Graham Elliot Weight Loss
Graham Elliot Weight Loss
Chef Graham Elliot has been successful in his career and has gained various awards and critical acclaim for his cooking, appearing on Iron Chef, MasterChef, Top Chef Masters, and opening his own famous French restaurant.
However, despite his promising career, the TV chef was at risk of serious health complications and even an early death, due to his 400 pounds body weight plus his family history of heart attacks and strokes.
The famous MasterChef judge, Graham Elliot, started his weight loss journey and has dropped 150 pounds off his weight and a lot of people have been curious about his weight loss surgery – sleeve gastrectomy.
If you have seen the TV show, “The Biggest Loser”, you would surely notice that he has lost almost half of his original body size.
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He used to weigh 400 pounds and now lost 150 pounds following a simple method advised from his own doctor.
Let us see how he lost a significant amount of weight.
How Did Graham Elliot Lose Weight?
The famous celebrity chef underwent an operation, called the gastric sleeve, which is one component of the duodenal switch. A gastric sleeve makes the stomach about 80 percent smaller, the size and shape of a small banana, but it doesn’t interfere with nutrient uptake or digestion.
The director of minimally invasive surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine, Vivek Prachand, MD, says that the Master Chef judge, who weight almost 400 pounds was a candidate for a duodenal switch – a procedure that helps patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 50 or more plus metabolic problems associated with severe obesity.
Duodenal switch is one of the surgical options that Elliot had that helps the patients to lose some of their capacity to process and absorb dietary fats. Even small servings of fatty foods can trigger cramps, bloating, and other intestinal distress.
In 2013, Elliot underwent obesity surgery after a series of extensive multidisciplinary evaluations, discussions, and counseling.
“If you conceptualize the stomach as a small bag, we removed the outer three-quarters of the stomach and it’s now a long, narrow tube,” Vivek said of the surgery performed to help the chef.
When he had fully recovered, four months after his surgery, Graham Elliot started doing five-kilometer race called the Ditka Dash. “Running that first 5K was awesome,” Elliot said. “Allie was right there beside me, my nurse, and cheerleader.”
He covered a 3.1 miles course in less than 35 minutes, averaging 11 minutes per mile. That’s quite an improvement, isn’t it?
A month later, he no longer needs a machine to keep his airway open while asleep since he successfully gets rid of sleep apnea.
Six months after his surgery, his weight had dropped from 396 to less than 250 pounds and his cholesterol levels had significantly improved and blood pressure was nearly normal, too.
In an interview with the People Magazine, he told the reporter, “I thought it would take two or three years to do this”. But it was so evident how he easily lost weight in a matter of several months.
According to his doctor from the University of Chicago, Elliot did his own part and didn’t leave all the effort from his doctor. Graham Elliot did his own research, had his family to support him, and he was committed to making changes in his lifestyle in order for the procedure to work effectively.
How Is Graham Elliot After His Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Graham Elliot remained committed to his weight loss journey. After his surgery, he changed his eating habits at home and on the job.
He admits that he misses eating all his favorite junk foods but he disciplined himself to get rid of late-night burgers, Cheez-its, soda, pasta, bread, and beer. Instead, his current diet consists of chicken or salmon with vegetables and fruit with cottage cheese, or apple slices dipped in peanut butter for desserts to pave a way for his sweet tooth.
“I now look at food as fuel and focus on my protein intake,” he said. “I’m in love with ‘pure’ flavors, things that are natural and delicious, minimally fussed with, that showcase the season. I combine that with portion control.”
His fellow Judges, Ramsay and Biastanich, also play a great role in supporting Elliot on his weight loss journey. “They’re two of my closest friends. We get to talk all day up on stage, and then in between filming we’re in our rooms and listening to music together and talking. I can text them both for advice whether it’s ‘Hey, I’m doing an event,’ or ‘What do you think about this restaurant concept?’ It’s like having two mentors next to me, and also two older brothers. They’re also a big reason for my getting healthy. Both of them have done the Ironman Triathlon and are always speaking about how to be your best and things like that, so I give them a ton of credit”, he said in an interview.
Now, Chef Graham Elliot is an avid runner and enjoying physical activities with his sons and wife, which he never thought he would do and certainly could not do before.
He maintained his healthy food intake by eating lean protein, fruits, and vegetables.
His body mass index (BMI) is now approximately 27 to 29. That’s a whole lot of progress!