‘Meri wife chhadi pakad ke cardio karati hai mujhse’
You have to work hard if you want to see a positive change in your body.
YO YO HONEY SINGH
SINGER-COMPOSER
Samarth Goyal
Singer-composer Yo Yo Honey Singh took his fans by surprise when he shared pictures of his chiseled body on Instagram, last week. However, he admits it hasn’t been an easy journey. “My fans were not exactly happy with my body, and were pushing me to get back in shape,” says Singh, who made his comeback in 2017 with the single Makhna.
From butter chicken to beetroot tikki:
For the last two years, Singh has been trying hard to get back in shape. A self-confessed street food lover, he had to ditch his favourites — chole bhature, butter chicken and mutton curry in “Punjabi style” — for a gluten-free, carbohydrate-free diet that includes sprouts and beetroot tikki. He tells us, “Until two years back, I had a lot of issues related to digestion and acidity. My dietician asked me to stay away from dairy products, wheat and carbs. My meals are divided into small portions, main tukdon mein khata hoon aur sabka swaad leta hoon.”
Elated with the results, Singh wants to continue this regime for some time now. “I’m really happy with the kind of shape I’m in, so there’ll be no cheat days for a while. I haven’t had butter chicken in over four months now, and I think my last plate of chole bhature was six months back. And I am not going to have them anytime soon,” he quips.
The two-way fight: The result of this disciplined routine was evident from the pictures Singh shared. “But it wasn’t easy,” he iterates, adding that the medication he has been taking to treat his bipolar disorder had affected his physical health greatly.
“The medicines contained a lot of sodium and lithium. That affects your thyroid and weight. It was a two-way fight. To fight the illness, I was taking medicines, and then to fight its side effects, I had to work out. Working out became twice as hard, because you have to work harder if you want to see a positive change in your body,” he adds.
Disciplined workout, thanks to the family:
Discipline is something that helped Singh lose 16kg in two years, and for this, he credits his family. He recounts, “My mom and dad do yoga everyday and also teach it to people for free. So, they are very disciplined when it comes to physical health. They kept me disciplined and encouraged me to keep working hard.”
He continues, “I did kickboxing and a lot of functional training. I used to stay away from cardio, but my wife, Shalini, made sure I do that as well. Hath mein chhadi pakad ke cardio karati hai mujhse
(laughs). And because of that, I started doing sprints and other exercises.”
Staying positive is key:
Having undergone this transformation, Singh is in a happy state of mind and can’t wait to get back on stage. However, he believes positivity is vital at times like these. “You have to look at things from a positive perspective. When you look at your tummy in the mirror, don’t think negatively. It should motivate you to work harder,” he ends.