Mindy Kaling Says She Lost Weight Without Restricting Her Diet Because 'It Never Really Works'

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Mindy Kaling says she "didn't really do anything differently" during her recent weight loss journey.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published Tuesday, the 42-year-old mother of two revealed that she didn't change up her diet much after giving birth to son Spencer in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I eat what I like to eat," the actress told ET. "If I do any kind of restrictive diet, it never really works for me. I just eat less of it."

She added, "I wish there was something more juicy or dynamic about the way that I've lost a little bit of weight, but that's the way I've done it."

The circumstances surrounding Kaling's recent weight loss were a contrast to when she had her daughter Katherine, now 4, the actress said.

"After I had my daughter I had to shoot a movie like two months later, so I was very much like, 'Just give me grilled salmon and sautéed spinach. I'm going to eat that for three months.' "

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After giving birth to Spencer, Kaling didn't "have those pressures" to face as quarantine continued. "It was this almost extended maternity leave. I wasn't going to be on camera, the studios were shut down," Kaling told ET.

"I felt really scrutinized during my first pregnancy and I think that it was such a joy to spend the last seven months of my pregnancy under the cover of just nobody was out, nobody was taking photos," she told Access.

That same month, Kaling told PEOPLE that it "absolutely takes a village" to raise two children as a single mom as she headed back to work in person.

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"I wouldn't be able to keep my full-time professional career and have two children under the age of 3 without the incredibly strong relationship I have with my nanny," she said at the time. "Also with my dad, who comes over to the house at least twice a day to take my son out for walks and to pick up my daughter and bring her home. My village is small and I wish it was bigger."

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But asking for support wasn't easy, she said. "We carry guilt about needing help and most women in the country don't necessarily have the same resources," she explained to PEOPLE. "A lot of people are lucky because they have family who can help them, but my mom passed away in 2011, so I really didn't have a choice.

"Particularly during the pandemic," she added, "we really got to see how precious and how indefensible childcare providers are."