Born on June 8, 1975, Shilpa Shetty was born in Mangalore, India. She went to St. Anthony Girls' High School in Chembur, Mumbai, and later attended Podar College in Matunga. Her transformation over the years has been stunning! (All pictures/YouTube and Shilpa Shetty's Instagram account)

Shilpa Shetty, who is known to reinvent herself, was featured in the list of '30 Top Health and Fitness Influencers in India' by a leading platform in fitness. The 47-year-old actress has been a strong supporter of fitness and yoga. She has made several fitness videos to inspire people to get fit and incorporate exercises into their lifestyle. Let's take a look at her awesome transformation.

Shilpa Shetty looks drastically different now as compared to her initial days in Bollywood. She is super active on social media, where she often promotes health tips and so on. Shilpa Shetty Kundra explained, 'I want to make use of my social media sites to encourage people in the right direction, and tell them how just a few lifestyle modifications can make wonders. I feel really happy when they react positively and appreciate the effort. Now, that for me is the biggest reward.'

Apart from films, Shilpa Shetty has dabbled in sports to spas to online selling to film production. Shilpa Shetty even gets invited to speak on health and fitness by corporate organisations, wherein she chalks out a fitness regime for those working long hours with no time to exercise.

During her 2017 trip to the US, Shilpa Shetty even held a fitness session at the Google headquarters in California. Soon after, she conducted a fitness world tour on the lines of Karan Johar's Dream Tour and Salman Khan's Da-Bangg. It was a four-country tour, covering the US, Canada, UK and Australia.

Shilpa Shetty told mid-day, 'The organisers heard about the tour I did in the US and approached me with this concept. I loved the idea of doing a fitness world tour since it allows me to meet and share my fitness mantra with people of different cultures and nationalities, also facilitating a healthy exchange of ideas. Fitness and wellness today are a priority and almost everyone wants to adopt a healthy lifestyle.'

Shilpa Shetty has always brought about awareness about food and cooking through her social media handles and her increasing number of followers stand testimony to her popularity as a wellness guru. Shilpa Shetty swears by yoga to stay fit.

Over the past few years Shilpa, who is very active on social media with over 16 million followers on Instagram, has seemingly relaxed her diet restrictions, and in this vein, every Sunday posts a video of her 'cheat meal', known as her 'Sunday binge'. And these videos usually feature Shilpa describing what is on her plate before rather self consciously devouring the heap for the camera.

And with hundreds of thousands of views for each video, Shilpa Shetty's 'Sunday binge' series has become quite an awaited social media event.

Shilpa Shetty had even opened up about the criticism she faced regarding her weight post her pregnancy. When asked about the issue of body shaming, Shilpa, who welcomed son Viaan with husband Raj Kundra in 2012, told, 'I can understand that emotion (of being judged), especially as an actress and someone who has been synonym with having a good body and (being into) fitness.'

Shilpa Shetty added further, 'The pressure that I had when I had a baby, I didn't get out of my house for seven months. The pressure that nothing fit me. I remember the first time I got out of my house, five months after my delivery, my husband took me out for lunch. There were few ladies sitting, they laughed. I heard them, 'she hasn't still lost her weight.''

Shilpa Shetty said the pressure to look good can be daunting and she lost nearly 32 kgs post the incident. 'So, it is very daunting. That's the day I decided 'oh my God, so people are judging me.' That's normal because when you're an actor, you are going to be judged. That's part and parcel of being a celebrity.'

Shilpa Shetty also shared an incident where she went to work after giving birth and the issue she faced. 'Nach Baliye was my first outing after pregnancy, eight months after I delivered. I was very scared. Clothes weren't fitting me, I was size 16, double the size I've ever been in my life. When you're working, that gives you enough inspiration or goal. Some do it for their loved one, some for work, I think you've to do it for yourself.'

Shilpa Shetty's fitness mantra is - Do what works for you when it comes to fitness as everything depends on your body, your genetic, your culture and your lifestyle. Exercise for fitness and chose something which works for you!

Another mantra by Shilpa Shetty - A fitness conscious person should eat and sleep on time, apart from walking as much as possible - something 'our parents and grandparents used to do'. Well, the actress also had a holistic wellness app, The Shilpa Shetty app. It highlights yoga routines, special exercises for women who are pregnant, struggling with menstrual cramps, and also nutrition charts for each program.

At 45, her fit and svelte frame can give actresses of the younger generation a run for their money.

On the personal front, married to businessman Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty has an eight-year-son Viaan. The couple became proud parents again when they welcomed Samisha through surrogacy on February 15, 2020.

In a recent interview, Shilpa Shetty poured her heart out on her decision of opting for surrogacy. Speaking about it, she said, "After Viaan, I did want to have another child for the longest time. But I suffered from an autoimmune disease called APLA and that came into play every time I got pregnant. So I had a couple of miscarriages so it was a genuine issue." She continued, "I didn't want Viaan to grow up as a single child, because I'm also one of two and I know how important it is to have a sibling. Coming from that thought, I did explore other ideas as well but that didn't pan out well."

She spilt the beans on how she was all set to adopt a child and why things didn't work out. "I had put in my name and everything was underway. But then, the Christian missionary shut down because they had a tiff with Kara. I waited for nearly four years and then, I was so irritated and we decided to try the surrogacy route." The couple had been trying for a second child for five years.

On the work front, Shilpa is gearing up for two films one after another, Nikamma and Hungama 2. The release dates of the film will be officially announced, once the lockdown gets lifted.

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Shilpa Shetty!