With food, listen to your body not your mind, says Kirti Kulhari

Kirti Kulhari, 36, started her career with the film Khichdi, then did the offbeat but critically acclaimed Shaitaan alongside Kalki Koechlin. In Pink, she stood out with a powerful performance. Then came Uri: The Surgical Strike and Mission Mangal. She has taken to the digital space as well, with Four More Shots Please! and Bard of Blood. Coming up is Bataasha, where she plays a musician. Here’s a look at how she handles stress and keeps fit.

My fitness mantra is exercise regularly; listen to your body and not your mind when it comes to food; and keep calm and focus on relaxation.

Exercise makes me feel good instantly. I alternate between yoga, sports and weight-training. I love badminton and can play it anywhere, anytime. My husband [actor Saahil Sehgal] and I both love yoga, so I also have downloaded various apps which we follow to do different asanas.

I eat pretty much everything but believe in moderation. I love food and try not to deprive myself of that pleasure. I avoid junk food and have consciously cut down over the years on white sugar, white flour and fried stuff but there is a little bit of cheating every once in a while.

I keep my food simple and home-cooked as far as possible. I eat salads and fruit daily. I have three or four meals a day. Breakfast is usually eggs with toast or poha or upma and some fruit. Lunch is rice or roti with dal, sabzi and salad, followed by buttermilk. Dinner is similar, sometimes accompanied by some prawn or fish or chicken.

I eat out once or twice a week, but even then, I avoid unhealthy food. I love makhana, but I also snack on channa, peanuts and banana chips. I love sweets, so that is a challenge; my guilty pleasures are jalebi and motichur laddoo. I also love salted potato chips; they’re irresistible.

I find aromatherapy candles very calming, especially lavender, mandarin and white tea. I love listening to music, and playing the harmonium and electronic tanpura as I am also studying Indian classical music.

I love to travel and that simply recharges me. When shooting and travelling, my phone is something that I really stay away from.