1 day Ago By Sarah Hearon
Mindy Kaling has been open about her health journey over the years. Many fans met the comedian through her character on The Office , Kelly Kapoor, which debuted in 2005. In addition to recurring on screen, Kaling was in the writer’s room.
During a season 5 episode, Kelly went on a diet inspired by Beyoncé — replacing meals with a cleanse that consists of lemons, cayenne pepper, water and maple syrup. That same year, Kaling released her first book , Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? In the candid memoir, she wrote about creating a “makeshift diet formula” in high school after a classmate told her she would “be really pretty if you lost weight.” As a result, Kaling “would eat exactly half of what was put in front of me, and no dessert.
” The actress explained that she “stayed at a pretty normal weight until college” when she gained 35 pounds during the first six months of her freshman year. She dropped the weight by introducing exercise into her life but declared she would be “chubby for life” for four reasons: she has “no hobbies except dieting,” she has “no discipline,” men she’s “dated have been into me the way I am” and she’s “pretty happy with the way I look, so long as I don’t break a beach chair.” You have successfully subscribed.
By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News Kaling’s new approach to wellness came after she navigated losing baby weight. She welcomed daughters Katherine and Anne in 2017 and 2024, respectively, and son Spencer in 2020. Scroll through for more from Kaling: Credit: Shutterstock (2) Mindy Kaling's Body Evolution and Quotes About Diet Through the Years Mindy Kaling has been open about her health journey over the years.
Many fans met the comedian through her character on The Office , Kelly Kapoor, which debuted in 2005. In addition to recurring on screen, Kaling was in the writer’s room. During a season 5 episode, Kelly went on a diet inspired by Beyoncé — replacing meals with a cleanse that consists of lemons, cayenne pepper, water and maple syrup.
That same year, Kaling released her first book , Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? In the candid memoir, she wrote about creating a “makeshift diet formula” in high school after a classmate told her she would “be really pretty if you lost weight.” As a result, Kaling “would eat exactly half of what was put in front of me, and no dessert.”The actress explained that she “stayed at a pretty normal weight until college” when she gained 35 pounds during the first six months of her freshman year.
She dropped the weight by introducing exercise into her life but declared she would be “chubby for life” for four reasons: she has “no hobbies except dieting,” she has “no discipline,” men she’s “dated have been into me the way I am” and she’s “pretty happy with the way I look, so long as I don’t break a beach chair.”Kaling’s new approach to wellness came after she navigated losing baby weight. She welcomed daughters Katherine and Anne in 2017 and 2024, respectively, and son Spencer in 2020.
Scroll through for more from Kaling: Credit: Ron Tom/Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock 2005 Kaling became a well-known comedy writer and actress after The Office premiered. Credit: Picture Perfect/Shutterstock 2009 The star wasn’t afraid to take fashion risks as she navigated her own body image issues. "On TV, if you were really thin, then you could be the lead.
Otherwise, you had to be like 250 pounds, and you had to be the slapstick comic relief," she explained on Good Morning America in 2021. "But what was crazy, what was left out, is just like this range of people which is a majority of American women over the age of 24. What if you're like a [size] 12 and you want to just live your life and look cute and date?" Credit: J Althaus/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock 2012 Kaling’s character on The Mindy Project , Mindy Lahiri, became a fashion and body image icon in her own right, once declaring: “First of all, I am not overweight; I fluctuate between chubby and curvy.
” Credit: Ken Matsui/UPI/Shutterstock 2015 In her second book, Why Not Me?, released in 2015, Kaling wrote about a 21-day juice cleanse ahead of a Mindy Project scene in a whipped-cream bathing suit with James Franco. “Like every heterosexual woman and gay man in the country, I think James is a very mysterious and sexy weirdo ..
. I didn’t want him to feel my bra-strap pudge on the set,” she wrote. While she loved that she got to dress like “a slutty teenage hitchhiker and it felt great,” she spent her days laying “in my bed, grinding my teeth, waiting for dawn to break.
” Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2017 Kaling welcomed her daughter in 2017, opting not to reveal any details about the father of her kids. “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,’” she recalled to Entertainment Tonight in 2022 of losing the baby weight.
Credit: Mindy Kaling 2019 "IDK who needs to hear this but," the Four Weddings & A Funeral producer wrote via social media in July, “WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don't have to be a size 0." Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2020 One year later, she gave birth to son Spencer in September 2020.
Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2021 Kaling posted a pic in a one-piece bathing suit in August 2021. “I feel like in conversations about fitness and exercise, if you’re going to be talking about someone who’s healthy and fit, you have to be a hard body with, like, a six-pack. But that’s not really how it works, and I have learned to embrace [my body] in the past six months [since having a baby],” she noted to Shape three months earlier.
Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2021 The Sex Lives of College Girls co-creator joked about wearing “stretchy knits post-Thanksgiving” in November 2021. Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2022 Kaling joked about dropping “thirst trap pics” with her new figure. Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2022 “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 explained to ET in April 2022. “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.
” Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2022 Kaling’s thinner figure made waves online in December 2022 when she rocked a white dress for a holiday party. “I never wear winter white! I was always so worried about it not being flattering and also about dropping food on it,” she explained via Instagram. Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2022 Kaling shared an Instagram snap in December of her plate full of pizza, pasta and chicken wings.
However, a social media commenter was quick to point out that there was “no eating” in the shots. “I actually think this concern is sweet. But I swear this is not my issue.
But thank you for being kind,” the Velma voice actress replied. Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2023 Kaling documented her adventures during a trip to India. Credit: Shutterstock (2) 2023 Kaling showed up to the 2023 Oscars in a white custom Vera Wang Haute Couture dress that showed off her petite frame.
However, when she hit the stage to present, the writer was wearing the same design in black. Credit: Courtesy of Mindy Kaling/Instagram 2023 Kaling shared that she still indulges in carbs while showing off her svelte figure at an event. "Head to toe @cultgaia for a @clooneyfoundationforjustice event and pasta eatin’ at @giorgiobaldi_ristorante with my beloved @juliaspowellart," Kaling captioned photos via Instagram in April 2023.
Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images 2024 Kaling stunned in a gold Ashi Studio gown on the 2025 Golden Globes red carpet. In order to view the gallery, please allow Manage Cookies.
