Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay adheres to a strict diet and employs a clever strategy to avoid indulging too much in the delectable dishes he prepares in his restaurants. As many strive to maintain their New Year's resolutions, including reducing alcohol consumption and exercising, Gordon Ramsay will simply continue following his usual daily routine.
The TV personality, who has lived in Cornwall since 2015, is known for his exceptionally high standards in his award-winning restaurants and he applies the same level of discipline to his personal life, particularly his health. At 58-years-old, Gordon Ramsay's lean and muscular physique makes him appear much younger, and he regularly participates in marathons and Ironman triathlons, swimming, cycling and running long distances.
A well-balanced diet is essential for maintaining fitness, and the father of six, who is married to Tana, has disclosed his daily eating habits to keep his weight in check. In an interview with Jason Fox from SAS: Who Dares Wins for Men's Health, Gordon Ramsay shared his dietary secrets.
Jason revealed that during intense training periods and clean eating, he forces himself to consume "boring" food, so he sought the chef's advice on how to make his diet more engaging.
"Good food doesn't have to be boring food and healthy food never has to be fad food. Whether it's having a chilli or whether it's the most amazing spice, I'll always make something delicious out of pretty plain, basic food," said Gordon about his own culinary strategies for enhancing flavour, reports the Mirror.
He then said that his daily diet that helps him maintain his lean figure: "I love eating. 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."
To Jason, who typically opts for boiled chicken while on a diet, he suggested adding thinly sliced vegetables to the chicken before poaching it.
When asked how he avoids indulging in the tempting dishes at his restaurants, he attributes it to being "super disciplined". He limits himself to tasting just two mouthfuls of a dish for quality control and no more.
He confessed that it can be difficult to resist temptation: "It's painful because you sit there like the green-eyed monster, desperate to devour that whole f*****g plate. I'll discipline myself to two mouthfuls and then I get the f*** out of that plate. It pains me but I know if I eat a third, fourth, fifth, that's it - you know, it's game over."
Gordon also revealed that his life was spiralling out of control due to his successful career. "I had no time. I was [working] seven days a week, [I had] restaurants opening all over the place, Michelin stars coming out my a*** and all of a sudden my life got consumed," he said.
"So I took a good look at myself and I realised I was overweight, out of control and I'd forgotten my time. I'd forgotten the most important part of my day and that was that 90 minute [exercise] session, five days a week to myself."
He now exercises four or five times a week, combining running, rowing, swimming, cycling and weights. When work is quieter, he increases his workouts and has longer sessions so he can "bank" it for when he's needed on new time-consuming projects.
His family inspires him to maintain his healthy lifestyle. His youngest two sons wake him up at 5.30am for a workout, but he's also takes inspiration from the memory of his father, Gordon senior, and brother Ronnie.
His father, an alcoholic with a love for fried food, died in 1997, just before he was due to have a heart-bypass operation. Gordon acknowledges that the same could happen to him unless he remains disciplined.
His brother has struggled with drug addiction, something Gordon has publicly discussed before. The siblings shared a modest upbringing, sleeping in bunk beds in their council house, and the celebrity chef acknowledges that their lives could have taken drastically different turns, given their mere 15-month age gap.
"Ronnie could have been me and I could have been Ronnie and so I think reminding yourself constantly you know there's a backdrop, you know there is a downside, staying on resilience and dealing with adversity [is important]," he said.
