Gregory Gourdet, chef and two-time finalist of Bravo’s Top Chef has accomplished a lot. He a the best-selling author, an executive chef and owner of Haitian cuisine pop-up restaurant Kann. Tuesday, he revealed another big milestone: weight loss.
Gourdet, 46, posted to his Instagram page that he has lost 40 pounds on what he calls his “Pandemic weight journey.” He went from 212 to 172 pounds, posting a before and after shirtless photo to illustrate the progress he made. Gourdet said that the journey wasn’t a walk in the park.
“This was hard,” Gourdet posted.
The chef disclosed that in 2020, he had reached his “highest weight ever” at 212 pounds. He attributed numerous factors to the weight gain including the pandemic closing his access to gyms, tearing his meniscus while running and “survival eating at work.”
With all this happening, Gourdet decided to do something about his weight. In July 2021, he “pressed the health reset button.” However, proven weight loss methods he employed in the past, including yoga and intermittent fasting, were not working for him.
So, Gourdet pivoted and found success with new dieting, fasting and different types of exercise.
“I power walked on a treadmill for months until my therapist told me I could run again,” Gourdet 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.”
Although Gourdet is pleased with his weight loss, he went on to write that embracing one’s self-image was about more than just pounds on a scale.
“Reminder that health isn’t measured by weight,” Gourdet continued. “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.”
Gourdet thanked and tagged all of the individuals that assisted on his weight loss journey. This included his personal trainer, Colin Feldtman, The Forge Hot Yoga studio, Portland’s Knot Springs Wellness Social Club for hydrotherapy sessions and physical therapist Liz Ruegg, DPT.
Although Gourdet has made significant strides, he maintains that there is still “a very long road to recovery” ahead of him. He plans to open the brick-and-mortar version of Kann and needs to be in optimum shape to cook. The pandemic delayed the 2021 opening of the Portland restaurant, but it is now scheduled to open in late spring 2022, according to The Oregonian.
“I’m actually very grateful (for the delay) because everything that happened in the past two years has helped me hone in on what kind of restaurant Kann needs to be,” Gourdet said. “I really want Kann to be a place that pushes the industry forward.”
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