Bring on the food, says Kareena Kapoor''s nutritionist

New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Everytime you say no tocalories, you say no to energy. Celebrity nutritionist andfitness trainer Rujuta Diwekar, who coached the likes ofKareena Kapoor into fabulous bodies is back with a new guidethat shows women what and how to eat from puberty to marriageand from pregnancy to menopause.

Building on her four principles of eating right fromher first book "Don''t lose your Mind, Lose your weight,"Rujuta goes on to share her four strategies (nutrition,exercise, sleep and relationships) for every phase in awomen''s life in her recent book "The Weight Loss Tamasha."Food is not about calories but about feelings,emotions, romance, enriching and rewarding and central tohuman existence, she points out.

"Don''t think in terms of reducing weight - 5 kgs or 10kgs or whatever.. instead focus on getting fitter, stronger,healthier. When your body is healthy and mind is calm - bodyweight comes at an optimum level, not more, not less," advicesRujuta.

Speaking about the vegetable peas, she says,"Everytime somebody dismisses peas as having high calories. Iam heartbroken because peas are rich in potassium, vitamins,apart from calcium, selenium, zinc, iron, enzymes, naturalfibers and sugars."Teaching aerobics part time during her graduation inMumbai where she studied industrial chemistry was her firstbrush with the fitness scene in India, one that was filledwith tacky advertisements about Russian blondes and picturesof weightlifters.

"When I made a choice to enter this very little knownfield of fitness and nutrition, very little was known. But nownot just filmstars but even ordinary people are beginning torealise the importance of a healthy body," Rujuta told PTI inan interview.

From aerobics classes to being a personal nutritionistto people like Kareena, Anil Ambani, Saif Ali Khan and KonkonaSen Sharma, Rujuta says she has finetuned her methods to thereal issues facing urban Indians.

Meanwhile, her recent book which has a foreword byKareena Kapoor is peppered with real life examples, Rujutagoes through chapter after chapter providing a framework todiscuss how hormonally, nutritionally and emotionally eatingrequirements change and alter with each phase of life and whatto do to tackle them. .