Gordon Ramsay may be one of the food industry's toughest chefs, constantly berating people on Twitter and seeming as if he has no concept of an "inside voice," but that doesn't mean he isn't partial to succumbing to the temptations of food himself.
The 51-year-old TV cook recently revealed that over the years, he’d packed on the pounds - eventually weighing a huge 270 pounds (19.2 stone). Gordon, however, has said he was keen to take control of his weight again and has now shed over 50lb by using one simple trick.
The star and his wife, Tana Ramsay, recently appeared on American talk show the Today show, where Gordon revealed that his health and weight is a sensitive subject, given his father’s early death.
He confessed, “My father passed of a heart attack at 53. That’s three years away from where I am now. I never got to enjoy that quality time with him. That man never ever ate in my restaurant, and it pains me today to think that.”
His father passed away when Gordon was just 30 - so the chef has said he is keen for his children not to experience the pain he went through after losing his father so early. He admitted, “I want to set that example.”
Ramsay went on to reveal that a key component of his weight loss success has been to take control of his portion sizes - opting for five small meals a day instead of three huge ones. He shared, “I’m very good now at eating five times a day. But small amounts as opposed to a big breakfast, big lunch and big dinner.”
The popular chef did admit however that it was difficult to stay on track, given the amounts of food he cooks and samples every day in his 34 restaurants. But he maintained that staying in control of how much he eats has allowed him to shed the pounds.
The Hell’s Kitchen host also shared some sage advice for the American viewers of the programme. He suggested that controlling portion size could be the cure for the country’s obesity woes. He said, “If Americans toned down the sort of quantity and honed in on the quality, you’d feel so much better. So it’s about sort-of eating better, but eating less at the same time.” The advice may be unsolicited but you can't really argue with his results.
Tana, Gordon’s wife of 22 years, also shared that she’d given her husband a helping hand in getting him to slim down too - by dishing out some of his famous, to-the-point, advice. On the Today show, she said, “Gordon’s famous for being blunt. I just gave him a little bit of his own medicine and basically suggested that he was getting a little wide around his middle.”
Gordon has also taken up exercise in his weight loss bid. The chef has now begun training for triathlons, something his kids love doing. Catch him at your nearest event and maybe you could "critique" him.
