How Tre Wilcox Transitioned From Fat Chef To Fit Chef

Anyone who became a fan of Marquee Grill's Tre Wilcox by way of Top Chef or Top Chef All Stars would not likely guess the man once had a weight problem. Not with those guns, anyway.

But Wilcox slimmed down by 50 pounds thanks to a bet with coworkers eight years ago and kept going.

Food Republic's Jessica Montoya Coggins discussed health with "one of the fittest chefs in Texas" and found that the "Fat Chef" problem is one that troubles Wilcox.

After all, he is a working chef who refocused on health and found a system that enables him to keep his body fat below 12 percent.

Wilcox offered this response when Coggins asked him about the "fat chef" stereotype:

Honestly it’s one of the most disappointing things with the chef industry is that 70% of us are overweight. It’s disappointing to me because we have access to the food and sure we can be busy. But 45 minutes, that’s all you need. A lot of chefs spend as much time or more time after work drinking. Obviously in this industry we party hard, but that’s just a discipline choice.

Working in a restaurant poses its challenges, but Wilcox maintains that tasting and testing recipes doesn't derail him. His meals at work consist of "steak or fish with vegetables," and he's a fan of protein shakes (his colleagues call them his "liquid steak").

The health nut will be allowed to stay here in Dallas: He has a weakness for the city's current obsession, fried chicken.

· Fat Chefs: Tre Wilcox Has Words For You [Food Republic]
· All Tre Wilcox Coverage on Eater Dallas [-EDFW-]

Tre Wilcox. [Photo: Marquee Grill]