You’ve seen her and you’ve loved her—there’s no denying that Sara Ali Khan charmed audiences overnight with her unabashed attitude, goofy vibe, and clear dedication and love for acting. She’s the true-blue millennial role model girls can look up to; her battle with PCOD pushed her to be the best and fittest version of herself, and she’s now encouraging everyone around her to do the same. We caught up with the new face of PUMA India and spoke to her about her recent campaign with the brand, fitness routine, and much more.
On her fitness goals: “For me my fitness goal is work-specific sometimes (for a certain job, film or song, I need to look a certain way). But my fitness endeavour started before the realisation that I wanted to become an actor. My fitness goal is to wake up every morning and get in at least an hour of some form of exercise so I am a stronger and happier version of myself. I think the hormones that one has going after a good workout and just the feeling of satisfaction and conviction in yourself after a good workout is irreplaceable. That feel-good-serotonin that just rushes through your body is my goal.”
On what keeps her motivated: “Since I was a child, I have been pretty self-motivated and self-aware, and they are both almost very closely linked. If we are being specific about Bollywood, one sees so many actors, male and female, working out, eating right, that organically you are motivated to be do the same thing. I think just being aware of the fact that this happens all over and should be inculcated in your life is what motivates me.”
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On what turns a low day around: “It depends on what my down days are. Usually a swim or a boxing session helps but if it an extremely low day, and then I think a piece of chocolate that guilts me into working out even harder the next day keep me going.”
On her top three nutrition rules: “Don’t have fruits before 6:30 pm, try not to eat after 8:30 pm and don’t have water immediately after you eat. Give it about 20 minutes before you have water.”
On her advice for fitness newbies: “Don’t get disappointed if you don’t see immediate results, anything worth it takes time. Look good, feel good, work harder—I work out better when I look better so dress for yourself in the gym. Set a weekly target for yourself with a reward system, so you can keep going. Working out is just half the battle, eating right is as important. Change up your routine; body mind and souls enjoy variation in workout!”
On her diet: “I am a fruit person so berries are something I do try to include in my diet. I also really do like eating eggs so whether it is an omelette or an egg bhurji or sometimes even boiled eggs. I also like Greek yogurt. I think drinking aloe vera juice is extremely extremely healthy, you can easily mask the taste with lemon, which is again extremely superb. These are my favourite food items that I do try to include into my diet. Of course, there is also chocolate and pizza which are also my favourite food items that I try to not include in my diet, but a little bit of cheating now and then is allowed.”
On her workout playlist: “My workout is pretty eclectic so it depends, I can listen to Baho Main Chali Aao or Lag Ja Gale and do pilates, but I do need slightly more pumped up music when I am boxing. So I have started boxing on Aankh Mare because I feel quite hot doing that, it is fun!”
On her dream workout buddy: My dream buddies would be my PUMA buddies that are Adriana Lima and Selena Gomez.
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On what’s in her gym bag: “My gym bag is pretty basic, it has my boxing gloves, Baroka if I feel like I need the extra energy, it has water because hydration is extremely important. And recently it also has a change of clothes because I have been sweating a lot as I box without the AC in the summer.”
On her ‘Do You’ campaign: “For me PUMA’s ‘Do You’ campaign is an attempt to urge people to channelise their own individuality and try to live life their way and be the best version of themselves. When I signed on with the brand and when we did this campaign, we wrote a message that said ‘Strong is the new pretty’ and ‘Fierce is the new fab’ because I think that whether it is in India specifically with women or in the world in general, being yourself and being the most true and honest version of yourself should be the marker of success and what is correct.”
