For Mindy Kaling, maintaining health is a lifelong endeavor. "When I was younger, I wanted to lose weight due to superficial reasons," she recalled in an interview with Bustle published in May. "Now, I want to shed those pounds or have already done so because I want to ward off diseases like diabetes." As the proud mother of Kit, 8, Spencer, 5, and Anne, 2, she humorously noted that she needs to "live at least 20 more years."
However, the 46-year-old understands that her fame means the tangible results of her wellness efforts will attract more attention than her blood sugar levels. "I know people are genuinely interested in my body and the changes it undergoes," Kaling told People in 2023. "It's flattering - but sometimes it's just a bit overwhelming."
Kaling has experienced this double-sided coin firsthand, having her body scrutinized for being one way and another. She recalled being in a writers' room in the mid-2000s where someone suggested that another character should tell her that she could lose 15 pounds. "This is my greatest insecurity, and someone just called it out," she said on Good Morning America in 2021. "It's really devastating."
She's also faced criticism for losing weight, as if she's betraying fans who liked her just the way she was. "It's sometimes not fun when one of your favorite actors loses weight," Kaling acknowledged to Bustle. "You have an idea of what they were like when you grew attached to them, and it made them endear themselves to you."
It's not fun to be on the receiving end of that either. But, she added, "I truly understand it, as someone who consumes pop culture." So, why not her too? Yet, Kaling has been too busy actually embarking on her wellness journey to pay too much attention to all that noise.
