{"id":24362,"date":"2013-10-29T07:25:25","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T12:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fitzness.com\/blog\/?p=24362"},"modified":"2014-10-29T11:54:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T16:54:09","slug":"top-chef-host-padma-lakshmi-shares-her-secrets-on-juggling-amazing-food-and-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitzness.com\/blog\/top-chef-host-padma-lakshmi-shares-her-secrets-on-juggling-amazing-food-and-fitness\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Chef Host Padma Lakshmi Shares Her Secrets on Juggling Amazing Food and Fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo credit: Jeff Olson\/Fitness Magazine<\/p><\/div>\n

Every season on\u00a0Top Chef,\u00a0<\/em>Padma Lakshmi goes up two dress sizes, thanks to eating the meals created by the chefs on the show. Lakshmi, 43, admits that doing photo shoots after gaining weight can be scary.\u00a0\u201cI found out about the cover right before doing Top Chef<\/em>, knowing that I\u2019d be gaining weight,\u201d she said. \u201cI was terrified. It\u2019s FITNESS. I\u2019d better be fit!\u201d Well, Lakshmi always accomplishes her mission and manages to whip herself into amazing shape.<\/p>\n

How does she pull of eating so much delicious food\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>having a great figure?<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI would rather spend half my life at the gym and eat whatever I want than sit on my ass and starve,” Lakshmi said. She loves food too much to ever sacrifice it. She believes that starving yourself to look good just isn’t worth it.<\/p>\n

After a season of\u00a0Top Chef,\u00a0<\/em>Lakshmi works hard to lose the extra weight<\/strong> she put on.\u00a0\u201cI follow a clean diet: no meats, no sweets, no alcohol, no cheese, no fried food, no wheat. And I work out five days a week, boxing three days, lifting weights the other two. I carry a jump rope with me everywhere, especially when I\u2019m working. It\u2019s a great way to squeeze in a quick workout and get your heart rate up when you don\u2019t have time to go to the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once she is back to her desired weight, she eases up and enjoys food.<\/strong> Some of her favorites are pizza, nachos, cheese, potato chips, and fried chicken. “I believe in everything in moderation. I never say, ‘No, I can\u2019t have any of that.’ I have it and enjoy it! After I finish this photo shoot, I\u2019m going out for pizza, and I\u2019m literally going to take down a whole large pie by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her secret weapon when it comes to staying fit is stair-climbing.<\/strong> Climbing stairs, whether it be at home or at the gym, is great for cardio and strength.\u00a0\u201cAfter having a baby, I didn\u2019t have time to go to the gym, and I had to be back on TV in less than six weeks. That\u2019s how I started doing stairs. Now, whether I\u2019m home or traveling, I climb as many as 70 flights a day, which takes me about 35 minutes. I don\u2019t run them. I walk at a steady pace, two steps at a time. It\u2019s the perfect workout because pretty much anywhere you go, there are stairs and they\u2019re usually empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lakshmi may be over 40, but she doesn’t let age get in the way of her workout routine.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve seen a slow decline in my metabolism from the time I was 30. Even when I\u2019m at my ideal weight, I have to work out regularly\u2014otherwise I\u2019m jiggly. So I exercise consistently, even if it\u2019s just doing some jumping jacks, planks and stairs or jumping rope for 10 minutes. I notice a difference if I go a week without exercise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After having a baby, Lakshmi gained 45 pounds.<\/strong> But with hard work, she was able to drop all of the weight she gained. “It took 13 months to get the weight off. It was hard. I went from a size 4 to a size 14 when I was pregnant.”<\/p>\n

“What’s interesting, though, is that, in my experience, men don\u2019t want skinny girls.<\/strong> When I was a size 14, I got much more attention from men than I do now.”\u00a0Lakshmi seems to have a work hard, play hard mentality. She spends lots of time exercising, but she also enjoys eating delicious foods without deprivation.
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