Mugdha Godse

Mugdha Godse: “I carry soya sticks”

This figure is the result of not a few months’ or a year’s worth of preparation, but a regimented, disciplined routine through much of her adult life. “I didn’t get the figure for a bikini overnight,” says Mugdha. “I have been looking after my body since I was 17.”

A summer job at a gym while Mugdha was in college gave her all the knowledge she needed to instill the tenets of fitness in her life. Also, her habit of swimming regularly – a habit instilled by her father – helped her maintain her body.

Since gymming gets dull after a time, Mugdha jazzes up her workouts with different types of workouts – 45 minutes of yoga or Kathak or gymming or jogging on the beach every day.

Power yoga she dismisses as a new age fad, so she prefers the standard yoga asanas and surya namaskar. In the gym, Mugdha divides her work-outs according to the three areas of her body – legs, back and biceps, chest and triceps, with intervals of cardio, including Kathak.

She has also been on a high-protein, regimented diet since she was 17. Mugdha doesn’t binge on unnecessary carbohydrates – rotis and bread are okay, croissants and chips are sins. Breakfast consists of poha, or egg white, upma or toast, and coffee with sugar is her only indulgence.

“I eat every two to three hours to keep my metabolism going,” says the actress. “I carry soya sticks in my car and the moment I feel as though I’m starving, I binge on them. I never let my body starve.”

Lunch comprises grilled chicken or fish or sabzi and one roti. And dinner consists of idli-sambhar or salad and grilled fish again. When she’s hungry, she pops a protein bar. And she never touches rice. If this sounds too grim for daily consumption, Mugdha doesn’t find it so. She’s been following this diet for so long that she’s used to the discipline, she says. “I don’t crave carbs anymore,” says she.

But you shouldn’t give up carbs altogether, she adds. “An intelligent addition of proteins in the diet constructively utilise carbs and doesn’t let them turn into fat,” says Mugdha.