Mindy Kaling Addresses Concerns Over Her Eating Habits After Viral Food Photos

Mindy Kaling is clearing the air on her personal health. In response to a commenter’s concern over The Office alum’s eating habits on Instagram, she has clarified that there is nothing to worry over. Kaling, 43, shared a Dec. 21 post with a carousel of pics taken with a pal as they were enjoying pizza, pasta, and chicken wings, with the caption, “Swipe through many photos of me with delicious pijjapalace food to earn one photo of me and ericaflener.” Nevertheless, one follower commented that “there is no eating in these pictures,” to which the actress responded, “I actually think this concern is sweet. But I swear this is not my issue. But thank you for being kind!” Kaling has addressed her eating habits and health in the past. Earlier this year, she spoke about the differences in her lifestyle since becoming a mother to Katherine, 4, and Spencer, 2.

“I had my son in the first year of the pandemic in September 2020. It was this almost extended maternity leave. I wasn’t going to be on camera, the studios were shut down,” Kaling told Entertainment Tonight in April. “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.’” As opposed to attempting to bounce back quickly after Spencer’s birth, Kaling incorporated a healthy diet without limiting herself in any way. “Honestly, I didn’t really do anything differently,” she shared. “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. 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.”

Having claimed in her 2011 memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? that she would be “chubby for life” due to “no hobbies except dieting” and “no discipline,” Kaling has undergone a significant transformation over the last couple of years. The Mindy Project star recently stunned fans after displaying her much smaller figure in a tiny white dress. Kaling revealed to Today in May that she has learned to change her diet and stop looking at exercise as a “punishment. “I’m never going to be someone who can just have spinach and salmon every day. I just am really, for the first time in my life, trying moderation, and I love it,” she explained. She added of her new wellness approach, “Sometimes I’ll be like, ‘Well, I have four different times today where I have ten minutes so let’s just walk instead of sitting down and checking Instagram.”

“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.” Additionally, she told People that she has tried to let go of the idea of losing weight for vanity reasons and think about how she can be healthy instead. “Healthy is working out, moving my body a lot, keeping hydrated, and then not having negative connotations around working out and making me feel like if I don’t do this, then I won’t be something else.” In addition to running and walking, Kaling said she also enjoys yoga, pilates, strength training, tai chi, and more. “Surprising the body with lots of different things, I think, is really good, particularly for my body,” she said.