Golden girl: It’s never too late to get into fitness, says this 56-year-old

For the first 55 years of her life, Karuna Khatwani and heavy physical activity were strangers. And then, in the December of 2017, her 79-year-old mother fell sick.

“My mother’s lungs gave way. She has been obese for a major portion of a her life, and her immobility worsened after her hip surgery in 2013,” she says. Her mother’s episode shocked Karuna into seriously considering getting fit for the first time in her life, to battle what her genetic make-up dictated: hypothyroidism is common in her mother’s side of the family, and she has it too. “I knew if I didn’t do something about it, I was headed her way.”

The first step is the toughest

But here was the problem. Not only had Karuna led an inactive lifestyle, she also had a slipped disc. Her routine, as she laughingly puts it, was “Wake up, play Candy Crush on the recliner until lunch, eat, sleep, watch TV, and then eat and sleep again. I was afraid of what working out would do to my back.” The 56-year-old decided it was time for a change. Only, she had to proceed with caution.

“I decided to select a coach with a background in physiotherapy. Ismat Khoja, from SQUATS, fit the role,” says Karuna, who is based out of Indore. “Ismat mentored me over video calls, while I had a personal trainer, also a member of SQUAT, at a gym here.”

Karuna would also consult her regular physiotherapist. “I would show my workouts to her, and she would ask me to avoid certain postures. If I had any lasting pain, I would get it checked by her.” Initially, she concentrated on core strengthening, but avoided heavy weight-lifting and forward-bending exercises. Given her underactive thyroid — and the corresponding slumped metabolism — weight loss was slow in the first couple of months. “I wouldn’t say that it was demotivating, but it was definitely discouraging. It would upset me to look at how drastic other people’s weight loss was,” she says. “My faith in my coach kept me going.” She eventually came to realise that it wasn’t a race — she needed to take it slow. “I couldn’t work out as rigorously as the rest because of my back. My mentor reminded me that it was a lifetime of weight that I was trying to lose. It wouldn’t happen in a few months.”

Understanding the ‘Why’ of it

For eight months, Karuna kept at it: lifts, barbell squats, inclined presses, flat bench presses, tricep rope push-downs and more, gradually adding weights, six days a week. Today, it shows. She has dropped to 63 kilograms from 72. “The weighing scale doesn’t matter much to me now; I am more interested in my body-fat percentage.” Barely a year into fitness, she has learnt the importance of understanding diet. It wasn’t as if she had not attempted weight loss before. “I’d get into these fad diets that lasted for a month at max; I even went to weight-loss clinics. I would lose two kilograms at the end of the first week, then gain five at the end of the month. All the dieticians I’d earlier been to would just hand me a diet chart without explaining it.”

When she didn’t understand the ‘why’ of it, her motivation to stick to the diet reduced as well. “Now, I can even make my own diet chart. I can eat out, but eat right. I know my limits, I have learnt when to say no,” she says. Before, “Even Diwali sweets I’d gobble down in fours!”

As Karuna got deeper into nutrition science, she started encouraging her family to eat healthier. “I oversee the cooking and instruct our cook on how much oil has to be added.” Even her four-year-old granddaughter has taken some lessons from her. “She comes to me and flexes her muscles, saying, “Daadi, look how strong I am!”

The mother of two sons, who are in their 30s, is now looking at getting into an even better shape. “My abs have just begun to show,” she adds with a girlish laugh. It’s the small joys, however, that have given her the most satisfaction. “For the first time in my life, I don’t need to look for high-waist jeans. My J-Lo hips are gone!”