Vidya balan lifestyle secrets

"I have always been into fitness, but all along I had been doing the wrong things. I would starve myself as I thought it was cool to 'forget to eat'. There would often be a gap of 12-14 hours between my meals and inadvertently I'd end up gaining weight," explains Vidya with a twinkle in her eyes. She said that she tried everything from astanga yoga to spinning and even hot yoga to reduce her weight, but to no avail. It's only when she met her trainer Vinayak Hussain a year ago that she realised she needed an attitude change. "I was setting unrealistic goals for myself of losing weight within a month's timeframe and then when I wouldn't be able to do it, I would just give up. Vinayak taught me to see exercise as a method of keeping fit, rather then weight loss. I started a strength training routine for an hour a day for six days a week and before I knew it I was dropping the kilos drastically," states the actress who adds that it has to do a lot with the mind. She soon started on a routine of hourly small meals and started sleeping for 6-8 hours each night as opposed to the 4-5 hours that she used to survive on. "I feel much healthier now. I've started drinking lots of water and eating fibre-rich foods. Adding eggs to my diet has helped, though I am a staunch vegetarian otherwise. I also love juices especially the wheatgrass and amla concoctions. Also dry fruits are a great alternative to gorging on sweets," says Vidya beaming with pride.