Fabulous fitspirators

People don’t understand that there are apps to make you look beautiful! But there are also those who keep it real and make the general public realise that they’re human too,” says Sonali, whose goal is to educate desi women and reach out to more married ladies and mothers.

One can easily figure out the good foods and choose workouts, but nobody knows exactly how much to consume and what suits them, believes Vinodh. “In our country, nutrition and fitness has always been a jinx, because the current generation is trapped in the concept of either eating like its ancestors or getting attracted to junk food. So ideally, the Internet has brought these people together to fight the obesity problem. We’re exponentially trying to change the way fitness and nutrition is looked at by introducing ‘Quantified Nutrition’.” heaviest, I had to shop for jeans outside India. On my 27th birthday, I came back home after a weekend of eating and drinking in Mahabalipuram feeling bloated, lethargic and depressed. I started running but at 5ft 4 and 80 kg, found it extremely painful. Nevertheless, I continued training for a half marathon and completed my first one in 3 hours 45 mins. After 8 months of running 4 to 5 miles every other day, I lost only 5 kg.” It was around this time that Vipuna came across Kayla and the BBG community. “I was fed up of dieting, I wanted a time-saving manageable way to get healthier. Kayla’s 28 min workouts give me just that — following her has taught me that being healthy means changing my mindset and habits,” says Vipuna.

Thousands have benefitted from online portals and Hyderabad-based homemaker Shaktirupa Ratho is one of them. “I’m a hobby chef who loved trying out new recipes. With my gastronomic passion and thyroid, I kept on adding weight to a point where I found changes in my behaviour and attitude. Though always active, I’d get irritated easily and had minor bouts of depression and anxiety. That’s when I consistently attended the gym — I was 80 kg with a body fat of 40 percent when I began and in 5 months, came down to 68 kg with 36 per cent body fat. But I wasn’t losing inches.” That’s when her rendezvous with SQUATS happened and she opted for Akshita Arora as her mentor. “I’m now 65 kg and there’s some serious loss in inches,” she says. Since everyone’s body type is different, what precautions should one take before jumping into following someone they idolise online? “Many experts give their own opinion on things and since everybody is different, it could harm you — extreme diet doesn’t work for everyone. But we promote something only if it’s backed by science. If you’re a social media influencer, I recommend that you put out real science. And if you’re a follower, please cross-check that particular topic, do research and educate yourself before taking up any diet,” expresses Ranveer. Sonali too warns users to be cautious before following any diet blindly. “Genetics plays a huge role and just because your idol has a great body, that doesn’t mean that whatever they did will work for you. You need to understand your body and at the same time, accept that you can transform yourself. A trainer’s job is to push you, but if you’re uncomfortable, you need to let the trainer know.” Vinodh chips in, “Transformation is not about how much you lose, but it’s more about how much you change by inches.” Namita echoes, “It’s important for people to know how to do online workouts right so that they don’t get injured. Go slow rather than hurrying into anything.”