Rujuta Diwekar food for thought

"We spend hours thinking about our weight but don't manage to find even five minutes to think about what we are eating," says celebrity dietician Rujuta Diwekar at the success party of her book Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha. According to Kareena Kapoor, Rujuta is the 'magician' behind her 'size zero' figure, and sister Karisma too has joined the Rujuta fan club. CS speaks to the nutritionist and author about her book, and the funda of dieting:


Who: Dietician Rujuta Diwekar
What: Talking about a sensible approach to diets
Where: At a Bandra resto bar

Breaking myths
The idea behind the book was to bring people's attention to what they are consuming on a daily basis. People have received the book with open arms and I am very grateful for that (smiles). Well, the whole concept of dieting is full of myths and popular perceptions. The common most one is that calories are bad. Now, how can we work if we don't have enough energy? And we get energy from these calories only. You often hear that carbohydrates should be avoided and that ghee is fattening. Also, some people believe that your body weight is an indicator of how fit you are. I would like to point out that some skinny girls also have a lot of fat in their bodies. Another myth is that you need to spend a lot on diets to lose weight. I would beg to differ.

Sexy sisters
I have worked closely with Kareena and Karisma and can vouch for their discipline and focus. Moreover, they have a very practical approach towards food. They like simple dishes, and don't want to starve at any cost. I have worked with a number of girls but many of them manage to stay fit for a couple of months, and then start gaining weight all over again. Honestly, when Kareena and I started working on her body to make her slimmer for Tashan, we weren't aiming for anything called size zero. After a few months, we realised that she had attained a certain size that was new for a B-town actress. And celebrities do get labelled for their films, clothes and weight. So, this size zero tag was given to Bebo. That's about it!

Healthy and wise
We should place importance on good health and fitness. Food wise, we should eat a balanced meal, and stuff that's good to taste. Our dishes should be easy to digest. I would like to reiterate that our Indian traditional breakfast items are as healthy as cereals. It's just that they haven't been well marketed as cornflakes or muesli. Finally, the idea behind losing weight is to stay fit, and not to subscribe to fashion trends. It should be one's own prerogative.

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