Holy Metabolism! Padma Lakshmi Eats HOW MANY Calories A Day On Top Chef?!

We wish!

You are about to be STUNNED by the number of calories Padma Lakshmi eats on a daily basis while hosting Top Chef!

During Monday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the model gushed about the opportunity to appear in Sports Illustrated‘s latest swimsuit issue — a dream of hers for decades. But she also promptly began “freaking out” when she realized the timing of the photo shoot. The 52-year-old candidly explained:

“I would have killed for it when I was in my 20s and a model because it is the holy grail and they never even called me for anything like this. And I really thought that ship had passed, to be honest. So when I got the call now a few months ago, I was like, ‘You’re f**king s**tting me, really?’ I did not believe the news on the phone. And then I started freaking out.”

Hah!

Her main anxiety was having to get in shape after eating a ton of calories while filming the hit cooking series, she noted:

“I was like, ‘I gotta go to the gym. Oh my god!’ Luckily, I was already hitting the gym pretty hard because it had been just a month since I got home from filming Top Chef.”

Not only was she just out of her regular routine due to filming, but she was consuming so much great food as part of her job! So, how many calories are we actually talking?? She dished:

“First half of the season when we have a lot of contestants, eight or nine thousand calories a day, easily.”

Whoa! If you didn’t know, the general consensus is that women should eat around 2,000 calories a day. So, she was eating about 4 times as much as recommended! No wonder she was stressed. LOLz!

There really was no need to worry, though. She’s got the best metabolism around! The cookbook author was quickly back in prime shape for the shoot, telling the magazine:

“It’s important to show women of all ages, body types, skin colors and show that beauty is so vast and broad of a spectrum. And so when young women see this, I hope they see that they have a long life to live and that experience and wisdom actually makes you more interesting.”

The Taste the Nation star also revealed she was “pretty nervous” to participate at her age, but was proud to be embracing her body and encouraging other women to do the same, adding:

“I’m thankful for my body for it allowing me to have a baby, for it allowing me to eat like I do, and all that it’s given me.”

Amazing! She’s truly living her best life — working on dream projects and eating SO much yummy food! Consider us jealous! Ch-ch-check out Padma’s full interview (below):