Name: Bhargavi Sinha
Height: 5 ft 4 inches
Current weight: 60 kgs
Achievement:
(Lost 12 kgs in one year)
(67 kgs to 55 kgs)
Follow: www.instagram.com/consciousintender
So, tell us about your Fitness journey?
Thanks for talking to us Bhargavi, welcome to Fitsaurus. How did you start working out on a serious note and how has fitness helped you throughout?
Firstly, I am thankful for providing me with this opportunity to share my fitness story. I am glad that you are providing a platform dedicated to Fitness lovers in India.
To start with, through the years I’ve learnt how important it is to be at peace mentally.
Looking at how the situations at home did not help me with that, I became majorly overweight and was about to get diabetes. The doctors asked me to be health conscious as it would affect me badly in the future. I was a dancer and a sports person only till I left them to concentrate on studies. Then a few things went bad and I binged every single minute. My skin, my health, my mental calm- all were terrible. I lost my self confidence so I binged more thinking” what’s the worst that could happen, I’m already so pathetic.” I developed an eating disorder called Bulimia.
Bulimia is an emotional disorder that creates an obsessive desire to lose weight along with bouts of over eating which is then followed by fasting or purging.
Bulimia caused a lot of bloating and my intestines got affected. I used to play tennis and learn Bharatnatyam(7th year). As soon as I got home I overindulged in junk food. Binge eating was a huge deal for me as I had to purge it all out. It was more mental than physical. Once I started following a proper healthy routine, I let purging pass however even till date if I sometimes overindulge I tend to get it out.
I saw how bulimia caused my face and body to bloat because of the water retention and that gave me an incentive to chuck it out of my routine.
Then I came across videos on YouTube about bulimia and anorexia. I resorted to bulimic tendencies and purged every single meal. Initially that’s all I did. I did not workout or anything, I just purged. I saw I was getting puffier so thought about running. That’s when I finally decided that I had enough. My life was so not convincing or happy.
What was the Turning point?
I gave up on everything that was negatively affecting me.
I joined the gym a year back and fell in love with weight training. My anxiety, my anger, my negativity has decreased tenfold and I feel stronger and a much better version of myself. I’m constantly trying to better my performance. Although I am not on protein or bcaas, I’m going au naturale for maintaining myself and proving that body can be altered without it as well.
Letting go of bulimia took time but I made it a point to always eat right and exercise. I started at home, started small. I took my dogs for a run, did cardio by watching YouTube videos and then practiced yoga. I lost 12 kgs in a year and realized bulimia vanished.
Eating healthy made my skin so much better- my acne problem disappeared. I had more energy, more stamina, and a new zest for life.
Healthy eating became a lifestyle along with HIIT and strength training using the small dumbbells I got home.
What was your workout schedule & diet?-
I removed carbonated drinks and chips from my diet completely and made sure that i consume at least 4 litres of water a day. This really helps in flushing out all the toxins from your body.
I stuck to ONLY home food till I lost some considerable amount of fat. Once that was done, I was mindful of eating out. If I had good, cheat days- I worked it all of with strength training.
My weight dropped by 12 kgs from 67 to 55 in one year. All this because of strictly eating right and intensive workout sessions of HIIT and cardio.
I then started learning about strength training and have fallen in love with it ever since. Now I squat 45 kgs, leg press 150 kgs and can bench over 25 kgs. I am now focusing on my upper body though.
I was only initially all about losing weight but now I hardly look at the weigh scale machine.
I’m more of how I look and how I feel – not about the scale.
Working out has made me all the more grateful and all the more happy. Weights are bae! Always on a run to enhance endurance.
Advice to fellow fitness enthusiasts?
It is never really too late to start but when you start you must be focused and regular with your workouts and very disciplined with your diet. And yes, lifting weights is the best thing to do. Women MUST lift weights if they have to develop the strength, endurance and toned body.
I thank Fitsaurus for creating a platform for Indian Fitness where stories can be shared. This helps in motivating others who are on a similar path like you.
I’m grateful that you approached me.