How celebs lost weight

Actor Zarine Khan put on loads of weight for her debut role as a nineteenth century princess in Veer and bounced back in shape again. Here she talks about her fat fighting journey that began as a teenager.

She fought intense media scrutiny following her debut film, Veer. She'd piled on 10 kg so she could play a convincing voluptuous nineteenth century princess in the movie. She was complimented for her efforts, and at the same time was panned for her weight. So in January, this year, the 22-year-old plunged into a strict exercise and diet regime to trim down to her pre-Veer weight of 55 kg.

But this feat seems nothing when compared to the massive downsizing she took on-from 100 kg to 55 kg-at age 18. Now, she says, she only has a few more kilos to shed, thanks to the rigorous discipline she put herself into: half-hour routine of Pilates every morning, weight training every alternate day (in the evening), combined with cardio exercises like spinning, jogging and swimming. "I get bored easily, so I do different cardio exercises," she says.

Pilates has really been the key to her battling the bulge. "I have done every type of exercise, from kick boxing, sweating it out at the gym to swimming, but I only started Pilates in January. It has given me that toned, lean look," she says. Trainer Yasmin Karachiwala has also helped her focus on tightening her lower body and thighs by weight training through lunges and squats.

Khan's first fight against the flab started much earlier. Fitness has been her mantra ever since she decided to overcome childhood obesity. From the age of 13 to 18, Khan binged on junk food-chocolates, ice cream, burgers and chips. She would eat her favourite Chinese food every day and wrap up every meal with a slab of chocolate. Instead of water, she'd wash down her food with a cola drink. "I was so laid-back. I didn't care about my weight, although people repeatedly asked me to watch it," she says. As a youngster, Khan did not harbour any ambitions to be an actor and dreamed of being a doctor instead. "I thought that it really wouldn't matter how I looked if I were a doctor," she says.

It was only after she turned 18, when she did not make the grades to become a doctor, that she decided to go down the modelling route. In a year, she lost 45 kg by completely overhauling her diet and walking and exercising everyday. "I just developed a strong will power which helped me curb my food cravings and be regular with my walks. In turn, it motivated me to push myself further," she says. Exercising has not only improved her body, it has also boosted her confidence and will power.

Now, as a young Bollywood diva, Khan's plan is to eat right, and be healthy and fit, rather than starve herself into an incredible size zero. "Indian women should be curvy and voluptuous," she says. For Khan, fat fighting has always been a long journey of internal growth, rather than an exercise in trying to please her critics. And it's that attitude that has saved her time and again. And most definitely now.