Despite Hollywood’s constant push to stay red carpet ready, comedian Mindy Kaling says her weight loss journey has been driven by something much more personal than aesthetics.
“When I was younger, I would want to lose weight because of vanity reasons. Now I want to lose weight or have lost weight because I want to stave off things like diabetes,” Kaling recently told Bustle. “I had it on both sides of my family, and trying to avoid those kinds of things will, I think, help longevity for me, and that’s my goal.”
She added, “Do I wake up every day being like, ‘I look amazing and I’m so gorgeous?’ No, unsurprisingly, but I truly feel so healthy.”
Fans have noticed her transformation from her own description of being a “normal-slash-chubby woman,” and she has acknowledged how that shift can challenge the image people form of celebrities they’ve grown attached to.
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“It’s sometimes no fun when one of your favorite actors loses weight. You have an idea of what they were like when you grew attached to them, and it made them endear themselves to you,” she explained. “Of course, it’s never a joy to be scrutinized, but also truly understand it, as someone who consumes pop culture.”
Kaling, who is notably private—especially when it comes to her children—has been open in recent years about prioritizing health. “I’m in my protein era, but I’m also in my trying-not-to-have-high-cholesterol era,” she told Parade in 2025. “I’d love nothing more than to eat steak all day, but I’ve been trying to get protein from pea protein, tofu, and chicken, which isn’t always the most fun, but I’ve been somewhat successful.”
She has also leaned into a more disciplined fitness routine. “I do about five exercises, and I don’t make it fun,” Kaling shared. “I do it with a trainer. I do my squats, my Romanian deadlifts, and my lunges. Then I have a routine of arm exercises—upright rows, the regular bicep curls, the Arnold press, and a lot of pushups.” She also revealed she can hold a plank position for an impressive two minutes.