Mindy Kaling’s Body Evolution, Diet Through the Years

From high school bullies to navigating unrealistic Hollywood standards to losing baby weight, Mindy Kaling has been open about her health journey over the years.

Many fans met the comedian through her character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor, which debuted in 2005. In addition to recurring on screen, Kaling was in the writer’s room. During a season 5 episode, Kelly went on a diet inspired by Beyoncé — replacing meals with a cleanse that consists of lemons, cayenne pepper, water and maple syrup.

“We always think of a diet with a big groan,” Kaling said of the story line on NPR in 2011. “But I think diets are fun. I think it is an American pastime for a lot of women. I don’t know. I think that Kelly thinks of dieting as a fun hobby to have.”

That same year, the writer released her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? In the candid memoir, she wrote about creating a “makeshift diet formula” in high school after a classmate told her she would “be really pretty if you lost weight.” As a result, Kaling “would eat exactly half of what was put in front of me, and no dessert.”

“Without exercising, I lost thirty pounds in about two months,” she wrote. “I remember waking up in the morning and looking down at my fingers and seeing they had shrunk overnight. Suddenly I was freezing all the time, like those skinny girls in movie theaters are always complaining about, and needed to sleep with an extra wool blanket. My face…