Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Vinesh Nagrani

Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more! Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook!

Name: Vinesh Nagrani (@vinesh_nagrani)

Age: 29

Height: 1.77m

Weight: 72kg

Occupation: Documentary film maker

Status: Single

Food: I eat a high protein, low fat and high carb (only till sunset) diet.

Exercise: I train hypertrophy 4 times a week and do sprinting twice a week.

Q: Would you say you're a sporty person?

A: Yeah, I played tennis, golf and football. I'm competitive in almost everything I do, with football being the most consistent growing up. I could pick up a golf club or tennis racket now and be warmed up within 30 mins though. It's in my blood.

What does fitness mean to you?

Apart from editing and writing, fitness is the only other mode that can compel me to be in the present. I can push myself in my artistry and so can I in fitness. The need to push past my limits is what it takes for me to really be in the now. I still find meditation a challenge.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

During my early university days. I was 22, 23 years old, still studying and feeling a void. I felt like I wasn't gravitating in any way towards my potential. Socialising was a big thing in uni and I felt empty when I conversed with women at the time.

I didn't know what I was representing or whom I was bringing to the table. It was a culmination of alienation, lack of fulfilment and identity crisis that ultimately led me to giving birth to Vinny Sharp, in attempting to flesh out purpose and vision. Vinny Sharp offered me the platform to find tangible motivation in feeding the inquisition through research and reflection.

Formulating my opinions on things is what grounded me with a sense of identity. Reading and writing is what it took for me to figure out who I was. Mind you that this person is constantly evolving, but to at least have developed a starting point was crucial in figuring out where I was coming from.

I know what I know. And what I don't know, I don't know. Being comfortable enough to emanate this consistently is what confidence is to me. Confidence isn't an issue today and hasn't been for a very long time. I have enough to spare a constituency.

Are you satisfied with your body?

I'm satisfied when I know I'm putting in the work. Aesthetics are important no doubt but the litmus that really dictates my sense of satisfaction is derived from how hard I'm pushing myself at the gym. The rest I leave to God. "Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh." (Khalsa belongs to God and Victory belongs to God).

Do you get any comments about your body?

It's very hard for me to leave the house and return back in peace without being bombarded with comments about my physique and aesthetic by members of the opposite sex. I receive many comments about the succulent cheek bones. The tantalising eye lashes. The divinely petite and tight patooties. And of course, my luscious inner thighs for the prime select who've had access.

The comments I can tahan (tolerate).

But it's when women in public (particularly the staff at Sephora) undress me with their eyes. It can be very overwhelming. I finally know what it must've felt like to be Chunky La Funga in the 1980s.

Contrary to popular belief, I must say. It is tough looking this good. If only 'A' levels prepared me for this type of hardship. I mean, if only 'A' levels prepared me for anything tbh.

Is there anything you would like to change about yourself?

What point would there be in me progressing from day to day without a desire to change? I'm transforming everyday. Training with EJ Philips at alphabeastfitness is helping me do precisely that.

Did being on Netflix’s Singapore Social change your mindset about life in any way?

Not really. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the process. Quite frankly, it was one of the most enjoyable three-month periods of my life. In fact, that may have actually been the problem – that I was having way too much fun. Turning up every other day to a bar/restaurant to have passive conversations over over-priced negronis rarely leads to legitimate confrontation of mental models.

I can tell you what does compel alteration of mindset though… dating a married lesbian through the circuit breaker period. Now that will give you perspective, homie.