Also read: 4 Things New Moms Can Learn from Aishwarya Rai

Bipasha Basu

The secret behind Bipasha’s perfectly chiselled and enviably toned body is a high intensity routine of kickboxing. Her kick-and-punch routine has allowed her to flaunt a body that is every woman’s dream. She sure set the kickboxing craze blazing because we hear that other actresses like Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Kapoor, and Deepika Padukone have also started taking kickboxing lessons.

Malaika Arora Khan

Our Dabanng ‘Munni‘ who is a mother, certainly has a figure to die for. Like Bipasha Basu, she too enjoys the punching sessions of kickboxing. While the Bollywood brigade of actresses is going crazy about yoga ever since Kareena flaunted a size zero figure in Tashan, Malaika does a combination of cardio and aerobic workout with kickboxing and some bits of hip-hop dancing in her ‘sweat it out’ fitness regime.

Neha Dhupia

Neha is nowadays being seen on the small screen judging a comedy show with Tushar Kapoor. She is looking absolutely fit and effervescent and the secret to her fitness is swimming and squash. In fact, she even admitted to the fact that had she not been an actress, she would have been a sportsperson. Well, seems like squash has stuck with her even after her break-up with sqaush player Ritwik Bhattacharya. Whichever the case, we absolutely adore the finely sculpted body of Neha.

Also read: Mary Kom: The real woman of substance

Gul Panag

Former Miss India and a social bird, Gul Panag, is a marathon runner for years now. She feels that there is no better test of fitness and endurance than running. When she gets time, she plays tennis, squash, cycles and practices yoga. There is certainly a lesson we must all learn from this dimpled lass, i.e. fitness should not be a burden. She is also very popular for her love for automobiles, especially bikes.

Deepika Padukone

Tall and agile, Deepika’s athletic built owes a lot to her formative years of playing badminton and training rigorously. Once she entered films, she trained under Yasmin Karachiwala who introduced her to Pilates and strength training. She also practices yoga and indulges in a cardio routine. She owes her fitness level to her expertise in various dance forms, including kathak and jazz.

Hope these celebrities motivate and encourage you to pick up a sport and improve your fitness levels but before that embrace the person you are because everything else is secondary.    

Content sourced from BollywoodShaadis.com

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The tastes are eclectic. If Amitabh Bachchan’s tastes range from classical to the more contemporary Coke Studio, son Abhishek likes Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan; Bipasha Basu loves it all, soft rock and Sufi both; Priyanka Chopra loves old Hindi film music as does Sonu Sood; and Shahid Kapoor favours progressive house music. And it stays with them – in the gym, in the car or during a make-up session.

As Bipasha put it, “music has to be a part of an actor’s life because it’s too taxing a profession”. ”If I am stressed, I tell my manager, ‘Give me 30 minutes. I’ll just go and work out and listen to my favourite music.’ When I take a massage and listen to some soothing music, I get very energetic,” Bipasha told IANS. ”From the time I wake up, music stays with me. My alarm is always my favourite song, and then right from the time I start brushing my teeth, I hear all kinds of music according to my mood. ”My driver, my spot boys get fed up of my music. Right from the vanity van to my car to my house to my terrace, music follows me,” said the 33-year-old, who especially loves soft rock, Irish bands and Sufi songs.

 At 69, veteran star Amitabh enjoys listening to classical and instrumental music. He often mentions on his blog his love for traditional music and how he likes tuning into evergreen melodies before he slips into bed. But he also enjoys new age, fusion music from Pakistan’s Coke Studio during his make-up sessions. Son Abhishek listens international musicians like Tom Petty, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix and David Guetta while driving – and he listens to it all at top volume.

Former beauty queen Neha Dhupia admits music either makes or breaks her mood each day. ”Music defines my day. The first song that I listen to at the start of the day sets the mood for me. It defines my night and helps me decide if I want to go out,” said Neha, who listens to a lot of rock bands, contemporary pop as much as Bollywood music and old classics.

Bollywood’s new kid on the block Parineeti Chopra is a trained singer like her cousin Priyanka. ”Music is my stressbuster. I enjoy listening to music, but there is no specific kind of music that makes my mood. I listen to all kinds of music. I am a trained singer; so music certainly keeps me going,” said Parineeti.

Priyanka, who recently returned from the US after working on her debut music album, loves tuning into house, hip-hop and pop music. She gets her dose of Bollywood music as well and wakes up many mornings to evergreen numbers by Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

Priyanka’s rumoured former beau and now her “Teri Meri Kahaani” co-star Shahid Kapoor is as much a music fanatic. ”Music is a part of my life… I can’t do without that. Music keeps us all going,” Shahid, who prefers progressive house music, told IANS. Actor Sonu Sood is reserved in his choice. ”I am a great fan of R.D. Burman; so I still listen to his songs; I love the melodies he gave in films like ‘Ijaazat’, ‘Masoom’ and ‘Yaadon Ki Baraat’,” he said.

Source: IANS

Find the culprits

Identify what causes your weight problems – Huge helpings? Bedtime snacks? Bad food choices like samosas, potato chips and desserts? If you have trouble identifying the correct cause, try keeping a food diary and write down about every bite you’ve had during the day (even those two spoons of bhujia and that piece of chocolate at office count). Film actress Neha Dhupia says, ‘Watch what you eat and don’t binge!’

Start with a healthy & filling breakfast

Whether you prefer eggs, yogurt, poha or oatmeal, getting a healthy breakfast under your belt sets the tone for a day of weight control and fewer calories overall. In fact, research shows that people who start their day with breakfast make healthier choices and have a lower body mass index in general. If we skip breakfast, we tend to make unhealthier choices at lunch. It’s as simple as that. For John Abraham, his diet’s main attraction lies in his breakfast because he believes in eating ‘king- size’ breakfast which usually includes a big glass of fresh juice, six egg whites, slices of buttered toast and ten almonds.

Eat less but eat more often
Instead of two to three larger meals a day like people would normally eat, start eating 6 small and low calorie meals throughout the day. Spread it out evenly for the time you wake up till about 8 pm.  Kareena Kapoor strictly follows this rule to maintain her fragile body. Post her morning tea/coffee, she indulges in her breakfast of a bowl of muesli with nuts or two parathas and yoghurt. Her lunch and dinner consists of chapatis with lots of green vegetables and dal. In between, she digs into a slice of cheese, roasted chana or groundnuts, a fruit etc.

Relish your food completely when you eat

More often than not, we are used to watching TV when we eat our food. This distracts us from the body’s signals to tell us when we’re full. The result is overeating and of course, obesity. Sit at your table and eat. Better still, sit cross-legged on the floor and eat – it aids better digestion. Look at each morsel of food that you put in your mouth. Smell it. Feel it. Let all the senses work together to help you digest it better. Celeb dietician Rujuta Diwekar advocates this to all her clients.

Stay away from fast food
Fast food packs kilos on faster than you’d think and slows down the weight loss process. Even the stuff labeled as zero-fat and low-cal aren’t really good for weight loss. Go the Salman Khan way, who chooses clean sources of protein like chicken, egg whites and fish as opposed to sugar and processed food. Salads and pulses are his sources of carbohydrates.

                                                            Avoid eating after 8 pm

Make it a regular practice to have your last meal before eight in the evening. This way you don’t end up binging on a snack before dinner time. If it’s too hard to resist, have some herbal tea or brush your teeth after dinner immediately so as to switch your mind off from the idea of eating. And yes, make it a habit to sleep early to avoid late-night temptations. Now mommy-to-be Shilpa Shetty confesses, “I always eat at least three hours before I go to bed so my body has the chance to work off the calories”.