Padma Lakshmi, 49, is opening up about her exercise and diet regimens that help keep her looking toned in the summer outfits and bikinis she often wears. The author and actress revealed she works out at least five days a week, 90 minutes a day, and eats healthy food that requires a lot of fun cooking, in a new interview to Women’s Health. She also went into depth about how quarantine has affected her regular day-to-day efforts to keep strong and feeling great.
Now that gyms and studios are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Padma uses jump roping as a way to keep active. She does at least 2,000 strokes a day, which usually lasts about 35 minutes, according to the outlet, and she makes sure to stop to take a water break after every set of 100 strokes. She also FaceTimes her Pilates instructor for mat sessions twice a week.
“I started going to Pilates a few years ago, because my chiropractor recommended it for my back,” she said, pointing out that she was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 13 and then fractured her hip and shattered her arm in a car accident the year after. “Pilates changed my body. It made me strong in places I didn’t know I needed to be. I have a butt now that I didn’t have during my modeling career!”
She also does physical therapy sessions to help with a recent back injury, she further told the outlet, admitting that one of the Instagram popular posture correctors was what caused the injury. After wearing the corrector for hours while sitting and writing, she ended up with a herniated disc.
In addition to working on her body through physical means, Padma makes sure to keep it full of nutritious foods that she loves to enjoy. She’s been cooking things like roasted fennel salad and fish curry and has been sharing some of her recipes on Instagram.
“I’m very fluid with my cooking. I’m not a formally trained chef,” she explained before mentioning her gigs as a host on Top Chef and Taste the Nation. “But because I’ve been judging people for over a dozen years on television, I was afraid people wouldn’t be down with me doing this kind of ad hoc cooking [in my videos]. I’ll say, ‘Normally we use red onions in this, but I’m using shallots because that’s all I have,’ and I think that’s useful information for viewers.”
“The professional food world is dominated by men,” she continued. “But most of the actual cooking of food in the world is done by women. And we women have always had to make do with whatever we can. We’re a little bit like water—we find our way because we’ve had to.”