Padma Lakshmi Confesses She Can Eat Over 7,000 Calories A Day While Filming ‘Top Chef’

The chef explained that she balances her high caloric intake with regular exercise — five times a week for 90 minutes to be exact. “I started going to Pilates a few years ago, because my chiropractor recommended it for my back,” she said, referencing her diagnosis with scoliosis at the age of 13. Padma then fractured her hip and shattered her arm in a car accident when she was 14.

“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.”