Padma Lakshmi: Dishing on Style, "Top Chef Texas" and the D Word -- Dieting!

The question is a bit mind-boggling.

It's not how we can create peace on earth…..or who will win the next presidential election.

It's not even revolving around who will win "The Biggest Loser."

Uh, this is quite opposite.

The beautiful Padma Lakshmi is mulling over the best ribs she has ever consumed in her life.

"That's a great question. It really makes you think," says the host of "Top Chef Texas," which debuts on Bravo on Nov. 2. She rules out the Lone Star state for just a moment, but those fans shouldn't get their spurs upset.

"Texas is brisket country," she says. "So, I'm not going to focus on ribs there."

"Honestly, I used to have a next door neighbor named Gary Dunne when I was in high school. He loved to barbecue and we never would barbecue beef or pork at my house. We never even ate that at our house.

"He would barbecue and that beautiful smell would come over the fence," she says. "I'd be right there at my neighbor's house.

"It's a taste I can still remember. They were really sticky ribs and had a nice spice to them. The secret was he added grape jelly to the BBQ sauce."

A NEW STYLISH SEASON IN TEXAS

The new "Top Chef" is set in Texas where it was 110 degrees each day that they filmed.

"It was brutal. We were there at the hottest time possible. I wish I had more time to explore the city. We were working so much and there was so much to do," Padma says.

She fit right in with the Texas natives.

"I just love the people. They were very friendly, warm, and open. I loved to walk around by the river. I had my daughter on set with me," she says.

This brings Padma to a style question.

"I saw a lot of the beautiful, strange stores around the Alamo. I wound up buying a lot of Ecuadorian and South American dresses for both my daughter and me. I love shopping that way. You just wander in and find treasures that forever remind you of a place. We even have little matching orange dresses from San Antonio," she says.

Oh, and then there was the food.  Grub. Yee-haw!

"My daughter had her first ice cream there," says Padma of her 20-month daughter, Krishna. "I also loved the ginger beer."

As for the new season of "Top Chef," she adds, "I think of each season like a class. Each season has a different collection of characters that make a collective personality.

"I think these guys are very passionate like seasons past. They also seem to me to have something personal to prove to themselves …or someone at home. It wasn't just proving it to all of us standing in the kitchen."

HER DIET SECRETS

Mind boggling inquiry #2: How does she have that to-die-for bod and do all this eating?

"We do a lot of walking on the show to places, which helps," she says. "You are also eating so much on set, so you don't eat after work."

Padma admits that she can pack it in.

"I do have an immense capacity to put food away, which makes me really good at my job," she says with a laugh.

She does workout to burn off all those delicious moments. "It's really hard to stay in shape, but I box. I also carry a jump rope in my suitcase. I run up and down flights of stairs in hotels or at home.

"That's a great way to stay in shape and you can always find an emergency staircase in any hotel," she says.

She advises midlifers to not be so tough on themselves in they gain a few extra pounds.

"I go up and down dresses sizes," she admits. "In fact, I usually gain about 10 to 15 pounds during a season. My co-host Tom is used to pacing himself with the eating because he has his restaurants.

"I'm the little puppy at the table eating everything," she says.

She has one great bit of advice if you're around amazing eats: "It has taken me quite a few seasons to just take smaller bites. I'm better at it now."

When all else fails…she's a practical beauty.

"I just get a bigger dress size if I need one. I'm lucky that I gain weight proportionally," she says.

"When I'm done with a season, I always go back to eating healthy and working out."

Then she utters a gripe that all midlifers have said at one time or another — and words that make us love her even more.

"Why is it that what takes me six weeks to gain takes me 12 weeks to lose?" Padma moans.

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