Opening Doorz

By Dr Sneha Pragada | Opening Doorz Editorial | March 04, 2022

Dr Sneha Pragada on her eating habits, workout routine and spiritual quotient…

Exercise Routine

I believe in maintaining the fitness of both body and mind. I make it a point to work out five times a week where I concentrate more on developing muscle strength and toning my body. Earlier, when I started working out, my goal was to achieve a perfect body for Miss India. During my journey, I have learnt a lot and understood that fitness has more to do about how you feel rather than how you look and this has kept me hooked to my fitness game.

I don’t try to burden myself in the gym; I like to keep it fun. I try to incorporate cardio in my daily life where I substitute stairs for the elevator and usually prefer walking instead of taking the transport. I also enjoy running and thanks to my student life in America, most of the time I must run to catch the metros on time! I usually love working out in the mornings. I love waking up early and working out in the gym> I also love a nice walk/jog in the lap of nature while listening to my favorite music. This sets the tone for the rest of the day and keeps me pumped up and energetic.

Eating Habits

I enjoy eating Pizzas and my favourite, biryani. However, I’m very conscious of what I eat daily. I prefer home-cooked food and as I’m staying by myself, I take time out to cook for myself. Thankfully I do have a good metabolism. One of the biggest mistakes in your diet can be consuming sugar and refined flours and, unfortunately, most of the food that’s available in the restaurants contains these. Sugars and refined flours are something that I try to avoid. I substitute sugar with honey or peanut butter and refined flour with wheat flour or semolina substitutes. 

My day starts with a cup of green tea with a drop of lemon and honey followed by a south Indian breakfast: idli/dosa sambhar. If I’m on the run, it’s usually a strawberry/blueberry smoothie with oats, protein powder, honey, and some nuts. Lunch is basic with rice, dal, and vegetable/chicken which I consume by 1 pm. I prefer to have an early dinner (by 7 pm) which would be either a salad/broccoli soup or wheat spaghetti and if I’m feeling tired and hungry, I even do rice/roti with some veggies. 

Earlier, while I was working out for Miss India, I used to maintain a food diary to keep a track of my calories, carbs and protein intake. Over time, I have managed to incorporate a healthy lifestyle where I consciously eat healthily so having a cheat meal sometimes doesn’t affect me as I have learnt to maintain a balance of the foods that I consume. Weekends are usually the days when I devour on my favourite chicken biryani which is a must for me. Fortunately, I don’t have a sweet tooth.

Liquid Tip: When I first developed an interest in fitness, I realized that my water consumption was very poor and I made it a point from that time to increase my fluid intake. It’s has been hard for me with my daily schedule, but I have improved a lot and I manage to consume 2.5 litres of water daily. I drink a lot of watermelon juice and coconut water in the mornings. I also love buttermilk which I consume a lot during the day. 

Spiritual Quotient

I’m a very spiritual person. I always do the right thing even if it’s the hardest thing to do because no matter how hard life gets, I’m still content with the fact that I did the right thing. I do stress a lot sometimes with the assignment deadlines that I have, and I have been trying to incorporate meditation to help me deal with the stress. The best way to de-stress for me is to have a nice chat with my family and friends. Listening to music is another stress buster for me. I do it religiously every day. Dressing up too is a stress buster for me! My only mantra in life is to be kind and to be honest and respectable towards everything I do. It might not take me to better places, but it allows me to lead a happy and content life wherever I’m.

Also Read: I consider myself a big foodie