Rana DAGGUBATI on beauty, fitness, health and wellness.
Your view on beauty?
Beauty is a feel-good, nice feeling. It’s what you are; not someone else. My foray into skincare is part of what I feel. I believe that men neglect skincare and grooming, because they seem too complex to them. My aim is to make ‘looking good’ simple for men through trustworthy, effective products. Think of an Indian brand for Indian men, with inclusivity as its core philosophy, and my brand, with its products for the face, beard and skincare categories, is just that.
Your ‘take’ on fitness?
I go to the gym twice a day. I work out for at least half-an-hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. For my morning workout, I first start with cardio; thereafter, I do abs exercises followed by strength training exercises. I do push-ups and lift weights too. In the evening, I repeat my morning routine, starting with cardio and lifting weights. My key focus is on my chest and triceps and I work hard to balance both sides of my body. I suggest that one should understand one’s body and do what is right. Just make fitness a part of your daily routine to live a healthy and peaceful life; and, do not smoke, or drink.
Your view of health and wellness?
I’ve undergone a kidney and cornea transplant, but this has not put me down. You’ve to face several odds to achieve what you wish, or want to. Never ever give up. When I was at Mayo Clinic, in the US, I could decipher what had happened to me. It’s amusing, because once you get into this life-threatening precinct, you start looking at life differently. I just did that. The outcome — my focused intent on good health and optimal wellness, come what may.
My diet plan is strict as I’ve to maintain my tall body to adapt to different roles.
Breakfast. My breakfast consists of heavy carbohydrates. I start with a big bowl of oatmeal with nuts. I take five slices of brown bread and eight egg whites with vegetables. I also include fruits in my breakfast — watermelon, or papaya
Snack. At 11:00am, I take a protein shake and some fresh fruits. Sometimes, I add a light snack too
Lunch. I prefer fish and lots of proteins with it, not to speak of greens
Snack. I take four slices of brown bread and four bananas before starting my evening workout session
Dinner. At 8:00pm, I’ve my dinner, usually loaded with proteins, so that the body can go for repair mode at night. My dinner also consists of rich protein salads. I do not smoke, or drink alcohol.
Your ‘take’ on work-life balance?
I was used to taking home the complexity of my characters at one point. Some characters made me drift into a different mind-set because of their multifarious essentialities. Now, after marriage [Miheeka Bajaj is his doting wife], I’m not taking that madness from work home. I’ve learnt to be composed. This means, I’m trying to strike that classical work-life balance. And, quite well, at that, perhaps.
Your mantra to beat stress?
The best thing to do is not get stressed in the first place. Knowing that our lives are so predisposed to stress is all the more reason to avoid worrying about trivial matters, like traffic jams that are simply not in our control. I indulge in doing anything I like. It could be listening to music, or watching a movie, or just playing a sport, viz., cricket, basketball etc., or working out in the gym. There’s, for me, a great deal of travelling involved, as you’d know. I’ve found the perfect way to combating stress in such situations. I just ‘log into’ my music list and snooze — it’s a great way to beat stress.
