After entrancing India for years with her easygoing charm, PC has marked her place internationally and the whole world loves her. Priyanka Chopra is no ordinary woman. She hasn’t allowed the rapid shuttling between two continents to take a toll on her fit body, which remains smokin’ even after a hectic schedule. So my potato self decided to look up her diet and fitness regime in the hope of getting a body as healthy as hers. It obviously included a load of workout, alongside a diet. Since my fat ass detests exercise, I decided to give only the diet a shot.
Her diet mostly entailed a list of ordinary dishes which weren’t tough to procure and include in my daily diet. This is how it went:
Breakfast (9:00 AM)
1. 2 Egg Whites or Oatmeal
2. A Glass of Milk
I’ve never really liked oatmeal, and I love the oozy yolk of eggs. So, I had a hard time choosing between the two. I solved the dilemma by selecting the option which was easier to bear- eggs without their yellow goodness. Milk was already part of my breakfast, so I didn’t have to scrunch up my nose for this one. Compared to my daily breakfast, this one seemed like a mere snack and it left me seriously hungry. But since I was on a strict diet (for the day), it took me an iron will to stop myself from eating anything more.
Snacks (11:00 AM & 1:00 PM)
1. A Glass of Coconut Water
2. A Handful of Nuts
As per the plan, I was to consume coconut water and nuts every two hours as a light snack, so as to not let the stomach remain empty for long hours. My stomach could do with the nuts desperately but not with coconut water, the taste of which I find unpleasant. I went ahead with it regardless, but, unfortunately my taste buds maintained their stubborn enmity with coconut water and I couldn’t drink it. I just couldn’t. Therefore, I switched to plain ol’ water and a handful of assorted nuts- cashews, almonds, walnuts, pistachios. I threw in some flax seeds too. This snack was rather fulfilling and left me satisfied for two hours, after which I took a second helping.
Lunch (2:00 PM)
Lentils, Vegetables, 2 chapattis with Salad
This was the least problematic meal, since this is the staple lunch menu in every Indian household. I therefore didn’t have to change any part of my lunch and it remained the same. I ate a simple potato curry with 2 chapattis and some salad. I hate lentils but haven’t been able to avoid them ever due to unrelenting pressure from my mom who doesn’t take no for an answer (she’s very particular about lentils for some reason.) So apart from my daily whining about lentils, lunch passed smoothly. This was just the right amount of food my stomach needs in the afternoon, so I was sufficiently full.
Snack (4:00 PM)
I repeated the water and nuts snack within two hours of eating lunch. It was fine, not really necessary, for I wasn’t too hungry. But I didn’t mind.
Evening Snack (5:30 PM)
The prescribed meal plan gave me two choices here, either a turkey sandwich or a bowl of sprouts. No extra points for guessing which one my unhealthy habits gravitated me towards. Sprouts were a definite no-no. So I bought a turkey sub from Subway (work smart, not hard). I got it stuffed with veggies and a couple of sauces, while steering clear of cheese and mayonnaise. It made for a pretty heavy snack, but eating it so early into the evening didn’t spoil my appetite for dinner.
Snack (7:30 PM)
It was time for the water-nuts snack again. By this time, I was honestly so done with this superfood combo. It got SO boring, and it simply felt like a rulebook necessity to be consuming it every two hours. I went ahead with it anyway, for the sheer satisfaction of having followed a schedule for once in life.
Dinner (9:00 PM)
1. Soup
2. Grilled Chicken/ Fish with Sautéed Vegetables
Dinner was a delightful affair. I opted for a simple chicken soup, followed by a grilled chicken and some sautéed vegetables. The quantity of the meal was just perfect, being neither too light nor too heavy. The deliciousness of this continental meal made up for the annoyance caused by the constancy of the nut snack.
I can’t go without something sweet after dinner. And although Priyanka Chopra’s diet allows her to eat dessert only on weekends, I couldn’t help but cheat a bit. I helped myself to chocolate, but only just a couple of pieces.
So, there. I ate for a whole day like Priyanka Chopra. But the funny part is, by the end, I didn’t know how I felt about it. Apart from the recurring snack of nuts which made me feel like a squirrel, nothing was a huge game changer. No meal was so extraordinary that I looked forward to eating it. The sub however, was a fresh change, since I’ve never attempted to eat it between meals due to its capacity to fill my stomach. This time it didn’t though, because the timing was probably perfect. All in all, the actor’s diet is pretty #basic, and a bit similar to my own. I wouldn’t mind repeating it, but then again, I might as well stick to my own diet.