“You know, I can lose or gain weight just like that,” says Arun Vijay, a fitness freak. The actor is known to meticulously sculpt his body to suit the character he is playing in the film.
For instance, in his recent film, Kuttram 23 , he focussed on adding muscle density and weight, as he played a cop. Prior to that, he had to shed a lot of weight, and achieve a lean look for Yennai Arindhaal , where he played a negative role.
In order to achieve the desired look, apart from intense workouts, he also pays a lot of attention to his diet. One major rule is staying off carbs. And if he ever does eat carbs, then it is in moderation (not from rice though) to increase muscle strength. “My mom prepares this navadhanya pancake without oil for me for breakfast and that helps the body build muscles. Peanut powder is a good source of protein. For lunch, it is either fish or chicken (boiled, steamed or barbecued only) and boiled vegetables, and for dinner it is roti with dal and boiled vegetables,” he says. “My diet depends on the workout pattern that I follow at that point of time.”
His wife Aarthi seems to be his motivator, for it is she who dissuades him from overeating. “But on our recent visit to Singapore with family (during SIIMA awards 2016), I was on a massive cheating spree. I simply love the variety of street food there — satay, sticky rice, barbeque chicken and a wide variety of seafood. But as it was just for a day, I indulged,” says Arun.
HYDERABAD,08/10/2013:A different variety of crab gassi on display at the AB's Restaurant at Madhapur in Hyderabad. ----PHOTO:NAGARA GOPAL
Aarthi, who loves cooking, specialises in North Indian dishes, apart from South Indian. “She is good at innovating and improvising my diet food. Say for example, she would cook chicken with palak or with paneer and make it tasty. She makes cooking more interesting.”
CRAB
According to Arun, he has learnt to stay away from junk food and food cooked outside, due to his mother. When he was in school, she would pack meticulous lunches for him that would be eaten up by his friends. “My mother has magical hands. She is unhappy about my dieting, as I don’t get to eat the delicacies that she dishes out. Her signature dish is crab masala . She would get huge crabs and prepare it in the traditional method. She would use only the traditional grinding stone ( ammikal ) to grind the masala and coconut for the thick, flavourful gravy. Now, it is my five-year-old son who enjoys observing her cooking the crab, touching it when it is alive and observing every step of her preparation, just like I used to as a child.”
OPOS crab curry
So, how does he manage to follow his diet while travelling for work? “I don’t find that a problem as I can manage with wheat bread, salad and barbeque chicken wherever I travel. They are easily available.”
COMMents
SHARE