South actor Jyotika’s fitness regimen is not for the faint-hearted. Pulling off the kind of high-intensity plyometric workouts that would make those in their 20s raise their eyebrows, the actor, at 46, is easily an inspiration to women across the globe. 

“Though I felt great and knew I was fit, I wanted to lose about 10 kilos, and wasn’t able to. Regardless of the diet I followed, I was able to shed only two kilos, which I would gain again if I ate even one meal [that wasn’t made at home]. It’s also due to how one’s metabolism [is affected] after they turn 40,” says Jyotika, who heard about a holistic approach from actor Vidya Balan’s interviews.

Jyotika, who lost nine kilos within three months, says the journey laid emphasis on gut health and began with a food-elimination process.

“[They’d add] one food each day to the diet and see how the body would react. If certain food would make you feel bloated, [they’d eliminate it]. Interestingly, certain foods that are considered ‘fattening’ weren’t leading to weight gain for me. But I was surprised to know that sweet potato doesn’t suit me. So, the programme is created based on how your gut reacts.”

Asserting that the company lays emphasis on enhancing health instead of encouraging weight loss, she says they encouraged her to eliminate inflammatory foods from the get-go.

“These include milk, gluten, peanuts and cashew nuts, sugar in every form, including fruits and organic sugars, soy and corn products, dals, and bread. As soon as you eliminate them, you lose about two kilos within the first few days. Over three months, I was made to add one food item each day and notice how my body was reacting. If I gained weight the next day, that was [an indicator] that the food wasn’t suiting me. By the end of three months, I could identify what suits me and what does not.”

Ask her what her diet comprises nowadays, and she says, “There’s so much to eat apart from these items. There’s rice, curries, non-vegetarian foods, and black coffee. You can have curd and paneer too, if they suit you. It wasn’t tough to adjust to the changes because you’re given an antidote for everything that is being eliminated. Almond milk can replace regular milk. If you must have dals, you are encouraged to have sprouted dals, because doing so rids them of their inflammatory properties. Food science is absolutely magical.”

Jyotika admits that with exercise being considered an inflammatory activity, she was encouraged to avoid practising it in the last few months. “But I haven’t felt my energy drop. They’ve also told me that I should be able to return to training within two weeks.”

An attention-grabbing tactic in the field of social media marketing is a phenomenon called ‘stop the scroll’, which refers to a post that’s so addictive from the get-go that a user is compelled to watch it. Amid a flurry of fitness videos created by celebrities in the film industry, Jyotika’s content precisely fits this bill. A far cry from the regular weight-lifting videos that fill social media feeds, the south actor’s multi-planar regimen sees her leaping over plyometric boxes, whipping weighted ropes, and executing a bevy of inversions with flair.

While the comfort with which she executes the moves may deceive one into believing she comes from years of experience, she reveals that she only began to work with her trainer, Mahesh Ghanekar, two years ago.

“When I approached him, the idea was to lose weight. But he made me understand that developing strength and building muscle mass is more important, and weight loss would be the consequence of it. He would say that my aim should be to be able to climb mountains at the age of 70, and keep the mind and core strong. Fitness became fun,” says the actor. 

Given that Jyotika—who was seen alongside Ajay Devgn and R Madhavan in Shaitaan—had “significant knee ailments”, she had to unlearn previous movement patterns to develop those that were technically sound.

“We had to first work towards tending to her hunching [back], then address her lower back [aches], and subsequently fix her knee concerns. There is a difference between weight lifting and strength training, and the latter is essential to build a better life. In weight training, the heart rate recovers faster, but that doesn’t happen with strength training. I try to keep her heart rate between 150 and 190 bpm using functional training methods because it is then that fat loss occurs.”

Her consistency, he admits, is integral to retaining the fitness levels she has developed. “She doesn’t only train [for film roles], but does so to live a better life. She recently did the Mount Everest base camp trek, and because I knew that she would need to walk for nine hours a day with an eight-kilo backpack, I’d make her train while wearing a 15-kilo jacket.”

The technique worked, admits the actor, adding, “I came back without any aches, and did not even need a [recovery] massage. That was not the case before. I remember, when I had previously returned from a Kashmir trek, my knees would pain.” 

Ghanekar credits Jyotika for encouraging women to build muscle mass, which can “truly change your life”. “When you develop functional strength and make your core muscles stronger, you can prevent many ailments,” he says, as she adds, “I used to be a runner and an ‘anti-gym person’. But, I hurt myself in the process. After 20 years of [running] without seeing weight-loss, I realized that hitting the gym is how I can lose weight, develop bone density and build strength. People need to understand that the gym is so much more than a place that’s all about lifting weights. Barring four machines, we have never executed the same exercise on two separate days. It’s always a new routine. Working out has to be as basic a habit as eating food.”

The actor also asserts that adhering to ayurveda-backed eating habits, like eating between sunrise and sunset, has served her well. “It aids in digestion,” she signs off.