Deepa Gandhi, a Postgraduate in Foods and Nutrition, is a freelance dietitian. She is also a choreographer who follows her passion of dancing and is mom to two lovely 11 and 15 year old girls. She believes dance is an art form which can help us to stay healthy.
She is the founder of kreativemommy.com, a Lifestyle and Mommy blog, where she talks about topics related to parenting, food, travel and shares her experiences as a mom and as a woman.
Lets hear this wonderful mom’s story in an exclusive interview with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness Org.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
As the founder of kreativemommy.com, you are a successful lifestyle and mommy blogger. Tell us more about how the idea came up? What were the key factors to starting it?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
I love writing and started sharing my thoughts just as a hobby a few years ago. I used to write as a mom blogger on websites like Sheroes and Momspresso. Two years back I thought of starting my own blog and the main idea was to share my thoughts as a mom and as a dietitian with other moms. But I was clueless about the whole process. I did some research and learnt a lot by reading and following some popular blogs and finally took the plunge in 2016. As a big fan of creativity, kreativemommy was born in June 2016 and the rest, as they say, is history.
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 © 2018 Women Fitness Org
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Being a married woman with two lovely daughters and being a blogger at the same time, can sometimes be taxing. How do you strike a balance between your personal and professional life?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
No matter where you are in life, everyone wants a good balance between personal and professional life. Everyone wants a life outside the work life. Motherhood is the biggest blessing which is bestowed only on women. A mom is a multitasker and performs 10 tasks at a time without even realizing it. As a freelancer, I have the flexibility to choose my work timings and this helps me to keep evenings free for my girls. I try to strike a balance and have best of both worlds. I make sure to spend some quality time with both of them every day.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Having a multi-dimensional lifestyle like being a dietician, blogger, choreographer, and mother, introduce us to a day in your life.
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
I divide my schedule between working from home on some days and going to office the other days as I am also involved in my husband’s start up. Mostly after sending my kids to school, I sit down with my cup of tea and my writings. I try to finish all my writing work when kids are in school. In between, I answer emails and attend to my online clients. Evenings are more about spending time with my kids, cooking, going for my regular walk and dancing.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Tell us about the food/meal pattern that you follow in general to remain healthy and physically fit?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
First of all, I must tell you that I don’t believe in any fad diets. As long as you are eating at regular intervals and are eating sensible, it’s completely fine. Sensible eating means making healthy food choices and not just eating less.
I try not to eat heavily in one meal and my daily food pattern is divided into 6 small meals and regular intervals. For me, breakfast is very important as a healthy breakfast keeps you full for longer period of times. I make sure to include a source of protein in my breakfast and avoid fried stuff. Lunch is a usual mixture of vegetables, curd, and chappati or little rice with salad. Dinner is same as lunch minus too many carbs. I avoid rice at night and try to eat dinner maximum by 7.30-8 pm.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Exercise to essential along with healthy eating, how do you go about incorporating it in leading a fit & healthy lifestyle?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
I completely believe that exercise and healthy eating both are essential for a healthy living. They both go hand in hand and sometimes people ask me that they are eating healthy but they are not losing weight. The reason is that they are not physically active at all. How can you expect to lose weight when you are not even moving around?
It’s not only just about the weight as a lethargic lifestyle can lead to many other lifestyle diseases too. For a healthy and fit lifestyle, it’s very important that one should start some form of physical exercise daily. I go to Zumba twice a week and walk for 30-40 minutes at least 5 times a week.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
You are also a choreographer and have a ladies dance group called dancing moms. Women, in general, have inhibition towards dancing in public. Tell us more about how have you been able to help women overcome this?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
Through my dancing moms group, I am trying to break this inhibition towards dancing in public. There are a lot of women who love dancing but are afraid to come out and join a class to learn or to perform in front of others. My main aim to start this dancing moms group is to give a platform to moms who love dancing and also to make sure other moms come out of their comfort zone.
Most of the women who join dancing classes, they leave within few days as they are not able to cope up with the choreography or they find the steps difficult. I make sure to keep the whole choreography simple so that everyone can join us easily. Dancing is all about having fun and if you lose some weight with that, it’s like icing on the cake.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Share 5 tips for a new blogger, who has just started out and wishes to make a mark?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
- First and foremost, research well before taking a plunge.
- Think of a niche/topics you want to write about.
- Read a lot as reading helps to improve your writing skills.
- Network and connect with other bloggers.
- Share your writings on social media channels as initially it takes time to make a reader base.
Read my tips to new mom bloggers here – http://kreativemommy.com/10-tips-start-mommy-blog/
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Over the years there has been a tremendous change in the scenario of travel, being a mother, health, and nutrition in India. What do you have to say through your observance?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
I feel the whole idea of parenting has undergone a huge change. The idea of raising a child is completely different these days. Being a mother, I can see how my kids or their lifestyle is different from our times. The definition of nutrition has changed as there are so many junk foods available in the market. They have easy access to video games, movies and a lot of information through internet which was not the case earlier. I believe in the end, it’s all about balance as you cannot say no to everything and it’s not possible to say yes too. So, balance is the key and I am myself still trying to learn this trick as a mom.
MS. Namita Nayyar:
As obvious you love versatility in dressing up for occasions and encourage women to do the same on your blog with creative ideas. Why is suggestive dressing important?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
Mothers are superwomen who manage everything perfectly. They can surely take good care of their kids and family but sometimes tend to forget themselves in this journey of motherhood. So, my most important advice to moms with toddlers is to – Take out time for yourself and do not forget yourself. Take care of your health as a healthy mom is a happy mom. If a mom is happy, her family is happy and healthy.
You can read about my suggestions to moms here – http://kreativemommy.com/10-hacks-busy-moms-productive/
MS. Namita Nayyar:
Women Fitness works relentlessly with a goal to reach out women all over the world providing them with best in health & fitness. What do you wish to say about the website (Womenfitness.org) and message for our readers?
MS. Deepa Gandhi:
Women fitness works are doing a great job as fitness is very important which most women tend to ignore until and unless it’s necessary. Especially when you are a mom, you need to take care of your health. You are providing a good platform to women regarding health and fitness by providing them all the necessary information. I wish you good luck. Thanks a lot for featuring me here.
Follow her on:
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kreativemommy/
- Twitter https://twitter.com/Deepagandhi1
- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kreativemommy/
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 © 2018 Women Fitness Org