Padma Lakshmi consumes up to eight thousand calories a day on 'Top Chef'.
Padma Lakshimi
The 47-year-old host doesn't mind indulging in all the food the show's contestants have to offer when she is filming but finds herself gaining more weight now she is older, after having to eat "at least seven to eight thousand calories a day".
In an interview with Access, she said: "I eat so much food [on the show]. I gain more weight now because I'm older I gain now like 15 pounds and in Chicago, I gained 17 because of deep dish pizza."
And the actress says she has a "license to eat" when filming the show.
She continued: "For legal reasons, I have to make sure I try everything so I just give myself license.
"As women, we're conditioned to do everything, and we can do everything you just can't always do it at once."
However Padma reveals there is "no trick" to losing the weight post-filming and focuses on "eating healthy" and choosing clothes that fit her body shape.
She explained: "I'm at my skinniest right now because I finished filming the show for a few months. I have clothes from a size four to a size fourteen, from when I was pregnant, and go up a size," she said. "No one is looking at your tag. It's better that it fits you well -- everyone tries to squeeze in one size of jeans, it just makes you look like a sausage.
"But beyond that to get the weight off it's really hard, there are no tricks, it's just eating healthy. I don't drink alcohol. I don't eat fried food. I don't eat red meat. I don't eat any dairy, except low-fat cottage cheese and non-fat yogurt. I don't eat sweets. Oh, and I don't eat flour."