full dinner because I really enjoy having that one great meal a day. But even that full, great dinner, the parameters of it don't expand to the point where it can't be remedied and erased by the amount of exercise I'm doing.

That's Fit: What advice do you have for other people who may have issues with food?

Bruni: My advice would be to take a long pause. Look back at your eating behavior. Be very, very honest about where you go wrong and about what you can manage to change about it. For too many years, when I would want to lose weight I would insist on trying to hold myself to 900, 1,000, 1,200-calorie diets, which I never, ever managed to stay on for more than eight hours. At a certain point in time you've got to stop setting yourself up for failure and be realistic about what it is you can manage by way of diminished intake. Set reasonable goals that may mean you're working over a longer period of time to get where you want to go, but it may also mean that you may finally get there.

Learn more about running to get fit at our new Fit Running column, and on AOL Health, Monica Seles shares how she conquered her own binge eating.