If you've ever seen Top Chef on Bravo, you have to wonder how Padma stays looking so fit.
She eats a pretty decent amount of very rich food, for seven weeks straight. And yet she still looks like a supermodel. (for those that don't know, she was a supermodel)
Don't Do The Crime If You Can't Do The Time
Padma has said that during the seven weeks that Top Chef is filming, she works out 12-15 hours per week.
If you do the math, that's two hour workouts six or seven days per week.
You have to keep in mind that she has to. She's trying to combat eating thousands of extra calories per day judging the food on the show.
If you aren't planning on judging a food contest (and all the calories that come with that), you can cut out about 9 hours per week of lifting and get the same results.
Padma Boxes three times per week, lifts weights, does cardio on the treadmill and rollerskates.
If you've never done a boxing workout, I like it for all of the same reasons I like kettlebells - it blends strength and cardio and it's intense.
While I'd like to get a little more info on Padma's weight training routine, I'd be shocked if it wasn't *gasp* circuits including squats and lunges, maybe some deadlifts and some upper body free weight stuff. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, that's pretty much the standard "being on TV" workout.
Padma Eats Wicked Clean When She's Not on Top Chef
Padma cuts out as much sugar and fat as possible, and tries to only eat carbohydrates and lean protein.
She's all about fruits and veggies and drinking enough water.
I'm telling you girls and guys, there's no magic to it. People who are lean eat good food.
Even Padma's snacks are awesome:
“Coming from the East, I love to graze on dry fruit and nuts and crudites with Middle Eastern yogurt dip made with za’atar powder. Other snacks I like are an apple with lo-fat peanut butter or non-fat cottage cheese with rye crackers or celery.”
Basically, when she's not on the show she eats really, really clean.
You Can't Do Enough Working Out to Counteract a Top Chef Judge's Amount Of Food
So Padma eats to look like a rockstar when she's not on the show...
...But on the show, she has no control over what she eats.
She has to judge the food, so she's grubbin really amazing, rich, delicious food, and she has to sample every dish on that episode.
Padma says that she gains 10 to 15 pounds over the course of filming each season, even with all of the time she spends in the gym.
I think she looks rockstar the whole season, but she says the reason you can't tell is because she's tall (5' 9").
She's also said in interviews that she has one set of clothes (that show off her rockstar body) for the beginning of the season and another set of clothes (that are a little more forgiving) for the end of the season!
This is something you really need to keep in mind - even with 2 hours per day, six or seven days per week of workouts, Padma still gains weight eating during the show.
Hosting Top Chef causes Padma to eat more calories than normal, seven weeks out of the year.
When the Top Chef season is over, Padma returns to eating like a supermodel, and her body goes right back to supermodel body.
She's said that she thinks about it like a "food detox" and she eats really simple food for a while after the season.
Apply This To Your Own Fitness
Just seven weeks of eating way too many calories = a weight gain of 10-15lbs. (kind of like most Americans in November and December)
Most Americans over-eat all year long. Is it no wonder that they've got "stubborn fat"?
Lets make it easier: You don't have to do two hours a day of working out if you clean up your diet.
Less is more. As in, less calories = more results.
Padma hits two really important points workout wise - lifting weights and boxing. Boxing is really high intensity. It's not shocking at all that she looks lean, fit and sporty.
Also I give her big ups for rollerskating. Seriously, people need to remember that this can be fun. You're allowed to be active just because it's fun. Remember recess in school?
Padma's Books
Padma's first book is Easy Exotic, about how models eat to stay thin. I'm going to pick this book up 'cause I'm getting in a phase where I totally dig cooking again.
Her second book is Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet is another book is the same style - world recipies made simple and easy for anyone to cook.
Sometimes I feel like who-ever cooks the most wins. Seriously, my clients that subscribe to Cooking Light always drop weight and love their food.
It's worth learning how to cook.
Like I always say, collect cookbooks, not diet books.
Josh is author of The Stubborn Seven Pounds, the ultimate fat loss handbook.
By Josh Hillis "I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis Josh has been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post. Josh is the head coach at www.Denver-Kettlebell-Bootcamp.com
