Vidya Balan on body positivity: 'People have told me to lose weight, but I don’t think anything’s wrong with me'

Vidya Balan said that while her goal has never been about losing weight, she clarified that she has “always strived to be healthy"

Vidya Balan has always been body confident and has long championed body positivity, even before it became widely discussed. The actress, who continues to make bold, unconventional film choices, recently opened up about being shamed for her size at different points in her career and how she has dealt with it all.

In an interview with Anupama Chopra, Vidya shared her views on the increasing pressure to look a certain way. She added, “But there are also enough voices that are saying, ‘I don’t fit in.’ There are years I have gone around saying, ‘I am fully accepting of myself,’ but I am not sure if that was the case. But I kept telling myself that. You fake it till you make it.”

While Vidya’s goal has never been about losing weight, she clarified that she has “always strived to be healthy.”

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The actress, who is on a hiatus, shared that she isn’t in a hurry to get back. She loved exercising the luxury of choice. She said, “I think I am shamelessly optimistic. I have so much self-belief. I’ve put myself out there at my biggest without batting an eyelid. People have told me to work on myself, to lose weight. But honestly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me.”

Vidya added that it’s the first time she hasn’t stressed about not being on set or working. She is thoroughly enjoying her time away and going through scripts. The good news is that she has already picked two films she is excited about, though she refrained from sharing details.

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Vidya Balan’s Weight Loss

Earlier, Vidya had spoken to an entertainment portal about the difficult journey she has had with weight loss. She admitted to being on extreme diets and following exercise routines that failed to work. However, things shifted after she consulted Amura Health, a healthcare company. She realised there were certain foods that had to be eliminated from her vegetarian diet, as they were causing inflammation. It has made a huge difference and helped her lose weight easily.