"celebrity chef fit club" news and stories

With the U.S. population booming in body weight as Food Network viewership soars and celebrity chefs become household names, the chefs inspiring foodies of the American public may be starting to experience some sort of weighted responsibility.

Food Network host and cookbook author Alton Brown one day had a revelation: After seeing his hefty figure on television, he started to worry about his weight of 213 pounds -- which got him surmising on the robust figures of his fans. He confessed to Time magazine writer Joel Stein, "Celebrity chefs are the high priests of the food craze that is partly responsible for the fattening of America. We helped people get into this mess. I don't see why we shouldn't help them out."

Argues Joel Stein, "Maybe this is how the obesity epidemic ends: by giving chefs TV shows. Because people on TV don't like looking fat." Once TV chefs start to consider their weight, the reasoning goes, maybe they'll start to consider the weights of their fans.

More on the celebrity-chef fit club, after the jump.