Fab tale of fat to fit

Shekhar Vijayan, a city-based stand-up artiste and emcee-turned life coach’s story indeed finds itself to be told. After losing a whopping 40 kilos in (2015 end) a year’s time without heading to the gym; his weight loss story has quite caught the fancy of a renowned Bollywood house.

They have allegedly approached him to pen down his fat to fit story. We talk to the enterprising Bengalurean as he shares how he waged the hard miles – literally, figuratively and metaphorically...

“I was weighing 125 kilos with a 46 inch waistline. One day, while watching cricket, the plastic chair I was sitting on broke and that’s when I realised I needed to do something about my weight. I started walking after dinner with my dog for company and she was leading; whilst I was panting away much to the delight of the security guards,” he shares.

But while he has the fire in his belly to shed that flab, Shekhar reiterates how it was always about going the natural way instead of quick crash diets or workout sessions. “You just need to condition your mind and that will do. I started with walking for about two km;  increasing it to six km; and can now run up to 10 km at a stretch in an hour. I ensure that I run at least 15 km everyday.”

With his weight loss story quite creating a buzz online, the ‘multi-tasker’ tells us how he loves to don several hats at a time. “I am an international entertainer by profession who hosts events, does stand up comedy, blogs, writes and also moonlight as a cricket analyst on TV. My day starts quite early at 4:30 in the morning and ends with a five km run. Which could involve just running up and down the stairs 50 times through five floors. I am quite energetic by nature and don’t need more than five hours of sleep. I want to make the most of what I have and just love the buzz of entertaining people. That and spending time with my dog, making Instagram videos with her and giving workable fitness tips are what I love doing in my free time.”

Being a life coach for the most part, he tells us how important it is to be self-driven. “ I can be quite stubborn and single minded about what I want. I don’t depend on any external sources to motivate me. I am hugely inspired by the Dark Knight. I believe passion and a little bit of madness makes people do what they want to do,”quips the 38-year-old.  

Speaking about what lies next, he excitedly reveals, “I wish my story resonates with everyone in this world as it’s a simple case of mind over matter. If I can anyone can. Yes, there is a leading Bollywood production house and a publishing house which wants to bring my story to light. I bagged it through an internship and that’s all I can reveal at this point in time. Additionally, I plan to make fitness videos to inspire youngsters to kick those kilos without hitting the gym.”