Mitushi Ajmera is a popular Wellness Coach. She is also an ISSA certified Fitness Coach, a sports nutritionist, EREPS registered Pilate instructor & India’s first Pilardio instructor who helps people achieve their fitness goals through a holistic approach to good nutrition and exercise.
According to Mitushi“My journey started around 10 years back when I was trying to lose some extra weight that I had gained after my son’s delivery. I was at 87 kgs then”
Check out Mitushi Ajmera in conversation with WF President, Ms. Namita Nayyar on her weight loss & journey to become a leading wellness coach. Catch on her Inspiring Story & tips to healthy living. Read on..
Namita Nayyar:
Being a fitness & Wellness Coach holding multiple badges along with being India’s first Pilardio instructor you have come a long way. Share your journey as to what inspired you towards fitness.
Mitushi Ajmera:
I have always been a thin person but gained weight during my two pregnancies. It was my experience of losing weight and injuring my back during the process that pushed me to take up fitness and health professionals.
Namita Nayyar:
You gained a lot of weight post-birth of both your children and lost it too. Please share an insight about the weight gain & loss journey. How much you gained & lose. How?
Mitushi Ajmera:
During my first pregnancy, at the age of 26, I gained only the required weight and lost it all with usual routine activities. It was during my second pregnancy when I was 32 years old, that my weight went to its max, around 87 kgs. I joined a gym to exercise regularly when my younger child turned 8 months, thinking exercising automatically would make me lose weight. I used to exercise for approximately two hours each day and went on random diets too.
I watched every morsel that went into my mouth and would cut down calories indiscriminately. With all this, I managed to come down to approximately 64kgs by age 35. But, ended up getting a grade 2 soft tissue injury of the back too. This is when I decided to become a wellness professional.
I lost weight further, healed my back after I became a coach. Today at the age of 44, I am standing strong at 58kgs.
Namita Nayyar:
It was only after the birth of your second child you set out to consciously take up being a fitness instructor as a profession. 5 Challenges you faced starting off as an instructor?
Mitushi Ajmera:
I had way too many things playing against me at the start, which eventually became my strength and made me stand out.
The 5 challenges were:
- Starting a fitness career at the age of 35 itself came with lots of doubts and questions, as I was competing with younger trainers. !
- My back injury had me on the back foot at the start, as due to my zero experience I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull myself completely out of it. I had left it to time and my hard work. !
- Being a woman was another challenge as fitness had been a male dominating field. People doubted my capability of lighting heavy. !
- With 2 young children at home and the younger one being just 2 years, studying and taking sessions both were initially tough. !
- Gyms and studios refused to hire me as I was a fresher, with no prior experience. So the only option I was left with was to start my own independent classes.
Namita Nayyar:
From your personal experience share 5 diet & exercise myths that need to be busted when it needs come to losing weight especially after childbirth?
Mitushi Ajmera:
Myth 1: Fancy or crash diet is the way: One can lose weight by eating usual home-cooked meals. ! Myth 2: More the exercise, the better: Exercising 4-6 hours a week is good enough. !
Myth 3: Completely avoid carbs or sugar: One can continue to have everything as long as eaten in moderation. !
Myth 4: A magical food/pill can help lose weight: There is no such magic pill that can make one lose weight, without putting in the effort. !
Myth 5: Pregnancy spoils the body: Our habits spoil our body, pregnancy has everything in it to make us gain and lose weight too, provided we listen to our body and distinguish between our needs versus wants.
Namita Nayyar:
Your daily fitness routine? Days/week? Also kind of exercises do you work out?
Mitushi Ajmera:
- I exercise 5-6 hours a week mostly. My busy day/days become my rest days.
- Twice or thrice a week I do Weight Training,
- once a week I do Pilates or yoga and once or twice a week I do cardio.
Namita Nayyar:
Share insight into your daily diet routine? Foods you must include? Any supplements you encourage women should take after 40.
Mitushi Ajmera:
I eat 5 meals a day.
- Breakfast: A fruit, omelette, toast/roti & Milk.
- Post workout/Mid-morning: Fruit/mithai, Buttermilk/protein supplement + Tea.
- Lunch: is Salad, dal, roti & subzi.
- Evening Meal: Milk, eggs, toast
- Supper: Tea & nuts or little khichadi
Supplements must be taken only as required. A few which I recommend, based on the person’s eating & exercise habits, test reports, and other symptoms:
- Omega 3 fish oil
- Calcium
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B 12
- Iron
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Multivitamin/Multimineral
- Glucosamine or Collagens
- Protein supplements
Namita Nayyar:
5 Pilates exercises to build abdominal muscles and shed belly pouch. Also, enlighten our viewers on how you lost one?
Mitushi Ajmera:
Actually, the belly is reduced with food interventions & cutting down of overall empty calories. Toning up is done with exercise.
My favorite Pilates exercises are:
- Hip rolls
- Criss cross
- Scissors
- Roll up
- Teaser
Namita Nayyar:
Body shying & shaming are issues common among women. Share Tips on how females can build a healthy body image without hopping on & off the scale?
Mitushi Ajmera:
Exercise improves our relationship with our bodies. It increases endorphins, our body’s natural pain killers, and feel-good hormones, which then help in increasing self-confidence and self-worth.
Exercise also improves blood circulation and facilitates cell regeneration, which affects not just our musculoskeletal system but our brain & nervous system too, making us mentally tougher. All these help in bringing body positivity.
Namita Nayyar:
You have undergone a number of injuries (ACL tear) and pain (slip disc, back pain)? Coping tips to manage pain & build strength and recovery.
Mitushi Ajmera:
My favorite line when it comes to an injury: “An injury is just a bend, not an end”.
It is this line that keeps me positive and gives me strength every single time. I believe that what has to happen will happen. There are things that are beyond anyone’s control. I never question, why something happened to me. Because what makes me accident or mosquito proof; why can’t it happen to me. After all, I am also only a human being. So I just put my energies into positive thoughts and actions. Leave the rest for my body to handle. It is this ‘never say die attitude, positive outlook, kindness towards my body, and diligent practice, which got me out of all my injuries successfully.
Some tips:
- Positive actions bring positivity: In a dark room, only when you turn on a bulb or light a candle, will there be light, otherwise there will only be darkness. So lighting that bulb is the positive action. !
- There is no upper limit to the efforts one can put: Don’t ask how much or how long do you have to do a certain thing, as everybody is different. !
- Pain and struggles are life’s lessons to make us reach higher levels: they force us to find our true potential, show us what we can’t see with our eyes open. !
- When one door closes, many open only if we look around. Life is full of opportunities for an optimist and full of threats for a pessimist.
Namita Nayyar:
Fitness Mantra you live by?
Mitushi Ajmera:
Move the body in all possible ways, using equipment available in any given location. For me, this world is a playground. When I see a new place, new material my mind only races to find ways of incorporating them into my workout.
Namita Nayyar:
Message for WF fans & your followers?
Mitushi Ajmera:
Please do share the following to Strive for Health and Happiness, not Thinness.
“Health and Wellness cannot be outsourced, you are the sole proprietor”.