Who could forget TLC, one of the most popular groups in the 90s? The all female group, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, made hits that empowered women and transformed music. Songs like “Creep,” “Waterfalls,” and “No Scrubs” helped solidify their sound on the airways. And their beautiful, youthful look helped embed them in the minds of young men everywhere.
Now at age 52, after the death of Lisa "Left Eye", Tionne and Chilli have kept busy, performing in overseas tours and dabbling in everything from reality television (What Chilli Wants and Totally T-Boz) to retail (Chilli has a handbag line, while T-Boz had a boutique).
One-third of group sensation, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, shares her passion for cooking and how she learned to bring a little "TLC" into the kitchen. It's actually one of the "secret weapons" she uses to stay looking so young and fit after all these years.
Chilli was a celebrity contestant for the second season of “Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off” on the Food Network. She had a chance to display her cooking skills on the competition show that features celebrities cooking their way through challenges for a chance to win the title of Cook-Off Champion and $50,000 for their chosen charity.
Although Chilli didn’t win the cash donation for her Chilli’s Crew Charity, she enjoyed the experience. “It opened me up to more recipes and different seasonings and different ways to cook stuff. It was fun and frustrating because you are in competition with the other team and you are in competition with each other. So that was very different! Being able to meet Guy and the fact that we are friends now, I can call him up and ask him about any recipe. I have him on speed dial,” she shares laughing.
“He was just amazing and always had the best attitude, he was really sweet. Even though he cooks better than us, he was open to the things we had to say. Which I thought was very good,” says Chilli.
You May Also Like
How Food Changed Chilli's Look
Chilli's incredible 51-year-old body is amazing! Her abs are a sight to see and her youthful skin is one that makes her look half her age. In Chilli's case, Black truly does NOT crack.
So what's her secret?
“You have to take care of the temple like God wants us to,” Chilli told ESSENCE exclusively. “Your older self will tell what the younger self did. The earlier you start, the better.”
“I don’t work out to look a certain way,” she told YouBeauty a few years back. “For the most part I just want to be healthy and keep my bones moving, because when you stop, everything stops, and then it doesn’t work so well because you’re not staying active. I just want to stay active because I want to be as healthy as I can be.”
She also told BET that the way she looks outside is because of what she consumes.
“For me, it starts with what I put inside my body,” she said. “I generally try to eat everything organic and I cook a lot. I don’t eat out much. I only eat at places where I can get a ton of veggies. I also don’t drink alcohol. I naturally don’t like alcohol and I’ve never liked it.”
For Chilli, taking care of that temple also involves an ancient health practice.
“I do acupuncture,” she revealed. “I do a lot of different things to make sure inflammation is not in my body. Most people have inflammation, they don’t even know it because they don’t feel it at the time.”
Getting rid of inflammation also has a lot to do with your diet. Something else that Chilli takes seriously. Here's her basic diet she shared with People:
Breakfast: Oatmeal topped with honey, flaxseed, blueberries, with baked tempeh on the side.
Lunch: A Strawberry Shakeology smoothie with frozen strawberries, coconut oil, peanut butter, goji berries, and unsweetened almond milk.
Dinner: Collard greens, baked sweet potato, and baked tempeh with mustard.
And, of course, she drinks plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated.
Some may think just because of Chilli's superstar look that she's not the kind of woman who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, but this Southern belle, who was born and raised in Atlanta, is no stranger to cooking.
“I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It’s my favorite place to hang out.” Her Big Mama taught her how to cook at a young age. “I started cooking in the third grade, making little simple things like pigs in a blanket and mini pizzas from biscuits.”
READ: Questlove: Healthier, Happier & Beating To A New Drum
Chilli describes her style of cooking as healthy soul food, but don’t look for her to give out recipes because she doesn’t stick to instructions. “The only time I stick to instructions is if certain foods require you to go by the book, like when you are making certain cakes and stuff like that. Usually I cook by taste. That’s why I can’t really give out my recipes because I don’t measure. I do it by taste. I like cooking soul food the best. That’s my favorite food to eat, healthy soul food.”
Chilli knows firsthand about the importance of her diet when it comes to staying lean and giving your body the best nutrition you can find. “I don’t eat pork and I’m not eating lamb. I don’t want to add on any meats because our bodies have a hard time digesting it anyway. So I don’t want to incorporate more meat into my diet besides chicken and turkey. I will eat beef occasionally but it’s not in my everyday diet.” Chilli has been involved in health and fitness most of her life and it shows.
Now, Chilli says she is in the best shape of her life. She has become a certified Beachbody coach so she can have a bigger impact on the obesity epidemic in her community. “I don’t go to a gym. I have a gym in my house, but I don’t like the gym as much as I like doing the DVDs. So that’s how I got involved with Beachbody. I feel like I am doing it with someone and that I have an instructor. I like that and it works out better for me.”
After they dropped what they say is their last album in 2017, T-Boz is still looking toward the future and hopes TLC to have a residency in Las Vegas.
"When I look at groups, especially girl groups, I would hope that if we are an inspiration, it’s just an inspiration. You should always try to be yourselves, and not anybody else. The person who really sticks out to me so much is Bruno Mars. He’s such a superstar. It’s refreshing to see, because honestly his music is old-school music. It’s still good music. And that’s what you need."
