Gregory Gourdet is sharing his "pandemic weight journey."
Taking to Instagram on Jan. 10, the Top Chef star revealed he's lost 40 pounds and posted before-and-after photos.
"212# to 172#," he wrote alongside the pics. "This was hard!"
Looking back at his experience, Gourdet recalled how, "Between gyms closing, a running injury (I have a torn meniscus) and survival eating at work, I gained a good amount of weight in 2020." Then in July, when he was at his "highest weight ever," he decided to press the "reset button" on his health.
"But everything that had worked in the past including yoga and intermittent fasting just wasn't working," he continued. So, he made some changes. While no two journeys are the same, for Gourdet, his involved a combination of keto and intermittent fasting, power walking, running, gym, yoga, acupuncture, massage and hydrotherapy.
"I power walked on a treadmill for months until my therapist told me I could run again," he wrote. "I went keto for the first time and extended my fasting to 20 to 24 hours a few days a week and finally started losing the extra weight. Spent hours diving deeper into the health benefits of fasting and keto."
Gourdet then thanked everyone from his physical therapist to his personal trainer who helped him along the way.
He also sent a message to his followers. "Reminder that health isn't measured by weight," he added. "Thick or thin, always love yourself. Live in whatever body you feel comfortable in and don't compare yourself to people on the internet. We all come in different shapes and sizes and can all do different things in our bodies."
At the end of his post, Gourdet noted he still had a "very long road to recovery" and that he wanted to "be in shape" for the opening of his restaurant Kann, which offers wood-fired Haitian cuisine and is set to open in late spring. As he put it, "There's gonna be lots of long days and stuff to lift and move around."
Gourdet, who was a finalist on season 17 All Stars in L.A. and the runner-up on season 12 in Boston, then received messages from his fellow Top Chef alums.
"Heard chef," Season 14 champ Brooke Williamson wrote in the comments section. "Very inspiring." Added Season 17 winner Melissa King, "Proud of you GG."
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