On her 44th Birthday, Mindy Kaling revealed she’s healthier than ever because of her kids.

“Look I know I’m clearly materialistic but the best birthday gift to me, for the rest of my life, are these two guys,” the Mindy Project alum captioned a photo of her daughter Katherine, 5, and son Spencer, 2, via Instagramon Saturday, June 24. “I was never a ‘kid’ person. When my mom passed though, it just clicked in me: I wanted kids with such intense certainty. I bet some of you can relate.”

Kaling, who has not publicly shared the identity of her children’s father, added that all of her self-improvement — including diet and exercise — is because she wants to be a good parent.

“Now I’m just trying to be present for them (hard for me! I’m impatient!), being up for anything (again hard for me, I am not whimsical!), and stay healthy for these two guys (ALSO hard! I just want to eat cheesesteaks every meal in front of the TV) for until I’m an old gray skeleton they’re like ‘mom, you gotta go,’” Kaling explained in her caption. “My doctor told me that this year I was the healthiest I’ve been in years. That’s a pretty damn good gift, right?”

She concluded by sharing one last update: “I’m usually kind of low-level anxious, so I’m just gonna take one minute on my birthday to acknowledge that I am happy. Man, there are ups and downs in this life!! But my ups seem to be the most important ones right now. Thanks for my birthday love. (Also maybe I will buy myself that trendy Dior bag that looks like a kidney bean). ❤️.”

This isn’t the first time the Massachusetts native has attributed her health to her children.

“Working out means I can avoid things like diabetes, hypertension, and other things I am at high risk for,” Kaling told Byrdie in June 2022. “Now that I have kids, it isn’t just about looking hot because I’m an actress. I need to live a long time because I’m a single mom.”

Kaling’s own mother, Dr. Swati Chokalingam, died in January 2012 after battling pancreatic cancer. Kaling honored her mother by naming her daughter Katherine Swati.

The Why Not Me? author added that she finds exercise “completely joyous” and likened it to a “replacement for therapy.”

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She concluded, “The point is that I feel so much better mentally if I’m in better cardiovascular health. I think a lot of it was helped by the fact that I had kids.”