Mindy Kaling has been open in recent years about overhauling her approach to health, diet and wellness in her 40s, especially as a mom of three young kids.
The actress and writer, who recently celebrated her 47th birthday, supported her early fame on the notion of her appearance being more "normal" compared to the ideal of "skinny chic" in the early to mid-aughts, although conversations around body image standards have seriously shifted since then.
© Getty ImagesMindy on why she wanted to lose 30 pounds in her 20s
During an appearance on the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, though, Mindy recalled a moment as far back as 2005 when she was keen on losing weight and was discouraged from doing so by two of her comedy idols.
"I remember this story, and I'm not proud of it," the The Office star recalled of a conversation she had with Amy and Tina Fey when she was a writer on Saturday Night Live and they were cast members.
"We were somewhere, and I was like, 'I just want to lose 30 pounds,' and the two of you stopped and were like, 'What? That is too much weight,'" she remembered of it, which at the time proved to be quite the motivator.
"I remember I was so happy for like three weeks after," she quipped. "I was like, 'Wow, Amy and Tina don't think I'm a fat load.' I was so happy."
Finding role models in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
Mindy explained that what she was most appreciative of was having Tina and Amy actually acknowledge her concerns and encourage her to not worry about her body, rather than simply ignoring it or feeding into prevalent ideas of the time about female bodies and body image issues.
© Getty Images"I think to be able to be with two of my heroes and have them acknowledge – because you could have easily been like, 'We don't ever think about it. We're naturally thin.' I think really, it was a kindness for you to acknowledge," she gushed.
Amy further dove into the prevailing notions of weight loss at the time as well, something she too frequently thought about as an on-camera personality. "Just like everybody else, we're constantly trying to figure out everybody's relationship to being on camera. And I do think that, for better or for worse, what women do for each other and to each other is they talk about their bodies to each other."
© Getty ImagesMindy's long history with weight loss
Recently, during an appearance on The View, Mindy addressed previous comments she'd made about losing weight, saying: "I have wanted to lose weight since I was 12 years old. I've been writing jokes about diet and body image for 20 years now."
"So when people are surprised or shocked that I wanted to lose weight, I'm like, 'Wait, how is this new? This has been part of my personality since the Clinton administration!'"
© Getty ImagesThe mom-of-three then joked: "I saw something recently … that people were like, 'I wish Mindy would stop saying she's doing it for the health and her kids, she just wants to look hot.' And I'm like, 'Both can be true!'"
