Chasing fitness changed her life

She loves travelling, trying new cuisines, is a movie buff and can spend hours at an end reading books. This is the best possible description for 30-year-old corporate banker Sneha Khandelwal. Always focused on academics, she was never really involved in sports or athletics while in school or college. A stranger’s comment changed her mind and pushed her towards getting fitter.

“It was just last year that I was putting on weight and someone said something that made me realise it. I then met my personal trainer Amin Virani and he practically changed my life. In addition to this an Arnold Schwarzenegger poster in my room, funnily enough also became a great source of inspiration to get out of bed,” says Sneha. Apart from her regular workout she also began meditation to help relax her mind, started playing tennis after office hours and now often goes trekking with her friends over weekends.

MY DAILY LOG

My day starts at about 5:30 am and the first thing I do when I wake up is have a fruit or two dates plus half a scoop of whey protein. The fruits can be anything from an apple to a banana, a few grapes, chickoo, watermelon, custard apple and mango or even raisins. After this meal, I head out for my workout at 6 am which usually lasts for two hours. I am currently alternating between weight training and cardio. Once I get back at about 8:30 am, I have my breakfast or my second meal of the day which is paneer paratha, uttapa, dosa, upma, pancake, methi paratha or any oat preparation.

When at work, I make it a point to try and eat after every two hours and my next meal is at about 10:30 am or 11 am, which is just a bowl of fruits. Lunch is around 12:30 pm or 1 pm which is a proper meal only in smaller quantities. It consists of a bowl of vegetables, besan or methi ka paratha which substitutes for a chapati, salad and cow milk paneer. I try to include a lot of sprouts in my meal too. After about two hours, I eat some peanuts, almonds or walnuts to satisfy my hunger.

The last meal, which is my dinner, is similar to what I have had in lunch. The weekend is usually my cheat day and this is when I devour my favourites like pasta or pizza, but in small quantities. In all my meals throughout the week I try and avoid white rice, poha, idli, ghee, butter, cheese, corn and maida products, potatoes, sabudana, fried, junk and sweets. I make it a point to have at least four litres of water daily, no fruit after lunch and no fruit juices either. My last meal is always two hours before I sleep and I do not eat anything whenever I have a cup of tea or coffee. My daily intake of oil is only three tablespoon.

MY FITNESS MANTRA

Believing the fact that you are what you feel, Sneha says that her fitness mantra is very simple. “If you respect and love your body, no goal is off limits. When one learns to love and care for their body, they will take the extra effort to stay healthy and benefit the body even more,” she tells us. Once she started respecting her body, she put in the effort to turn healthy and also began feeling more confident about herself, she adds.

Expert speak

Instead of taking whey protein before the workout, take it afterwards, where it will be absorbed and utilized much more readily. Further, fats have been made into a villain, but your body needs them for efficient and optional functioning, don’t be afraid to take in more than what you, in the form of healthy fats/oils like olive oil or even dairy fat or coconut oil which recent studies have also found to be beneficial. Rest of the habits are good, especially eating fruits, nuts and drinking plenty of water.

Expert Rating: 7/10

salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow