His idea of a Sunday Funday? Why, a 112-mile bike ride, of course.
Gordon Ramsay is constantly in motion. As a chef, he’s used to being constantly on his feet, cooking and managing production, and that’s only exacerbated by his filming schedule, which includes Hell’s Kitchen, Hotel Hell, MasterChef and MasterChef Jr. But even when he’s sitting down, mid-interview, he’s drumming his hands on his legs, bouncing his right knee, or pivoting in his chair.
In a way, that on-the-go demeanor captures him perfectly. He’s a doer; he’d rather jump to action than make small talk. The second he’s asked what he eats in a day, he reaches for his back pocket.
“Let me show you,” he says, pulling out his phone and scrolling through Instagram, pulling up a photo of two croissants, a bran muffin and a glass of orange juice.
“I ate all three of them, so I was very naughty,” he says. “I had the muffin and a croissant, and I took that third one with me, so that was breakfast and lunch.”
He’s All About Sampling.
Ramsay confesses he doesn’t really do three square meals a day; he’s more of a grazer, and he’s happier that way. “I like the Asian approach of four, five meals a day—small meals—because by the time I get to an entree, I’m full,” he explains. “I like eating small bits and moving on. I’m pretty picky on that front.”
Instead of a sit-down dinner, he’ll snack on glass noodles with tiger shrimp, after he prepares a batch using the Philips AirFryer during a demonstration at Williams-Sonoma in New York. The Michelin-starred chef doesn’t really worry about what he eats because he stays so active.
“Admittedly, it’s the world’s worst eating habits, because you’re constantly grazing,” Ramsay says. “Chefs, we graze. We’d be lying to say we cook dinner before we eat dinner. You need to have that emptiness in your stomach to get into tasting, constantly, everything.”
Two Dates Keep Him on Track.
Ramsay exercises regularly—he’s competed in five Ironman triathlons to date—and says he stays on track by scheduling two major races per year: One in June and one in December. Unfortunately, a ruptured Achilles tendon prevented him from taking part in this month’s Ironman, but he’s had surgery to repair it and is taking it easy until he recovers.
Normally, however, the three weeks leading up to any race are a flurry of activity. Ramsay will swim every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a swim club that’s a few minutes from his house in Los Angeles, and rides his bike on the weekends. Sundays are his most intense training days, when he gets in an 8-hour workout. He gets up at 4 a.m., gets on his bike by 5, and pedal for 180 kilometers (roughly 112 miles).
“Then I’ll do a 10 or 15K run after that,” he says.
He Doesn’t Diet.
Some athletes may eliminate sugar or different foods from their diets before a major competition, but that’s not Ramsay’s style. The d-word alone makes him pause.
“I don’t think dieting is healthy. Chefs shouldn’t diet. I’m lucky; I can burn [calories],” he says, patting his stomach. “I just stay on it.”
He Turns Fear into Motivation.
Ramsay’s commitment to fitness isn’t borne out of vanity; for him, it’s about not letting history repeat itself. “My father passed at 53 with a heart attack. My brother’s an addict,” he says. “So I’ve got that scare-mongering going on, on a weekly basis, that I need to stay fit.”
It keeps him hitting the pool when he’d rather hit the snooze button, and it’s also what motivates him to tackle both Ironman triathlons each year. He’s founded a 100-person team with his wife, Tana—the GTR100—which requires that each member raises at least 2,500 pounds (about $3,679) for the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation, which supports the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
Travel Doesn’t Slow Him Down.
Considering Ramsay’s filming locations and restaurants scattered around the globe, sticking to a regular workout schedule can be challenging, but he sneaks in exercise wherever he can. Including when he’s 30,000 miles up in the air.
“I do sit-ups on the plane,” he laughs. “The seats I sit on are a bit larger than the average ones, so I’m lucky there.”
