Fashion blogger, stylist, YouTuber and graphic designer who writes and makes videos about fashion, lifestyle, travel and beauty. Aakriti Rana has accrued more than 600,000 followers for her official Instagram account.
She has worked with designers, luxury brands and international brands. Her fitness and nutrition game is also on point as she stays fit and eats healthy.
Women Fitness India is proud to be in conversation with one of India’s best and most sought after Fashion blogger and influencer Aakriti Rana!
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You are an MBA graduate and was working with an advertising agency when you started your own blog lachicaloca, walk us through your journey and how did you take this as a career option.
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
I was always interested in fashion and photography so while doing MBA I started posting my daily outfit pictures on Instagram. In no time my followers started growing and I got my first brand collaboration. Once blogging started paying me, I left my job and started doing this full time.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Today writing a blog seems to be an expensive career choice one needs to know different software, need to have expensive equipment, do you feel the same? Share the challenges that you faced?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
It’s a false perception. I believe if you truly are passionate about this and you have a creative mind then you can do well without spending too. All you need is a good phone and creativity to understand angles and good editing. I get amazing response of pictures/ videos clicked by phone and these make up about 80% of my Instagram and youtube content.
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness Org
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
How important it is to stay fit? Fitness and beauty go hand in hand how has it helped to present the best in you?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
I don’t believe in being skinny or just thin. I truly believe in being healthy and fit. Being an influencer I make sure to tell people about the philosophy of treating your body like a temple. We should worship it with good healthy food, a balanced diet and do exercise to keep ourselves active. Exercising few times a week and keeping a check on my diet really helps in keeping me in a good mood.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You had previously followed the Keto diet & now you recently turned vegan, tell us what made you opt for the same?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
With age your metabolism slows down and that’s what happened with me. I tried out the keto diet for 2 months and it really helped me in losing a lot of weight. However I did not feel fit and healthy. I was just skinny. I understood that the right way of losing weight is by working out and having a balanced diet so I stopped keto. I turned Vegan to support my love for animals and the environment. Being vegan is also really beneficial for your body. The documentaries Cowspiricy and What The Health describe this in detail.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
We truly believe that everybody is beautiful, but often people face body shaming. Have you ever faced Body Shaming? 3 Coping strategies
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
I have always been really skinny all my life. I gained a little bit of weight after 25 and that made me really conscious. For others I was still thin but I compared myself to my previous self and felt fat. However I quickly learnt to accept my body and became comfortable with it being a little heavier also. Talking about body shaming, I’ve been called out for being skinny a few times while I was on keto. Nothing major really happened and so I won’t be the right person to talk about coping with it.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What are your favorite Cheat meals? How often do you cheat on your diet ?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
I love having Vegan Gelato! I cheat on my diet pretty often as long as I am working out religiously, I don’t mind eating everything. But being Vegan really narrows down my options.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What is your favorite kind of workout? 5 must-do exercises every day.
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
I absolutely love running outdoors. I love looking at nature, hearing the birds and smiling at other people while running outside. I’ve always been an athlete so I do stretches, running, crunches, squats and planks.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You travel a lot, so how do you maintain your diet and workout regime while travelling?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
Honestly speaking while traveling my schedule gets really hectic so I can’t find time to exercise properly. However I make sure to take stairs instead of lifts, I walk as much as I can instead of taking cabs and do similar activities that help me in burning calories.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Being an influencer, you have your entire life being seen and judged by so many people, how do you strike a balance between your professional and personal life?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
People follow influencers as they can relate with them. If I start hiding my personal life, happy/ sad moments then people won’t relate to me. So there is no way out of this. But you learn to let go of all the negativity and see the positive eventually. I won’t deny that sometimes I do get affected but I let it go quickly.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
With a massive following of over 604k followers on your Instagram account @aakritiranaofficial, what according to you are the best and worst things about these social media platforms?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
The best part about these platforms is that I am able to share my life experiences, opinions and work with a lot of people. I talk about a lot of issues faced by young generation and I am glad that I can reach so many people through my platform. We also get a lot of awareness about what’s happening in the world. We keep a check on ourselves too about what we are putting out and what message will it give to people. I don’t work with aerated beverages, I instead promote plant based protein drinks and more.
The negative would be comparing ourselves. A lot of people try to put up a good happy image of themselves on these websites and we believe them. We compare our lives with them which makes us really dissatisfied. People also make fake profiles, hide behind a screen and bully others.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Last what message would you like to give to our viewers on how important you think it is to be fit in today world?
Ms. Aakriti Rana:
Being fit is everything. It makes you feel good about yourself, you feel more confident, your body feels good and it truly will make you live longer and happier. I might not have abs and a perfectly shaped body but I am fit. No matter how your body looks, you gotta know the importance of regular exercise and being fit.
Follow Aakriti’s journey on:
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness Org