Inside Mindy Kaling's incredible weight loss! From portion control to 20 mile runs a week

As Mindy Kaling lands her very own swimsuit campaign, fans have once again been reminded of just how far The Office alum has come in her weight loss journey.

Since embarking on a diet over the last few years, the actress has dropped an astounding 40 pounds, and has been proudly flaunting the results on the red carpet and social media

So how exactly did she do it?

The Office alum, 43, has credited her dramatic weight loss down to simple portion control and plenty of exercise.

‘I just tell myself I have to do basically 20 miles a week of either hiking or running. And so that’s been incredibly helpful to me,’ she told People.

Wow! As Mindy Kaling lands her very own swimsuit campaign, fans have once again been reminded of just how far The Office alum has come in her weight loss journey

Kaling pictured in 2015

Wow! As Mindy Kaling lands her very own swimsuit campaign, fans have once again been reminded of just how far The Office alum has come in her weight loss journey; pictured R in 2015, L in latest swimsuit collab 

‘It’s hard with two kids [but] I wake up really early and I fit it in,’ Kaling said.

‘I’m feeling really confident in my body these days, which is not something that I’ve been able to say for my whole life, unfortunately,’ she said. ‘I feel great.’

Despite initial speculation that she might have embarked on a dramatic new diet, the mom-of-two insisted in April last yet that she continues to ‘eat what I like to eat’ – but ‘less of it.’

‘Honestly, I didn’t really do anything differently,’ she told Entertainment Tonight. ‘I eat what I like to eat. If I do any kind of restrictive diet, it never really works for me. I just eat less of it.’

She continued: ‘I wish there was something more juicy or dynamic about the way that I’ve lost a little bit of weight, but that’s the way I’ve done it.’

Speaking with People last year, Kaling described herself as a workout ‘hobbyist’ who loves all types of different exercises ranging from tai chi to pilates and strength training,

‘I don’t have to be like the expert at the thing to really enjoy it and to get a great workout,’ she said.

‘Surprising the body with lots of different things I think is really good, particularly for my body … I’ve really been mixing it up and knowing that if a workout doesn’t necessarily make me soak my clothes with sweat, that it still was a good workout… It does not have to be punishing.’

Mindy has described how she incorporates working out into her busy schedule during an interview on Today: ‘Sometimes I’ll be like, ‘Well, I have four different times today where I have 10 minutes so let’s just walk instead of sitting down and checking Instagram.”‘

Beach babe! Kaling announced her new swimsuit collaboration with Andie Swim on Wednesday

Beach babe! Kaling announced her new swimsuit collaboration with Andie Swim on Wednesday 

Before and after! Kaling pictured L in 2015 and R celebrating the holidays in 2022

Before and after! Kaling pictured L in 2015 and R celebrating the holidays in 2022

Before and after! Kaling pictured L in 2015 and R celebrating the holidays in 2022

Met Gala transformation! Kaling displayed her trimmer figure when she attended earlier this month; pictured R in 2019

Going for the gold! Kaling pictured at the Met Gala in 2019

Met Gala transformation! Kaling displayed her trimmer figure when she attended earlier this month; pictured R in 2019

‘So instead of it being like one chunk of exercise in the beginning of the day or none at all, I’m now just deciding that I’m going to be a more active person all the time.’

Mindy did, however, admit that she had previously adopted a much stricter food regime to lose weight after welcoming her daughter Katherine in 2017.

‘After I had my daughter I had to shoot a movie like two months later, so I was very much like: “Just give me grilled salmon and sautéed spinach. I’m going to eat that for three months.”‘

Elsewhere, Mindy has also spoken out about the fact she chose to reframe her attitude to exercise, admitting that she used to think working out needed to be ‘punishing’.

Born Vera Mindy Chokalingam in June 1979, The Mindy Project star has previously explained that she had long running issues with feeling confident about her figure.

In fact, her body confidence journey took a major knock around 2004 or 2005 after a fellow writer suggested she write jokes about her weight into her work.

In an interview with GMA in 2021, Mindy detailed the time unnamed coworker suggested that one of her characters should joke about her needing to lose 15 pounds.

Instead of finding it funny, the then 25-year-old found the quip ‘devastating’.

She recalled: ‘This is my greatest insecurity and someone just called it out. It’s really devastating.’

