A fetish for fitness and food

My weekends usually start at seven in the morning (that is if I am not shooting), which is followed by my regular gym sessions. Even though I work out everyday, on the weekends, I make it a priority to eat right and exercise — be it cardio, pilates, weight training or attending dance classes.

I have to do something on one of the three days, it doesn’t matter if it is a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

I feel good even when I know that other people are partying away. And if I want to cheat on my diet, I would do it on a weekday rather than on a weekend. I avoid parties and alcohol and prefer a cleaner, healthier and relaxed weekend where I can rest and sleep well before I start a busy week again.

Since I live away from my family, spending time with friends takes most part of my weekend. I am not a party person, so I prefer staying at home reading scripts or usually meeting friends. They come over to my place or we all meet up at a friend’s place.

I love watching movies. If I’m at home, I catch up on the old films that I have missed. If I have company, I go to a theatre and watch a recently-released movie. Moreover, now that we have Netflix, it’s pretty cool since we can watch as many shows and movies as we want. Since there are three cinema theatres in the same vicinity where I stay, I am usually seen in one of them every weekend.

My ideal weekend would be about going on a nice drive out of the city, or doing something adventurous like skydiving. I look for places in and around Mumbai where they have paintball or similar activities and go for it.

Being a foodie, it is always good to have a great meal. Italian cuisine is my favourite but I believe that it is the most fattening as well. Even when it comes to their desserts like gelato, they are insanely fattening. Nevertheless, nothing can take away my love for it. I think if I have to cheat on my diet, I will either have ‘Uncle Chips’ or go to Italy and have a ‘four cheese pizza’ in Rome. Food is my life. As friends are all I have in Mumbai, I hang out with them in malls most of the time. This doesn’t mean that shopping occupies most of my time. Unless I have something particular to buy, I don’t like to spend time shopping.

During weekends when I have all the time for myself, I do a lot of cooking. What I have realised is that healthy cooking should be done on our own. I love making mushrooms, quinoa and salads, they are healthy.

Apart from cooking, I love reading (my favourite authors are Sidney Sheldon and Paulo Coelho), horse riding and swimming. I really like to indulge myself in these activities during the weekends.

I also engage myself in a lot of research (if you tell me about something now, like a story, I will go back home and do a research on it) and watch a lot of documentaries. I believe you don’t get knowledge just by education. After I did a movie with Saif Ali Khan, I realised that there are still a lot of things that I am not aware of, which is a good thing.

Being ready to learn something new always is a positive outlook. Saif has inspired me to learn more and know more. Back home in Delhi, we have two dogs but unfortunately, I don’t have any pets in Mumbai since I stay alone. Our pets Crystal and Nawab are family to us. So when I am in Delhi, it is definitely a party scene. I go out shopping with them and my days are spent in their company. I know that when my sister gets married, Crystal and Nawab’s names are going to be on the wedding card for sure. My family is crazy enough to do that.

Since I don’t get enough time to spend with my family, I visit them whenever I can, even if it is for two or three days. There have been times when I have gone to Delhi and come back the same day, because I hadn’t seen my family for over eight to nine months. But I don’t want them to come to Mumbai, I’ll get distracted!

On a weekend, when I am not working, I just keep doing different things. I love to
constantly keep myself engrossed with something or the other.

A few of my favourite things

* Hand sanitiser
* Lip balm
* Laptop
* Books

(As told to Surupasree Sarmmah)