Impact Wrestling’s Gail Kim Talks Eating Like a Champ and Dabbling with Veganism

She’s one of the most skilled female athletes in the world today, a multiple-time world champion and she eats beefs like there’s no tomorrow. In short, Gail Kim is one heck of a woman … and with a husband like renowned Chef Robert Irvine, her passion for culinary knowledge and exploration knows no bounds. Paste chatted with Kim about eating for pro wrestling stardom, life on the road and reinventing her diet after 17 years in the ring.
Paste: Starting from your childhood days, what was your relationship with food like?
Gail Kim: As far as I remember, I was always a big eater. I eat just as much as the wrestler guys. I eat more than my husband and it’s funny because everyone looks at him and he’s big and built and I probably eat at least double what he eats. People look at me and think, “Oh my God. You?” But my mom told me as soon as I was maybe two years old, I was eating a full steak. I was always a big eater.
I wasn’t a picky eater. I wanted McDonald’s and all that crappy food, but I was raised with a lot of Korean foods, since I’m Korean. My mom was always a really great cook, and to this day, Korean is my favorite type of Asian food anyway. After high school I started to learn how to eat better and healthier, and then as the years went on and obviously I’m a professional athlete, so I had to adopt that lifestyle.
Now, in the past year, I’ve experimented with vegan cleanses, because I can’t do just cleanses. I love food. I love to eat. I’m married to a chef. I can’t go without food. I was like, “Okay, I can do a vegan cleanse.” I’m pretty strict and disciplined. Oh my God, even when I’m sick. I would recommend to you right now since you’re sick, if you want to shake it, just do maybe a couple days of the vegan cleanse and you can still eat delicious food. just incorporate a lot more fruits and vegetables. I ate beans, tofu … I love all that stuff. It did wonders for my body … not just the way it looks, just everything. I have more energy. My digestion is so much better.
I’ve always been a major carnivore and so I would never become vegan completely, because it’s very hard for me when I travel as well, but I’ve pretty much cut out red meat since December. I just started incorporating my chicken and all that stuff back, but I was just doing fish for a little bit, and now I’m just starting to do it all, except for the red meat.
Photo courtesy of Gerry Strauss
Paste: You mentioned that high school was when you started really focusing on eating healthier. Was that related to sports?
GK: Oh yeah, I was playing sports all year round. You name it, I played it. Soccer, baseball, or softball, volleyball… badminton even. I did everything and then when I graduated from high school, there was this shock of not playing sports all year round, and I gained probably 5 to 10 pounds. I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin, so I went out and I got a personal trainer and went to the extremes of healthy eating. You just learn through all your experimenting. I leveled out after, but I just wanted to get back to my athletic self.
I met my husband way later than that, but he taught me to enjoy my food. but I was super strict when I met him, and he had a chef’s diet, I guess you could say. We taught each other how to enjoy life and health a little bit more and I went over to moderation and he went a little bit stricter and healthier.
Paste: Your next major athletic endeavor after high school was the decision to become a pro wrestler. At that point, was there a functional shift in your eating habits as you attempted to fit that mold?