If you’re a chef, do you have an excuse to gain a few pounds here and there? The argument has been going on forever – “How can you be a chef who’s skinny?” While I certainly can see the point of that argument, anyone can also see that it has so many holes in it that if it were a person, it would die within the hour. Perhaps that is why the trend seems to be celebrity chefs losing weight.

Let’s start with Alton Brown, who has become quite popular courtesy of The Food Network. He said that his weight loss program all started due to him seeing himself on TV. The saying that TV adds 10 pounds has never been truer in this case, and he also noticed that his audience tended to be on the heavy side as well. This combination brought him to his senses and he has lost 50 pounds since March of this year – a remarkable feat considering his line of work.

Then there’s Mario Batali and Michael Psilakis. They’ve both shed unnecessary weight in the past year. The bottom line is that these people have realized that while they work with delectable concoctions day in and day out, they do not have to eat as much as they used to.

For some, like Brown, it was not that bad. For others, it is taking more effort. At the end of the day, their regimens have this in common: they stayed off fatty food and ate less. I think exercise was factored into the equation as well.

Yes, dietitians, nutritionists, and doctors – you were right all along. Less food intake plus some exercise equals weight loss. Do we need celebrity chefs to convince us?

Originally posted on November 15, 2010 @ 3:13 pm