Sara Ali Khan struggled with her weight during her teenage years – and it's all because of a hormonal disorder.
Indian actress Sara Ali Khan studied history and political science at Columbia University in New York and graduated in 2016. While studying at the private Ivy League research university is an achievement, she admitted that she battled against her weight during those times.
Sara, the daughter of Indian actress Amrita Singh and actor Saif Ali Khan, began her weight loss journey after weighing 96 kg as a teenager. She opened up about suffering from a particular hormonal disorder, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which greatly contributed to her weight gain.
“I was in senior year at college, and I was 96 kg,” the actress revealed to Filmfare.
She used to like pizzas, chocolates, and ice creams. Whenever she comes home to Mumbai, India, she enjoys pav bhaji (a fast food dish consisting of a thick vegetable curry served with a soft bread roll) and besan ke laddoo (made from besan, ghee, sugar, almonds, and a bit of elaichi).
The “Love Aaj Kal” star revealed that she began her fitness journey during her third year in college. Times of India reported that her “low point” was when her mother failed to recognize her at the airport. Disheartened by what happened, she didn’t video call her until she achieved her weight loss goal.
Sara Ali Khan's Weight Loss Tricks
The main keys to Sara’s successful weight loss:
- She went on a weight loss journey as she struggled with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- She eats healthy foods, gets enough sleep, and exercises every day to stabilize her hormonal levels
- She trained with Namrata Purohit, a fitness trainer at The Pilates Studio in Mumbai
- She trained with celebrity Cindy Jourdain from Fitness and Movement Coach when she was in the United States
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How did PCOS affect Sara Ali Khan's weight?
PCOS is one of the most common hormonal disorders among women. It is a condition wherein the ovaries produce an abnormal amount of androgen, a male sex hormone present in the woman’s body in small amounts. Those who suffer from this tend to gain weight and have a hard time losing it.
The health issue proved very challenging for Sara, but she didn’t just sit there and back down. Instead of giving up, she embarked on her weight loss journey. It was a struggle for her at first, but she motivated herself until she finally achieved her goal.
The actress struggled with PCOS even before making it to Bollywood. She went on a major transformation while still battling against the hormonal disorder. After losing weight, she confidently shared videos of her pre-weight loss journey on social media.
“It is one of the things that I struggle with to date because the only real cure is a constant, consistent, focused, and determined lifestyle change. There is no shortcut to it,” Sara said in one of her interviews while discussing PCOS.
As to how she dealt with this particular health condition, the actress said the “most functional way” was to eat healthily, have enough sleep to regularize the body clock and work out every day to stabilize the hormone levels.
Sara Ali Khan graduated early to focus more on her weight loss journey.
The actress, who appeared on Karan Johar’s show “Koffee With Karan,” finished her studies earlier than expected to lose weight. She completed her degree within three years and spent her remaining a year and a half in weight training before going back to India.
She wasn’t ashamed to talk about her weight loss journey. In an interview, she said that although she’s for equality, she also accepted the fact that some may not want to watch a movie with a lead actress weighing 96 kg – and she wasn’t offended by it.
The actress, who began her career in 2018, said that she doesn’t mind if she has to look a certain way for her job. She added that she’s losing weight to gain more confidence and maintain her health – and it’s not all about vanity.
Sara’s hard work has paid off, as she managed to lose weight from 96 kg down to 56 kg. The “Kedarnath” star is proud of her achievement and wasn’t shy to share with everyone what she’s been through. She has been sharing photos of her old self on social media to inspire other people.
Namrata Purohit, a fitness trainer at The Pilates Studio in Mumbai, trained with Sara. They do Pilates to build up muscle, improve posture, and tone up the body. Namrata has also worked on the fitness of Malaika Arora, Sonakshi Sinha, and the second wife of Sara’s father, Kareena Kapoor Khan.
When she was in the United States, the actress trained with celebrity Cindy Jourdain from Fitness and Movement Coach. She went on a boot camp training under Cindy and did a full body workout to improve her strength and burn more calories in lesser time.
Sara Ali Khan still struggled with her fitness despite losing weight.
In an interview with Filmfare, Sara said that she still had a difficult time dealing with her fitness even though she had lost a significant amount of weight. She told Namrata once that she’s doing 12 workouts and still not losing weight and her fitness trainer explained the reason to her.
“Namrata told me that it was because I should have ideally been doing (only) six,” the actress shared.
She is thankful to her trainer as she helped her realize that more doesn’t always mean better – it should always be quality over quantity. She believed that she should work out more if she wanted to eat more. However, Namrata pointed out that it doesn’t work that way.
To reward herself for all the hard work she did within the week, Sara has a cheat meal every Sunday. The food that she often eats is a besan ke laddoo. She advised to allow yourself to have a cheat meal since being strict with your diet could eventually lead to binging.
Meanwhile, the actress revealed to Hindustan Times that there was one point when she thought she wouldn’t be able to lose weight. While she goes to the gym, she tells herself that she doesn’t know whether she can do it or not. But she didn’t give up, and she continued her routine the next day.
“I woke up the next day and went back to the gym and did 4 crunches, and then I did 5, and then I did 6, and I really don’t need to boast, but I am down for a crunch challenge right now. I did a lot of abs this morning.”