The celebrity chef prides himself on staying in tip-top shape – but he has a secret hack he describes as ‘super-painful’ to avoid piling on the pounds
Gordon Ramsay has revealed his unusual eating hack to to ensure he stays in shape. The sweary chef is these days known as a lean, fit 58-year-old who fits in Iron Mans and marathons between running top restaurants and a glut of cookery programmes.
But it was not always like that for the Scottish-born chef. He once tipped the scales at 18 stone, before deciding to get fit and lose weight. Since then, he has stayed trim and completed a number of marathons and fitness challenges. But how does Gordon stay in shape? Late in 2024, he sat down with Men’s Health to explain what he eats.
He also delved into an unusual eating trick he has to make sure he does not consume too many calories. Speaking to Jason Fox from SAS: Who Dares Wins, Gordon said: “The role of a chef today is way more prolific than it was 20-30 years ago and we need to be fit, we need to be smart, and we need to set that example to the team.
“We are super disciplined as well. I’ll eat two mouthfuls of a delicious dish and then ignore it, and it’s painful. You sit there like a green-eyed monster desperate to devour that whole plate and i’ll discipline myself to two mouthfuls, then i’ll get out of that plate and it pains me because I know if I eat a fourth, fifth, or sixth mouthful, then that’s it, it’s game over.
“It’s the discipline that drives me, the discipline of saying ‘two mouthfuls, then get out of there’.”
You can watch Gordon’s interview below:
But he stressed that, although he was disciplined with what how much he ate, he made sure that the food he eats is still exciting and nutritious. Mapping out what he tends to eat in a day, he said: “Good food doesn’t have to be boring food, and healthy food never has to be fad food.
“I love eating. We have a protein shake in the morning, scrambled eggs for lunch, and then something poached for dinner, whether it’s poached chicken or fish. We don’t do lots of salads but it’s finding that balance.”
Despite starting to lose weight and get fit in his early 30s, Gordon said it was not until he hit 40 that he realised he had always wanted to be really fit. It was an ambition of his to do an Iron Man – a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle, and a 26.2-mile run – by the time he was 40.
He later completed the Hawaii Ironman in 2013 in a time of 14 hours 4 mins and 48 seconds., but said it was only when he hit the age of 40 that he realised his life had to change.
He said: “I got to the age of 40, and I had no time; I was seven days a week, restaurants opening all over the place, Michelin Stars coming out of my arse, and all of a sudden, my life got consumed. So I took a good look at myself and realised I was overweight, out of control, and I’d forgotten my time. I’d forgotten the most important part of the day, and that was that 90-minute session five days a week to myself.
“Taking up triathlon wasn’t just about running, I had to go for a swim, I had to get on the bike. It made me more disciplined. Wherever we were filming in the world, wherever we were opening a restaurant in the world, I could either swim, go for a quick hike, or a run on a sh***y machine that could barely hold me weight. Clawing that time back was crucial.”
