An Entrepreneur, a fitness model, an athlete, and a fit mother, Afreen Khan is an outstanding woman whose transformation journey is an inspiration for many out there. From being an overweight employee to a businesswoman, representing today’s woman in a pageant, and being titled Mrs. INDIA face of South 2018, Afreen Khan has come a long way. Today, she is working with reputed brands and spreading awareness about healthy living standards irrespective of status and age across India.
When did you start your transformation journey?
Afreen Khan – I started my journey into fitness five years ago. Like most women in our society, I dedicated most of my life to being a mother. But in the pursuit of being the ideal mother, I somehow forgot to take care of myself. I gained a lot of weight, and that didn’t just affect my health. It affected my overall well-being. I was slowly sinking into depression with self-esteem issues, so much so that the mere thought of taking care of my health made me feel selfish.
What motivated Afreen Khan to change herself from an overweight mother to a fitness influencer?
Afreen Khan – The constant body shaming by my friends, my continued lack of confidence, and increasing bouts of depression made me so cranky that I was constantly irritable. I was making excuses saying now that I am a mother, how can I find time for myself? What would people think of me if I went to the gym? Somehow, this self-pity had started to suffocate me so much that I knew I had to start somewhere. So I decided to join a gym, and that was my first step.
I initially wanted to lose weight so that I’m somehow considered worthy. But, this is a very shallow idea about health or about anyone’s worth that our society conditions us to. However, I soon realized fitness had become a way of life rather than a means to an end.
What difficulties did you face during your journey?
Afreen Khan – We live in a country where women are constantly scrutinized for how they look. This stage of meeting the society standards tops the chart when you are married because you are expected to look the best on your D-day. But after that, who cares? Now bring motherhood into the picture, and nobody cares how you look. You are a mother now. People need to understand that fitness is a priority, not a luxury. It’s not about how you look; it’s about what your body can do.
I faced a lot of insensitive comments from my friends and colleagues about my weight after postpartum, which led me to low self-esteem. On the outside, I was fine, doing my work, taking care of my family, but on the inside, I knew something was breaking, suffocating, making me hate myself every single day. So I took the first step to change that and find a way to discover my happy self once again.
I found that one hour out of my routine for myself and started spending that time in the gym. I had started loving me-time in the gym so much that I felt empowered every time I achieved a small goal I had set for myself. Fitness is not a number on a scale or a size. It’s how it makes me feel about myself.
What are some significant milestones you achieved?
Afreen Khan – When fitness and self-love became a passion for me, life started paving the way for unknown territories. I had the opportunity to represent Bangalore on a national level platform and was crowned the FACE OF SOUTH 2018 in the Mrs. INDIA EARTH pageant. After the pageant, I was featured by renowned platforms like Decathlon Sports India, Womanly, Quint, Indian Women Blog, Body, strength, etc., for my transformation journey.
From being a shy art-loving person who never played a sport all her life, I am now a health blogger, a fitness model, an athlete, and a social media health and lifestyle influencer.
Tell us about your workout routine?
Afreen Khan – I begin my day at 6 AM. After sending my daughter to school, I go to the gym and work out for around 90 mins. I do a combination of cardio and strength training. I love doing compound movements like dead-lifts, but right now, my focus is calisthenics. I am learning bodyweight training. After I finish my strength training, I get on to my work responsibilities. Being an entrepreneur, my work has no fixed timing and can get extended to late evenings, but that one hour that I spend in the gym is my me-time, and I don’t let anything take that away from me.
Being a mother, wasn’t it challenging to start something and come back home to significant responsibilities?
Afreen Khan – It was challenging to take that first step, to realize that I had to do something about my health and that I am a woman first and then a mother, a wife. Until I did not love myself, I would not love my child or my family. And it’s not just the mental battle we women face; it’s a lot of physical challenges inside your body once you become a mother.
Along with physical limitations and mental pressure, I lost my identity as a woman, which scared me because I have a daughter, and I had to set the right example for her to follow. My daughter is my biggest supporter, and she works out with me when I train at home. She enjoys watching me be fit and is learning about the importance of health at such a young age.
How did the idea of being a fitness influencer pop into your mind?
Afreen Khan – I started my fitness journey for others, but now my growth is mine. I have no inhibitions about how people judge me or the way I look. With time, I understood that people will always find something to talk about you. Nobody should decide their worth based on other people’s opinions.
PEOPLE APPRECIATED MY EFFORTS when I started sharing my transformation journey, workout schedules, and before-after weight loss pictures. They started respecting that I wasn’t always fit, but I paved my way through it. Today, when someone comes to me and says, you inspire us to be fit or take care of ourselves, I feel like I chose the right path.
What message would you like to give our readers?
Afreen Khan – We are made to believe that working out is only for looking good and only for actors or models, but this notion needs to change now. Fitness is way more than appearance.
It’s a way of life that changes the way you deal with life. The first piece of advice to those complaining about weight is to stop the pity party and quit the excuses. Once you accept that you deserve better, you will take the road to self-love, and I feel mothers need this the most because somehow, we forget to love ourselves. After all, that tiny human you bring to life becomes your only recipient of LOVE.
Mothers should set good examples of being healthy and fit for their children throughout their lives and not restrict fitness to a particular age, profession, or status. I am working on spreading this message to as many as I can, and hopefully, someday, every woman will include fitness as a part of her day-to-day life as a means of self-love.
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