Model Padma Lakshmi shares her top weight loss tricks

The 5ft 10ins model – who recently announced she is pregnant with her first child – confesses that she puts on between 10 and 15lbs while filming Top Chef.

Contestants compete on the US show to make the best dishes and by the end of six weeks’ filming she says she has usually put on about a stone.

“They’re not going to serve grilled fish,” she says adding that the goal is to make delicious food, not necessarily the healthiest.

As a result 39-year-old Lakshmi usually expects to go from a UK size 6 to a size 10 in that short period of time.

But after filming the series Lakshmi says she is in no rush to ditch the pounds.

“It takes six weeks for me to gain the weight and I know it will take me two months to lose it. You have to be patient. You have to give yourself time.”

And that means not cheating herself out of her favourite foods.

She says: “One of my favourite foods is fried chicken. Do I eat it every day? No.

“It would clog my arteries and make me break out. But I can enjoy it one day, and then eat really healthy foods for the next few days.”

She also pours scorn on trendy diets and recommends sticking to one glass of wine a week when you’re dieting and having two small snacks a day.

The Indian model also believes in cooking at home and filling up on fruits, vegetables and lentils. “I have a big appetite,” she says. “So I want a big portion of food.”

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