Doing small things right

A month and a half after her delivery Alia Bhatt took to her social media handle to share an update on the progress she had made in her fitness journey In her motivational post to all new mothers she encouraged them to ldquolisten to your body postdelivery and not do anything that your gut tells you not tordquoAnd while the actor stated that the three weeks that followed her delivery were spent in ldquowalking and finding my balancerdquo alone her yoga trainer Anshuka Parwani attributes her ability to return to shipshape postpregnancy to her active lifestyle ldquoAlia is mindful of her habits and for her listening to her body is key She was active from the get go and her training pattern was similar to what Kareena Kapoor Khan followedrdquo says the trainer who catered to both actors during their pregnanciesAdmitting that pregnancy can be emotionally challenging for women who ldquohavenrsquot seen their body in a certain wayrdquo she says staying active is integral to positively impacting the parasympathetic nervous system ldquoThis in turn affects your hormonal system as wellrdquo She encouraged Bhatt to work towards breaking a sweat during her training ldquoAs long as we were being safe with the choice of exercise we were still adhering to a holistic practice The suryanamaskars that we followed were challenging Since it is easy to lose muscle mass during pregnancy we continued to train with light weights to retain the muscle tone Apart from resistance bands body weight was also employed in her regimen So as long as the practice is alerted keeping onersquos safety in mind one can follow a wellrounded regimenrdquoWeeks after her delivery Bhatt caught the attention of social media users when she left Parwanirsquos yoga studio with fans commending her for shedding her postpregnancy weight in no time However Parwani says a discussion on weightloss never occurred between the two Using medical opinion to decipher when it would be safe for her to resume training she brought Bhatt back to the studio after four weeks ldquoItrsquos important to know that this period can vary for each woman Some women may need three months of rest before resuming With Alia we worked on bringing the musclememory back because returning to the original routine after nine months is hard Building the mindbody connection and core strength are the aspects that pose a challenge Also you need to be mindful of avoiding injuries both during and postpregnancy This is because the process of delivery alters the body and the muscle strength Alia started with breath work and then progressed to mobility training Subsequently we worked on core and pelvic floor trainingrdquoGetting Alia to eat rightBhattrsquos nutritionist Dr Siddhant Bhargava tweaked her diet frequently to ensure that she was on track to gaining no more than the nine to 11 kilos that is recommended during pregnancy ldquoWhile ensuring that the health of the actor and the baby were addressed wersquod take a call on adding or reducing calories after studying her scans Aliarsquos diet comprised comfort food whether that was dahi chawal or anything else that she wanted We usually calculate every gram of food including the oils and vegetables she consumes But during her pregnancy we didnrsquot have a very strict routinerdquoLike he would while creating a diet chart for a pregnant woman Dr Bhargava added iron supplements folic acid and a good share of greens and fruits in her diet Sugars on the other hand were eliminated ldquoThere are too many myths associated with pregnancy and women are encouraged to have large quantities of ghee and jaggery because these are considered healthy food items These recommendations were born out of a good place but if you consume these foods unchecked it could cause trouble All of these things lead to excessive weight gain When you add extra sugar to a pregnant womanrsquos diet the chances of developing gestational diabetes increases The child could also develop insulin resistance So we did not disregard traditional nutritional advice but found ways to work around themrdquoAlso ReadHow Sara Alia Khan got svelte with the lsquoaam Indian girlrsquo dietWhile Dr Bhargava paid heed to the fact that the actor would want to return to shape to resume her work in the industry weightloss he says was not part of their conversations ldquoOnly three weeks after her delivery did we take up any dietcentric conversations Postpregnancy onersquos calorie requirement increases Breastfeeding takes away a large part of your caloric intake and we wanted to make no compromises there because we wanted the baby to receive the best nutrition Now that it has been three months wersquoll start adding some restrictions to her dietrdquo Prod him if Bhatt follows a lowcarb diet and he responds in the negative ldquoShe consumes about 80 grams which is equivalent to four rotisrdquoParwani on how fitness routines are altered across trimestersIn the first trimester one needs to take things easy Breath work stretching and gentle flows are what you should practise If you have been training before you conceived you can continue your practice but adopting new methods is not advisable Walking and moving with caution is crucial You want to be careful of avoiding injuriesTrimester two is more fun for fitness aficionados You can challenge yourself A lot of women enjoy this phase because you can stretch the body more You can work on strengthening exercises Alia did not encounter morning sickness so this phase was a cakewalk for her Because she had been training every day in her first trimester she could adopt a balanced regimen in this phase We worked on training the back so that it could bear the extra weightAlso ReadDr Hitendra Kalita Boosting Reproductive HealthIn the third trimester we work on making space for the baby and focus on breath work You prepare for a natural delivery and train to deal with breath work for the labour Since inversions can be practised we continued to do them to some extent with AliaThe Cheats Tusshar KapoorWhatrsquos your cheat meal Cheese and pepperoni pizza or pasta with white sauceHow often do you indulge Perhaps every 10 to 15 daysCheat meal vs cheat day I used to have cheat days but now they have become cheat meals I may opt for foods like mutton or paneer I donrsquot gorge on desserts but I eat what I feel like eatingDo you compensate for it I donrsquot train on that day but I resume training the next day I donrsquot exercise for an extra hour as that isnrsquot helpful Excess carbs can be accommodated for in subsequent training routines anywayIn Hasleen Kaurs FridgeEggsMilkBreadCream cheeseChocolateFitness Tip That Works For Milind SomanFind the thing that yoursquore good at mdash whether or not that is commercially viable If you are good at it you will explore life through it I could explore life through sports because I was good at it and I would win