- Padma Lakshmi Says She Eats Up to 9,000 Calories a Day on ‘Top Chef’
- Lakshmi previously revealed that she gained 10 to 15 pounds each season of filming.
- The 52-year-old was recently featured in Sports Illustrated’s iconic swimsuit issue.
Padma Lakshmi has tried thousands of dishes during her 17 years on “Top Chef,” and they’re loaded with calories.
Lakshmi recently revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that she was consuming as many as 9,000 calories a day while filming the hit series.
“The first half of the season, we had a lot of competitors and it was easy to eat eight or nine thousand calories a day,” Lakshmi told Kimmel on Monday night.
In a 2013 interview with Fitness magazine, Lakshmi said she gained 10 to 15 pounds and added two clothing sizes during each “Top Chef” season shoot.
But Lakshmi added that she never tries to limit herself on the show. After each season, she eats healthier and works out five times a week.
“I love food too much to starve myself to look good,” she told the magazine. “I’ll put in work in the gym so I can enjoy what I eat.
Lakshmi is even more motivated after she was invited to appear in Sports Illustrated’s iconic swimsuit issue this year. The issue will be released on <> on 18.
“I was like, ‘I gotta go to the gym. Omg! Luckily, I’ve been going to the gym really hard because I’ve been home from filming ‘Top Chef’ for a month,” she told Kimmel.
Lakshmi also told Kimmel that it “absolutely made sense” to be asked to appear on the issue.
“When I was in my 20s, I would kill for it because it was the holy grail, and they never even called me such a thing. Honestly, I really thought that ship was over,” said the 52-year-old. “So when I got the call a few months ago, I was like, ‘Are you fucking shitting, really? I couldn’t believe what was on the phone. And then I started freaking out.
In a Sports Illustrated video shared Monday, Lakshmi said it was “sweeter” to be in the swimsuit issue in her 50s rather than her 20s.
“It’s important to show women of all ages, shapes, and colors and to show that beauty is so wide and wide,” Lakshmi said in the clip. “So when young women see this, I want them to see that they have a long life ahead, that experience and wisdom actually makes you more interesting.
“I’m grateful for my body, for allowing me to have children, for allowing me to eat like me, and for everything it has given me,” she added.