This gorgeous model turned beauty queen and now mother of two little girls has come up with a book that is aptly called Gorgeous: Eat Well, Look Great. Shvetha Jaishankar has spoken to 25 top models and stars like Priyanka Chopra, Trisha Krishnan, Malaika Arora, Nina Manuel and many more to whip up 100 recipes that promise to help cut down flab.
And the first startling step is to debunk the myth that you should avoid carbs at night. “I’m glad that you describe it as a myth. This is a way of eating that I came across by this international expert, Dr Tusna Park. It goes against everything that I have known all these years. You have to try it out yourself. It is amazing how it works; feeling lighter during the day, go to bed feeling satisfied and comforted. Dinner is a family meal or you are out with friends and avoiding rice or rotis goes against our food culture. Scientifically also it works because it depicts the relationship between the cortisone levels and our insulin rate. I have come up with a mean plan using recipes from my book and if you follow that plan, you will get red carpet ready by getting into shape. And to do this you do not have to avoid any kind of food you like be it carbs, fat or protein,” says Shvetha, and asserts that this plan applies to all body types, “unless you are diabetic and need to consult your doctor. I have not just tried this diet myself but also spoken to many people who have done so. I strongly believe that there is no one way of eating or one way of fitness. You have to find what works for your body. Food is central to our lives and no point following a diet you don’t like.”
Gorgeous: Eat Well, Look Great by Shvetha Jaishankar HarperCollins pp.176, Rs 799.
The desire to come up with this book stemmed from Shvetha’s own experiments with food. She is married into a family of foodies. “I belong to a family that embraces food. When I first got married, I was amused by how much planning of menus would go on. I realised that food is also a way to build relationships,” she says.
Thus began her own tryst with finding that perfect food balance that enabled her to lose weight without depriving herself of food. “I have two girls, 3 and 1 and half years of age. After both my kids I had gained a lot of weight. I was away from the modeling world and it is so easy to put on weight. Soon, I started feeling unenergetic and wanted to get my rhythm back. That’s how it all started,” she recollects.
Shvetha decided to speak to her model pals who had figured out a rhythm and a diet that worked best for them. “These are people who are no longer in their 20s, some are mothers, others are career women but they have all followed a certain path and it has worked for them. So this is a book that everyone can relate to,” says the lady who is also a successful entrepreneur and came up with this book in one and a half year’s time. “It hasn’t been easy as I had to make sacrifices and get strict with my time,” she says.
