Vidya Balan is back as Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and her fans just cannot keep calm. Apart from her comeback in the Bhool Bhulaiyaa series, she has undergone a massive weight loss journey. In a recent media interaction, she revealed that she achieved this weight loss by following a specific diet and ‘no exercise.’
She opened up about her body image and journey with weight loss, revealing how years of battling societal judgments around her body have shaped her outlook. For much of her life, Vidya felt pressured to be thin, due to which she stayed confined to strict diets and rigorous exercise regimens. But this approach didn’t help her. She often lost weight only to gain it back. This year, however, she found a different approach with the help of Chennai-based Amura Health, a nutritional group that emphasized reducing inflammation instead of focusing solely on weight loss.
Vidya shared that Amura’s team helped her identify specific foods that caused inflammation in her body, resulting in bloating and weight gain. Through an elimination diet, Vidya removed certain foods, even those typically considered healthy. “I didn’t know palak (spinach) and doodhi (bottle gourd) don’t suit me,” she explained. This approach worked wonders, helping her shed weight by addressing her body’s unique needs. “We often think all vegetables are good for us, but that’s not always true,” she said.
Another shift in Vidya’s routine was abandoning her intense workout regime. “They asked me to stop working out,” she shared. For the first time, Vidya spent a year without heavy exercise, and the results were unexpected. “People keep telling me I look my slimmest, and I haven’t worked out at all this year,” she said.
Reflecting on her experiences, Vidya shared the negative impact societal judgments around weight had on her self-esteem. “I grew up with the label of being a fat girl,” she said. The constant focus on her weight, especially in her early career, left her associating her worth with her appearance. She shared how her self-image was once shaped by external opinions.
Vidya also tackled the way society perceives and labels body types. Vidya said that ‘fat’ almost 'seems like abuse today' but she chooses to constantly use the word 'fat' because 'there are thin people and there are fat people', and she 'does not think it is shameful in any way'. She said today people say fat in a way where 'it feels like you are fat-shaming someone'. But Vidya feels that you are 'just describing the body size' when you call someone fat, and all the judgment around the terms needs to go away.