MUMBAI: Actor Avinash Mukherjee who is seen as the lead in Sasural Simar Ka 2 is quite a handsome young man and his weight loss journey is simply incredible. In just eight months he reduced 16 kgs and he even wrote a book on his weight loss story. He says there came a point in his life when he didn't like the way he looked in the mirror and feels when you like yourself in the mirror then others will like you too. 
The actor was body-shamed when he featured on the show "Sanskaar - Dharohar Apnon Ki". At that time he weighed around 86kgs, but within eight months he reduced it to 70. Sharing his inspiring journey, he said, "I was doing a show called "Sanskaar - Dharohar Apnon Ki", I was 14 or 15 then. At that time I could afford to eat junk food every day and still get away with it. I have always been tall so when I was 15, I was around 5'11" and the weight wasn’t really visible. But then I realised that the place I want to work, my extra weight shouldn't be visible there." 

"I know there is nothing wrong in it but I didn't like the way I looked in the mirror. When you like yourself in the mirror then others will like you too. The world just reciprocates to your thinking this what I personally believe. It took eight months, my height went from 5'11" to 6 feet and my weight reduced to 70kgs from 86 kgs," he added. 

The "Balika Vadhu" star had a habit of taking milk and Bournvita every morning, but once he decided to give up sugar, he quit this habit too. Speaking about the same, he said, "As a kid, I had this habit of drinking milk with Bournvita and four spoons of sugar, my grandfather used to stir it till the sugar and Bournvita dissolved. It became a life long habit from KG to my 10th and 11th, I continued this as my morning ritual. But if you need to achieve something you need to quit some habits, so, I had to leave sugar. Soon I realized if I have the willpower to not have sugar then why should I have even chocolates and if I am in it so let’s just go all for it. In the first month itself, I lost 2kgs with no exercise or special diet. And when I saw my success I wrote a book which is available on Amazon."

Sharing his diet and cheat meal during the lockdown, he said, "My cheat meals are mostly on Sunday, it's like a pizza day or burger day, but rest of the week, I sleep around 5 or 6 a.m.and get up by 2 p.m., then I have my lunch around 5 p.m. My lunch consists of paneer, roti, dal, followed by black coffee in the evening. Then I have chana, bread butter, and poached eggs. Then after my workout, I have protein shakes,  when I don't feel like having them, I take a bowl of chana. My dad recommends chana instead of a protein shake. Then I have my dinner at 12 or 1 a.m. which consists of chicken or any vegetables, dal, rajma anything which has protein."

What about a workout routine? He said, "I try to exercise every alternate day, so three to four days a week and on those days I like to exercise properly for 45 minutes to one hour."  The actor feels that physical and mental health are both important and people should work on keeping them fit.  "Physical health and mental health both are necessary. I think mental health is such a big issue especially in today’s generation, but I think it’s very important to keep both things fit. I think both things go hand in hand simultaneously," he said. 

Any advice for people who want to lose weight - Just three tips: First, leave what you are obsessed with let it go. Second, try to walk as much as you can, even when you are locked inside your house, and climb stairs. Third, Don’t drink water for an hour after finishing your meal.