Author: Delna Pooniwala

“Confidence is your best Accessory” – Delna Pooniwala.

Although we all aspire to be the best and look like an actor or super model, we know we lack somewhere. No person could be great in all facets of life but it is necessary to feel good about your positive qualities rather than focus on the negatives.

Always feel proud about the good in yourself no matter what & carry a correct self image. We need to realise that each one of us is like a package deal with a mix of everything & although there may be some areas of improvement, we all have a lot of good qualities too.

Always be proud & confident about yourself because “Confidence is your best Accessory”

“Friendship brings music into our life & discipline brings Fitness”- Delna Pooniwala.

There are so many things we require to live and make our life wholesome. Besides the basics that we take for granted there are a few luxuries too. One of it being friendship.

We do not realise and at times we take things for granted but if we just take a moment and reflect we would hear the music in our life which exists only because of some special people.

Similarly, we take our health and body for granted. At times we feed it with excessive fats & toxin producing foods & we do not bother about its suppleness or strength and yet its there to serve us forever. We abuse our eyes with the rays emitted from mobile screens till late in the night, compromise on good quality sleep, our diet and also quality time with ourselves at times.

So why not make friendship with our own self, initiate a little self discipline and gift ourselves healthy habits that would encourage better health & fitness.

“Every day when I look into the mirror, I am determined to see a fabulous woman look back at me”- Delna Pooniwala.

There used to be a time in my life where I was many pounds heavier and my face was round & when I woke up in the morning, I felt my face & eyes were puffy and I truly didn’t like the person I met in the mirror each day.

We humans love our own self no matter what and would accept our ‘self’ the way we are. We make excuses but love being in a comfort zone & so even I would say “Oh, I don’t care I want to enjoy life to the fullest” & would gorge myself on a daily diet of donuts and pastries.
But one day when I knew I could not fib myself anymore, I took it into my stride to get back into shape. So I got into a regime of not only losing weight, but learning a lot about it till I was a certified fitness consultant & life coach.

Believe me! The addiction of getting into shape, grooming yourself & going shopping for small to medium sized clothes is amazing… & further more – “I loved the Fabulous woman who looked back at me, every time I looked at her in the mirror”.

It’s never too late in life & no hurdle is big enough if YOU are determined to do something.

“Don’t wish for a good body, Instead work for a healthy body”-Delna Pooniwala.

I have known of friends who wish for a small waistline and a shapely figure, but their wishes end at wishing because they leave the gym floor and plan ladies lunches & little eating parties.

They are comfortable in that cocoon and hence do not want to do anything about it except wish for a fairy Godmother to come and grant their wishes. But life is not about wishing… It’s about being truthful to yourself & knowing if you truly want something & if you do then doing something about it.

A healthy body would always glow & look good and attractive. So plan to keep yourself healthy with good eating habits, good sleep, plenty of water & any physical activity..

“It’s not a short term diet, its long term healthy eating.”- Delna Pooniwala.

There are some ladies who will aim for weight reduction only for a specific occasion. It’s usually a wedding in the family that is approaching & all of a sudden the realisation of being overweight dawns.. So what happens next is a drastic approach where one would go on a diet control & start an activity & that’s not a very good approach as it may affect your face, the glow of your skin & hair.

One should definitely indulge in everything possible but not all the time. We require striking a balance in life & creating a habit of clean eating & a small but constant activity. Try and lead a healthy life & avoid problems related to diabetes, coronary & cardiac issues & hypertension.

Besides our health, eat for maintaining beauty. Good hair, glowing skin, a strong bone structure & nails, bright eyes. A good diet definitely makes you look calm, youthful & beautiful.

I myself have an extensive sweet tooth and could go through a box of’ kaaju katli’ or chocolates at a single go. But instead i control myself and use it to reward myself if I have maintained a healthy schedule.
Our body & health is something that would be with us till our last day so why not treat it well & take care of it.

“Fitness is like marriage; you can’t cheat in it and expect it to work for you.”- Delna Pooniwala.

A commitment is so important towards everything that touches your life. Be it relationships or career. The greatest & longest commitment is with your own self. We need to be committed to making ourselves fit, strong & healthy.

We have our mind & body travelling with us for the longest time ever. Always ready & prepared to do anything for us. We want to run & it runs for us, we feed or starve or do not bother about it & it’s still there with us –Always.

Then why not take care of it in every way. Feed it will, give it good exercise & rest. Do not neglect any part of it be it your eyes, nails, hair, physique because if you do not have responsibility towards yourself, it’s like cheating and “Fitness is like marriage, you can’t cheat & expect it to work”.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”. – Delna Pooniwala

We often see people who have the same fixed activity for years. They would walk or do the same routine at gym or in an aerobic class. Would this really work?

Well, it’s great to have a constant activity. This aids in maintaining your body weight, burns calories & would come with a package of health benefits’. However, you would not see significant results if you follow the same constant routine.

Our body requires too be surprised from time to time & our activity needs to be challenging and tough. If we are in a comfort zone during workouts, it is going to have little benefit so challenge yourself each day.

If you run 8 kms, aim for 10. If you lift 40 pounds, try 45. There has to be progression & we need to grow up the ladder & only then would we see a distinct change in our body.

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you would never get anything”- Delna Pooniwala.

A dear friend was waiting for the New Year of 2016, to start her diet. I suggested that she starts off in December itself but she was to attend a couple of functions & she was reluctant.

Then comes New Year & all the celebrations, so last evening she was lamenting informing me that rather than looking great on the New Year, she had put on 5 pounds.

I consoled her & said “It’s never too late to start”. But she says now there is a weekend coming up & I have a wedding next week. Awwww! It is so cold in the mornings I cannot get back to walking as well. So now she decided to wait till Feb so that she can start a great routine with her walks & diet…

Some people just keep waiting for the right moment which may never come because “If you wait for the perfect conditions, you would never get anywhere”

“ Life without an aim is like a guitar without strings”- Delna Pooniwala.

We all require having a certain aim in life, which brings about a direction. This could either be a professional or a personal goal. This ambition in life is extremely important to succeed.

We cannot be drifting along without an aim in life because “Life without an aim is like a guitar without strings”.

So no matter what it is and no matter how big or small – Have a dream and plan to achieve it.

You need to live & you need to be Alive!!

“If we quit every time we felt uncomfortable, we wouldn’t achieve anything”.- Delna Pooniwala.

We all waited for the New Year 2016 to set in & so let’s assume we have started out on our journey to achieve our resolutions.

Anything that our human body is not used to, gives us discomfort. If we are used to heavy oily or rice based meals, we would be extremely restless with a light low fat low carbohydrate diet.
If we are used to a sedentary lifestyle, then the slightest activity would be painful. However, if we quit at this stage, then we would never achieve anything.

We humans are made to be strong, so fight all those negative thoughts. Work through the pain & discomfort & soon your body would adapt to any change. Our human body readily responds to changes in a variety of environmental, biological & cultural ways.

Keep the resolution going & Work on the path of success!!