Candid: Born Vera Mindy Chokalingam in June 1979, The Mindy Project star has previously explained that she had long running issues with feeling confident about her figure; pictured L in 2016 and R in 2006

Strike a pose: Kaling pictured at  the 2006 Creative Arts Awards

Candid: Born Vera Mindy Chokalingam in June 1979, The Mindy Project star has previously explained that she had long running issues with feeling confident about her figure; pictured L in 2016 and R in 2006

Art imitates life: Kaling even had her character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor, develop a fascination with dieting

Art imitates life: Kaling even had her character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor, develop a fascination with dieting 

To make matters worse, she had felt like she was taking care of her body at the time, with workouts every morning.

Mindy explained that the unthinking comment led her to question how others perceived her body in public.

‘I had a reckoning where I’m like, “People are scrutinizing [me], and not only are they scrutinizing [me], they’re verbalizing their displeasure with how I look because I don’t look a certain way.” That kind of dissonance has really affected so much of what I write about [and] the kind of characters I play,’ she explained.

‘Almost all of those kinds of things [in my work] come from something really real,’ she added.

However, her transition into being the mother of two young children helped her to readjust her feelings about her body and take a new approach to her fitness and wellbeing.

Grueling cleanse: On an episode of The Office, Kelly embarked on a rigorous cleanse which saw her drink only water infused with lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper

Grueling cleanse: On an episode of The Office, Kelly embarked on a rigorous cleanse which saw her drink only water infused with lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper

Everything in moderation: The Office alum, 43, has credited her dramatic weight loss down to simple portion control and plenty of exercise; pictured L in 2014 and R in 2023

Everything in moderation: The Office alum, 43, has credited her dramatic weight loss down to simple portion control and plenty of exercise; pictured L in 2014 and R in 2023

Everything in moderation: The Office alum, 43, has credited her dramatic weight loss down to simple portion control and plenty of exercise; pictured L in  2014 and R in 2023

She described feeling ‘so much more happy and confident after’ the December 2017 birth of her daughter Katherine Swati and the birth in September 2020 birth of her son Spencer.

In the years that have followed, Mindy has been sharing information with fans about how she adjusted the way she eats and works out – and appears to be happier than ever.

Mindy has been candid about her nearly lifelong efforts to drop weight, and wrote about a diet she went on in high school in her memoir. 

She didn’t shy away from the topic either when writing The Office, and incorporated dieting into her character Kelly Kapoor.  

A season five episode showed Kelly attempting to drop pounds by embarking on a cleanse diet which saw her drink only water infused with cayenne pepper, lemons, and maple syrup. 

‘I just bought some bikinis online, size two. So… I look amazing!’ a miserable-looking Kelly explained. 

Dieting results: Kaling has been showing off her results on the red carpet and social media; L in March and R in 2014

Kaling pictured in 2014

Dieting results: Kaling has been showing off her results on the red carpet and social media; L in March and R in 2014

She's ready for swimsuit season! Fans have been reminded of just how far Kaling has come in her dieting as she appeared in a new swimsuit campaign

She’s ready for swimsuit season! Fans have been reminded of just how far Kaling has come in her dieting as she appeared in a new swimsuit campaign 

Addressing the plot during a 2011 interview with NPR, Mindy said: ‘We always think of a diet with a big groan.

‘But I think diets are fun. I think it is an American pastime for a lot of women. I don’t know. I think that Kelly thinks of dieting as a fun hobby to have.’

Mindy recalled her efforts to lose weight when she was still in high school in her memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? She embarked on a diet after being told by a classmate that she would ‘be really pretty if you lost weight.’ 

Kaling ended up going on a ‘makeshift diet formula’ and dropped 30 pounds in two months just by reducing her portion size.

The actress said she would ‘would eat exactly half of what was put in front of me, and no dessert.’

‘Without exercising, I lost thirty pounds in about two months,’ she recalled. ‘I remember waking up in the morning and looking down at my fingers and seeing they had shrunk overnight. 

Her efforts show! Kaling pictured L this year and right in 2018

Previously: Kaling pictured at the Met Gala in 2018

Her efforts show! Kaling pictured L this year and right in 2018

‘Suddenly I was freezing all the time, like those skinny girls in movie theaters are always complaining about, and needed to sleep with an extra wool blanket. My face thinned out, and my belly went away. … I thought [my bully] Duante would finally leave me alone, but he didn’t.’

While Mindy ended up gaining 35 pounds during her first year in college, she was able to shed it all by beginning an exercise routine.

However she decided to be ‘chubby for life’ and gave four reason why: She has ‘no hobbies except dieting’, has ‘no discipline’, the men she has ‘dated have been into me the way I am’, and was ‘pretty happy with the way I look, so long as I don’t break a beach chair.’

source: dailymail.co.uk