"I am completely against gym culture"

Veda Ramaswamy, Vashi,

May 11, 2010 - DNA Navi Mumbai

Good sense and good health are life’s two greatest blessings and Koparkhairane resident Nupur Sinha believes she has effectively used the former to gain the later. Mother of two, Sinha now has ample time to pursue her interests as her children have grown up and are independent.

An active sportsperson during her school and college days, Nupur always laid emphasis on fitness. All through her younger days, she boasted of a lean and athletic figure. The birth of her children, however, proved to be a turning point as she failed to lose the excess weight gained during pregnancy. 

Family commitments remained top priority and Sinha got too engaged in nurturing her children, rather than trying to get back in to shape. In no time, she had put on oodles of weight. Reality struck her only when she could no longer fit in to her swimming costume. An ace swimmer, Sinha spent many years honing her swimming skills before marriage but repented not being able to pursue the sport anymore. 

She realised her folly and again began regularly devoting her time to fitness. That was three years back. She has now successfully lost 22 kg, thanks to her new exercise regime. 

Instead of enrolling in a gym, she opted for conventional forms of weight loss like walking. She said, “I was always against the idea of going to a gym as I found it monotonous. I had promised my husband that I would become fit without losing a penny and I fulfilled it.” 

Since the last three years, she has engaged herself in various activities like brisk walking, yoga and swimming, which helped her regain fitness. She walks for 50 minutes in the morning and evening, covering a distance of 12 km daily. Sinha also learnt water ballet and practices yoga each day. 

Sinha said, “I credit my weight loss to the powerful combination of walking, swimming and pranayam. I practice these sincerely, thoroughly and religiously.” According to her, walking is the best exercise one can do as it not only helps lose weight but also provides an individual with enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm to carry out day-to-day chores.

She also follows a nutritious diet which has helped her a lot. For breakfast, she has one bowl of oats or cornflakes. Her lunch comprises one bowl of rice and dal and dinner comprises two rotis and sabzi. She munches on a few almonds in case of sudden hunger pangs. Her favourite food remains simple dal chaval with ghee. She believes that one must never skip meals or cut down on nutrition. “One should enjoy eating everything in moderate quantities,” she advised. 

Sinha’s journey was not easy though as her efforts failed to show any positive results initially but her determination, hard work and patience saw her through. “It was disappointing initially as there were no immediate results but gradually my efforts showed and that gave me immense motivation,” said Sinha. 

Her foremost source of inspiration has been her friends and family who supported her throughout this journey. She has gained a whole new perspective to life with her new-found personality. Exercise helped her gain confidence and Sinha is much more enthusiastic now than before. Her stamina has increased incredibly. She said, “I receive compliments that I look younger by the day. Such a response makes me happy and inspires me to maintain my fitness regime.”

Even during vacations with family and friends, she makes it a point to follow her fitness regime. In fact, she sees such vacations as an opportunity to exercise and have fun with all of them. “Health is not valued till sickness comes. Many people spend their health gaining wealth and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health. People should devote some time from their hectic work schedule to exercise and enhance their fitness levels,” she advised.