Meenakshi Chaturvedi, 40, a resident of Sector 17, Gurugram, has been declared first runner up at Miss Fitness India 2019 held recently in Gurugram. The event was organised by Fitness and Sports Sciences Association (FSSA) in collaboration with Fit India Movement.
The three-day event was all about weightlifting, strength, power and flexibility. Meenakshi lifted 110 kg deadlift and did a seven-minute plank hold. A total of 50 girls from all over the country participated in the event and gave a tough competition to each other.
Meenakshi is a certified personal trainer and pilates instructor. According to her own admission she took training two months before the event.
“I worked very hard for it and am happy that I performed well,” said a beaming Meenakshi.
Talking about her early childhood, she said being a daughter of an army officer, physical activities and sports are something not new for her. She did not consider herself studious, but an ardent sports lover while she was growing up.
“I had exposure to sports in my early years of my life and played many sports which are athletic in nature and boost agility. I was fond of swimming and horse riding which is now considered some sort of luxury but was part of my routine when I was growing up,” she revealed.
She completed her schooling from Army Public School, Delhi and graduated in engineering from Bengaluru. She married in 2004 and is a mother to a 13-year-old boy. She said there was a phase in her life when she struggled with weight gain issue.
“I always knew I can lose weight with some exercise but could not do it regularly as I had to manage my kid, home and work,” Meenakshi said. She spends hours in cardio and weight training which helped in transforming her body.
For Meenakshi, fitness should have a wholesome approach with a perfect balance between food, cardio and strength. “Earlier, people use to do their household chores which itself used to be a physical exercise. But now, we live a luxurious life with lifts, escalators, domestic helps etc. making us lead an unhealthy lifestyle,” she noted.
Her day starts at 4 in the morning when she gives coaching to marathon runners. She then drops her kid to school, takes open air training sessions and then her own training sessions. “Sometimes it’s challenging balancing client’s fitness session with my own’s trainings. But I enjoy it,” she added.
Her diet includes lots of green veggies. Pointing out that people today follow different diet plans which causes several nutrient deficiencies in them, she said, “No diet plan is better than our very own Indian meal which has all the required nutrients.”
Besides fitness, she loves music and likes to sway on melodious tunes. She gives credit to her husband and in-laws for her achievement who, she said, were pillar of strength to her at every step.
She doesn’t want to stop here. Her dream is to play cross-fit game in future. Her aim is now to win Commonwealth Games for which she has started training in senior categories in powerlifting. “I want to play sports and represent India,” she concludes.
