‘It’s always nice to try new fitness routines’

Shilpa Shetty believes in bringing change, not only in her life but that of others too. The 44-year-old actress has been actively working towards making people more health conscious and fitter. Early this year, the actress launched one of its kind wellness and fitness application — The Shilpa Shetty Application, which was recently awarded Google Play’s Best App of 2019 in the ‘Personal Growth’ category. It followed her famous philosophy -- ‘Swasth Raho Mast Raho’.

Shilpa’s fitness app, said to be first of its kind, has been designed for people to achieve their desired fitness target, in a simple way. The app has exercises mentored by experts and performed by the actress, home-based workouts, mind-body balance, customised nutrition plans and special programmes for women 
 
Before stepping into the digital platform, a few years back, Shilpa had launched her fitness DVD, which received tremendous response. The actress has also been promoting yoga for many years now in India.  
Excerpts from an interview:

Congratulations, your fitness app has won the Google Play’s Best App of 2019 in the Personal Growth category. How does it feel, not just as a content creator but someone who has been promoting fitness for years now?
Thank you! It feels great, my app winning a title of the best app by Google Play says how much people appreciate it, and it’s great feedback. For someone who is passionate about fitness and has promoted it for years, it makes me so happy to know that people actually needed fitness and nutrition to be simplified and are taking my tips seriously. Changing even a single person’s lifestyle is very overwhelming and empowering. 

Has the role of fitness evolved in your life, and how?
Well, yes it has, to a great extent. Being someone who believes in health, wellness  and fitness, I want to be able to share all that I’ve learnt and practised to help others. I am still learning new things about various fitness techniques and styles. It’s always nice to try new fitness routines.
Today, nutrition has also evolved. I am very disciplined but eat everything I like or crave for on Sundays. My Sunday Binge videos are all about that, so if I come across something new, I give it a try. That’s how fitness evolves in my life.

Do you feel women need to be more active in keeping themselves fit considering we take care of both work and home and in the process ignore ourselves?
It’s not just about women, even men need to be more active and live a fit life. In our busy lives, irrespective of gender, we tend to prioritise goals and ignore our health. There is a lot of apathy when it comes to caring for our own heath. This practice needs to be altered and our life needs to be valued. And yes, as far as women ignoring their health is concerned, all I want to say is that I am a working woman, a mother, a wife, a daughter but still I manage to create that balance between my health and work. If I can do that, so can you. 

Shilpa’s fitness mantra
* Please take out 30 to 40 minutes, 4 times a week to concentrate on yourself. 
* Focus on your breathing to calm your senses. That is why I prescribe yoga as it’s all encompassing, working on physical and mental health.