As Top Chef host and judge, Padma Lakshmi eats and enjoys fattening food. But thanks to her weight loss diet, she also flaunts a size four figure!
Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi is famed for hosting and judging the popular cooking competition. That role has what might seem like a fattening price: A requirement that she sample all types of fabulous foods.
So how does the Top Chef host maintain that fabulous figure? Get the skinny on her specially customized weight loss diet.
Padma Lakshmi eats as much as 8,000 calories daily on Top Chef
Lakshmi clearly enjoys and appreciates fabulous food, but, according to People, she also appreciates returning to her normal size four body when she’s not filming Top Chef.
During the period when she’s working on the show, Padma estimated that she eats 7,000 to 8,000 calories daily.
"“I eat so much food [on the show],” confessed Lakshmi. “I gain more weight now because I’m older.”"
The Top Chef star gains as much as 15 pounds a season, adding that in Chicago, she put on 17 “because of deep dish pizza.” And as her Instagram shows, she also enjoys off-camera treats when she’s working on the show.
Top Chef host follows strict diet with lots of limits when she’s not filming
When she is at the size that she calls her “skinniest,” Padma is a size four. But she has some clothes that are in larger sizes, up to a size fourteen.
"“No one is looking at your tag,” she pointed out. “It’s better that it fits you well — everyone tries to squeeze in one size of jeans, it just makes you look like a sausage.”"
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In order to wear her smallest sizes, the Top Chef star follows certain strict weight loss diet rules about what she avoids:
- She avoids alcohol.
- Padma does not eat any fried food.
- She consumes no red meat or sweets.
- Lakshmi limits her dairy intake to “low-fat cottage cheese and non-fat yogurt.”
- She avoids any foods containing flour.
Top Chef star eats only specific foods when she’s on her weight loss diet
Padma consumes “a lot of vegetables and fruit.” She also eats:
- fish and chicken
- lentils and beans
"“When I’m not on the show, I’m pretty plant-based,” explained Lakshmi. “I was raised as a vegetarian in India and in America.”"
As for whether it’s challenging to go from such a strict diet to eating all the different foods created and served up on Top Chef, the former model said that she allows herself “license to eat” on the show.
"“For legal reasons, I have to make sure I try everything so I just give myself license,” she pointed out. “As women, we’re conditioned to do everything, and we can do everything you just can’t always do it at once.”"
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