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Guy Fieri, who recently lost 30 pounds thanks to portion control, intermittent fasting and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), wants people to know that, despite being the king of deep-fried foods, he has always been health conscious.
The Food Network star, 56, and restaurateur recently told Men’s Health that even before he became a leaner, meaner version of himself, he was never unhealthy, but when he hit 50, he realized he needed to step up his regimen to fight slowing down.
“Unfortunately, in the [‘Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’] world, people like to go, ‘Oh, you’re the chef that eats the deep-fried pizza burgers with the ice cream toppings and all those huge, fried everythings,’” he told the magazine. “My response is ‘I don’t want to say that you don’t know what you’re talking about, but you don’t know what you’re talking about.’”
He points out that for as many greasy spoons as “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” does, he also likes to hit up healthier places like vegan restaurants.
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Guy Fieri has lost 30 pounds since 2020. (Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
“I’m just looking for as much authenticity in the food as I can get,”he explained.
In 2020, Fieri hired a trainer who got him started on HIIT training, which includes quick bursts of exercises like overhead lifts, burpees and squats.
He also changed his diet.
“That’s when we started talking about intermittent fasting,” he said. “Once I started getting more serious about that, the quantity of food I was eating, and exercise, it really changed the whole thing.”
He stopped drinking green juices his trainer said were adding empty calories along with eating breakfast, and he now only eats between noon and 8 p.m. “It wasn’t as gnarly as you might think. I’m not a big breakfast fan,” he explained.
He added, “I still eat what I want to eat. But I just don’t eat as much of it.” Additionally, when he is shooting “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” which films three locations a day, Fieri said he takes a few bites of each dish and then skips dinner.
Guy Fieri has started doing high-intensity interval training. (Dylan Coulter for Men’s Health)
He also cherry-picks what he eats more carefully now.
“I’ll use pizza as an example,” Fieri explained. “Pizza is one of those things when it’s good, it’s really good. And when it’s bad, people still eat it. I’m now more inclined to not eat something that’s not that great than to eat it.”
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He also does cold plunges every day along with his workouts – and for both things, he says the first 30 seconds are key for him.
“The thing about cold plunges is that you gotta get through the first 30 seconds,” he explained. “When I started, I hated waiting on the timer to go off. But now I breathe and get into the right mind space. The energy it gives you. It gets me fired up. I do it every day.”
Guy Fieri’s Food Network shows include “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games.” (Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment)
He told the magazine, “It’s the same thing with my workout class. I know that class is going to start at 7:30 a.m. And if I can just make it a commitment to get through the door and do the first 30 seconds, then I’m off and running.”
Fieri was also recently named honorary mayor for a day in his hometown of Ferndale, California, but the restaurateur told Fox News Digital he does not see a political future for himself.
“I think I can do more politically just being a positive force, positive energy, entertaining people, feeding people, supporting them with philanthropy,” Fieri said after serving as emcee at Sammy Hagar’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony.
He continued, “You know, sometimes messages get muddled when you try to put the politics to it. I think there’s people who do a good job and people who need to do a better job. But the reality of it is, nah, I’ll just stay in my lane. I’ll do what I can do best.”
Guy Fieri does a cold plunge every day. (Dylan Coulter for Men’s Health)
The 56-year-old was named honorary mayor for the day on April 5 in his hometown of Ferndale, California, where he presided over a City Council meeting. Each April 5 in Ferndale will be known as “Guy Fieri Day.”
While he said he was not sure what his responsibilities as honorary mayor would be over the next year, “I definitely know next April 5 there will be a party when it’s my one-year anniversary of being official honorary mayor for the day,” Fieri told Fox News Digital.
WATCH: Guy Fieri doesn’t see politics in his future
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“Ferndale’s just this amazing, angelic little town if you’ve ever been to it,” the father of two said of his hometown. “If you ever saw the movie ‘Outbreak’ with Dustin Hoffman that was filmed in Ferndale. And there’s so many amazing people, so many amazing stories, close to the beach, we have great fairgrounds, there’s this horse race, racetrack, all these artists are there, Victorian buildings. I mean, it’s really, it’s a town to be super proud of.”
Fieri has also been raising his two sons to be self-sufficient.
Guy Fieri with his teenage son Ryder. ( Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The “Guy’s Grocery Games” host told Fox News Digital earlier this year, “I’ve told them the same thing my dad told me. My dad says, ‘When I die, you can expect that I’m going to die broke, and you’re going to be paying for the funeral.'”
Fieri said he wants both Hunter, 27, and Ryder, 18, to get multiple degrees.
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“My youngest son, Ryder, is a senior in high school getting ready to graduate, or you know, going to graduate in the spring. And he’s like, ‘Dad, this is so unfair. I haven’t even gone to college yet, and you’re already pushing that I’ve got to get an MBA? Can I just get through college?'”
WATCH: Food Network star Guy Fieri’s son Hunter shares what he’s learned from his famous father
VideoFieri added, “Shaq said it best. Shaq said it about his kids one time. He says, ‘If you want any of this cheese, you’ve got to give me two degrees.’ Well, my two degrees mean, you know, postgraduate. So they’re on their way.”
Hunter is already following in Guy’s footsteps. The budding television star has been working with his dad for years.
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After listing off Hunter’s accomplishments, including his own contract with Food Network, being the top salesman for the family wine brand, Hunt & Ryde, and working toward his master’s degree, Fieri bragged, “I think the kid’s going to explode.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
