HE HAS NEVER been to a gym and strongly advocates against it. “Donate that money for charity!’’ he remarks. Diet is also a big no for him. Milind Soman, the Pinkathon ambassador who was in the city to announce the dates of the fourth edition of the marathon in Kolkata, makes us note that at 54 he is fitter than ever. The effervescent actor-model talks about having a connection between mind and body, why climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was easier for him at 54 than at 22 and why he doesn’t believe in the concept of the gym. Read on:
On Valentine’s Day this year, you shared a special message that said ‘Your first relationship is with your mind and body. The health of all other relationships depends on this.’ Can you elaborate on that?
Ever since I have started running I have had people telling me how much weight they have lost. And to that, I am thinking how did you put on that much weight? Where were you looking? Being unfit is a symptom of the fact that there is a strong disconnect between your mind and body. You have to give yourself a hundred per cent first before you give the same attention to others. Without doing that you are only existing just 50 per cent.
What do you do for your mind and body connect?
The understanding of the importance of mind and body connect was brought to me at a very young age since I was heavily into sports while growing up. I stopped competitive swimming at the age of 23 and started running marathons at the age of 37. Everything that I had learned as a child came back to me and it came back at the correct time, a time when you forget your responsibility towards yourself. We need to be relevant to ourselves whether we have reached retirement age or not, without thinking about the society. People sometimes talk about self-love being bad. The biggest message of Pinkathon is when women see thousands like them participating in the marathon, they realise that it’s okay to take out time for themselves from their familial responsibilities; it’s okay to be selfish.
What is your diet like?
I don’t have a diet. I eat whatever I want. What is important is that your body is functioning well. One should also positively deal with stress. Do you deal with stress by running? I don’t run to exercise. I run because I enjoy it. Exercise is always goal-oriented. Once you have reached the level of fitness, you just need to be as active as possible.
You never went to a gym?
Never! I used to swim 65 kms a week! I don’t even run 65 kms a week now. That’s how fit I was. I exercise at home if I want like push-ups and squats with no routine. Gyms run with isolation technique and those are relevant for body building and not for fitness.
With you turning 55 this year, has there been any change in your routine?
I never had a routine. I do the same things that I did 20 years ago. Last year I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro again and it was easier at 54 than 22 years ago when I was 32!