Shruthi Agarwal

Shruthi Agarwal: “I craved for roti and milk”
When she was offered the chance to pose for the Kingfisher Calendar in 2006, model Shruti Agarwal wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. She wanted her parents’ permission to begin with, and she also wanted to know how aesthetic – as opposed to crass – the swimsuit shoot would actually be.

“On the day of the test shoot all the calendar girls were told about their weak areas – parts from where we had to lose weight and also tone up. We only had three months,” recalls Shruti. “I drastically needed to tone up my waist and thighs.” She didn’t need to lose weight, but with only three months to get in perfect shape, Shruti exercised twice a day, for 45 minutes in the morning and an hour every evening. And as for routines, she did everything, from yoga to the gym.

Since weight training doesn’t suit Shruti at all, she avoided it as far as possible though her trainer insisted on 15 minutes of basic weights every day to bulk out her too-thin arms. After that, she did 15 minutes of sit-ups, followed by a mix of yoga and pilates. And Shruti swears by the surya namaskar. “Two hundred and fifty repetitions of the surya namaskar were enough cardio for me,” she says. “I used to get all sweaty after it. Contrarily, I also felt refreshed.”

For the 2008 calendar shoot however, Shruti felt she’d done better. And that was because she was on a very, very strict diet. Following a diet chart created for her body type, Shruti was put on a protein-rich, carb-free routine for three months, during which she had one protein bar a day, grilled fish or chicken, salads and sprouts. No rice or roti, no dairy. Not even milk, which she loves.

“For breakfast, I had fruit, egg white and fruit juices. Sometimes I cheated and had the whole egg, but when I did that, I’d have to work out harder to compensate,” she says. Dinner was always a light meal, and always eaten before 9 pm. But though the diet was well planned and balanced, keeping Shruti feeling good and energetic, she missed the food she loves. “I craved roti, milk and chocolate,” the pretty model says.

It wasn’t enough to get in shape for the shoot. Shruti had to make sure she was picture perfect on the day of the shoot itself. “I avoided water,” she says, “Because it tends to bloat the stomach and that would show in the pictures. I also had a very light breakfast very early in the morning.”