Exercise starts the minute you finish tying your shoelaces

The evergreen lady Mandira Bedi reveals her secret to fitness and plans for the New Year Much before Ekta Kapoor and her K-brand took over the telly; in the good old days of the 90s when there were a handful of channels on television, there was one serial that stood out for its lead actress as much as its content. We are talking about ‘Shanti’ and the evergreen leading lady of the show Mandira Bedi who went on to make waves in the movie and cricketing world too. While her small yet power-packed role in the iconic ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ is loved till date, she ruled the cricket scene too as a controversial anchor who spoke her mind. Over the years, she has done some more memorable work in films and serials like ‘Manmadhan’, ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ and ’24’.  Although several years have passed since then, it seems like time has stopped still when it comes to Mandira. We caught up with the actress-cum-anchor to find out what’s the secret of her health and her plans for the coming year.   Tell us a bit about the projects that you are working on. I am busy with the bi-lingual ‘Saaho’ which stars Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. Then there is ‘Adangathey’ in Tamil and a fiction web series on advertising called ‘Ikigai’. I am getting to anchor a lot of interesting events too. For instance, at a recent event, I got the chance to work out with one of the gold medallists of The Asian Games which was an incredible experience. I have also been travelling to places like Melbourne and New York to host shows.   Do you enjoy travelling? Everyone loves to travel but if I have to travel three times a week, I’d rather stay at home than the airport! What's a typical day like for you? I love routine and usually have two types of days – working and not working! But either ways, I do everything that I have to during my son’s school hours so that I am free to pick him up and drop him. I am one of those mothers who enjoys doing that. So on a typical work day, I drop my son off at school and then carry on with my workouts and shoots or hosting an event. Come what may, I ensure that the gym doesn’t get missed. Even if I am travelling, I make sure that I swim or work out at the hotel that I am staying at. If there are absolutely no facilities at the hotel, I go for a walk or a run. You recently ran a marathon with your son. It was a ‘durathon’, a family run that happened in Delhi and Mumbai. We both have also done a 2K run before. Maybe I will train him further in future.   Is your son health conscious too? Fortunately, I don’t have to teach him my son anything when it comes to health. He actually likes to eat ‘dal chawal’ and ‘sabzi’ and says ‘I am ok without chocolate’! I guess school has taught him healthy eating habits. He doesn’t like junk food and there are times when I actually have to coax him to eat a slice of pizza just because it’s a matter of convenience! He is also a very active boy although he doesn’t play much sports.   Do you follow a diet? Like most people, I prefer to eat three meals a day. I don’t do the two-hour small eating because it doesn’t suit me. I enjoy my three meals. My first meal is late in the mornings while my last one is early at night.   What are your favourite food items? I am a vegetarian by choice and eat eggs. But the food items I totally love eating are ‘arbi’ and ‘kaali dal’. I love salads too. I usually try to keep carbohydrates for the first part of the day but during weekends, my diet goes haywire.   Any simple tips you have for office-goers who don't have much time to look after themselves? For me, exercise starts the minute you finish tying your shoe laces. We have 24 hours in a day out of which we can take at least 45 minutes out for ourselves. And to officer-goers, I’d like to say that anybody can walk! There is just no excuse to not walking.   What are your plans and goals for the New Year? I have never set any goals for myself because every time I say I would like to try this or do that, it doesn’t really work out. 2018 went by really fast and I never really had the time to stop working or think and plan anything. Earlier, I used to get insecure and wonder what would happen when the work stops but not anymore. I have a lot of wonderful work coming my way. So this year too, just like the other years, my usual pattern is to get on the floor and so far, the floor has been incredible! To learn more such interesting interviews, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.