What You Can Learn from Padma Lakshmi's Top Chef Weight Loss Success

Slim and sexy super-star Padma Lakshmi is a former model turned Top Chef judge. She's even authored a cookbook. When she had a baby, many wondered how she'd ever lose the "baby weight."

Padma smoothly answered those who asked that question by using a combination of diet and fitness. Sample her secrets to weight-loss success:

1. Be vigilant about your food and beverage choices. Whether you're a cooking show judge or a stay-at-home mom, it's all too easy to take a sample of this, a nibble of that...and fail to lose weight.

2. Let go of your love of sweets! Chocolate, cupcakes, ice cream, cookies, candy - most of us adore (all too well!) to nibble on such sugary treats. But one is never enough. As a result, in order to lose weight successfully, it's essential to bid farewell to those fattening desserts and snacks. IF you can successfully substitute sugar-free, low-fat treats (for example, a low-fat, sugar-free ice cream bar), make sure to limit yourself to one. Eating an entire box of sugar-free candies, for example, is a recipe of frustration.

3. Low-fat and non-fat dairy fills you up, not out. Many studies have shown that low-fat and non-fat dairy does help with weight loss. Padma enjoyed cottage cheese, yogurt, and milk, eliminating full-fat versions in all cases. You may also want to try an occasional piece of low-fat or non-fat cheese.

4. Keep your carb count low, and focus on whole grains. When it comes to white flour foods, toss 'em! Brown rice and whole-grain bread were on Padma's diet list as well, although she ate them in the morning only. Read the label carefully, particularly with regard to bread. Make sure that whole wheat flour (not "enriched white flour" or similar substitutes) is on the label.

Add Fitness to Your Recipe for Diet Success

Padma's quick weight loss shows the value of exercise as well. Make sure it's a form of fitness that you actually enjoy. Here's what worked for the cookbook author and TV star:

1. Boxing and Stairs. Padma enjoys boxing because of its combined emphasis on both endurance and cardio aerobics. It also can help with toning and sculpting. In addition, she runs up and down stairs. If that makes you shudder with horror, no worries! Try other forms of exercise, mixing and matching until you find a combination you truly enjoy and can do regularly. Whether it's walking and weight lifting or swimming and sculpting classes or biking and boxing, seek a combo that includes both cardio and strengthening activities.

2. Make sure you're exercising for the RIGHT reasons. In an interview with OK! magazine, Padma emphasized that her expectations are reasonable. "I can't expect to look immediately the way I looked before. It is about feeling good about yourself and being healthy."

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Source: OK! magazine interview, July 19, 2010 publication date.