Padma Lakshmi is getting real about aging.
In an April 11 interview with Harper's Bazaar, Lakshmi, 53, opened up about her experience with perimenopause and said it's been taking a toll on her body.
Perimenopause is the period when a woman's body starts to transition to menopause, ending the reproductive years. Symptoms include hot flashes, vaginal dryness and PMS-like symptoms.
“Nobody tells you that about perimenopause,” Lakshmi said. “Your t--s get huge.”
Lakshmi noted that her metabolism has changed as well, so she's been exercising more frequently.
“I live in the f--king gym,” she said.
Lakshmi, who is known for hosting "Top Chef," recently called it quits from the show after 19 seasons. Due to all the food she consumed on the program, Lakshmi would gain 10 to 15 pounds every year during filming.
“It was really taking a toll on me physically to digest that much food in a day,” she said.
Despite her struggles with her metabolism, Lakshmi has embraced her changing figure over the years.
In May 2023, she posed in a bathing suit for Sports Illustrated, and even though she said she was "nervous" about doing the photoshoot at 52, she said she wanted to show her fans that "beauty is so vast and broad of a spectrum.”
“I love where I am in my life and know my body is not perfect by any means, but I feel beautiful. I feel like I have a very lucky, fruitful, productive life,” Lakshmi said. “My thighs may have been leaner, and my boobs were probably slightly higher in earlier parts of my life, but I have never felt better about myself. I hope they see a full woman in all my facets and nuances and some contradictions. I wouldn’t go back to my 20s if you paid me all the money in the world.”
“When young women see this, I hope they see that they have a long life to live and that experience and wisdom and going through stuff actually makes you more interesting and enriches you as a person, both physically but also inside,” she added.