Business tycoon Anil Ambani, who used to weigh 110 at one time, decided to lose weight after one of his investors said that he could not invest in a company, where the CEO did not pay attention to his health (how could he carry his company on his unhealthy shoulders).
Turning Point
Anil Ambani was 40 years, weighed an uncomfortable 110 kg and could barely walk a kilometre in an hour, let alone run. Like his father, his fitness, or rather lack of it, also had his shareholders worried.
Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries, told his younger son, Anil Ambani: “Look Son, you can buy any luxury you want in life – from clothes to food, from a home to a holiday – but you can never buy health. Do whatever it takes to make yourself feel good.”
Anil Ambani rose to the challenge, and his inspiration to run, came from the then American president, George Bush, who, despite being in his mid-50s, would run at least a few kilometres every day.
Marathon Man
Today, Anil Ambani is among India’s fittest business tycoons, has lost one-third of his earlier weight, and is rightly known as the ‘Marathon Man’.
A committed marathoner, Anil Ambani runs at least a hundred kilometres a week. The man, who runs in cool running gear – black spandex track pants, fluorescent green shoes to go with fluorescent sunglasses and a black t-shirt with ‘running’ written across in fluorescent green – has grown leaner as he has aged.
Watch: Anil Ambani’s fitness trainer Rujutha Diwekar shares her experience working with Anil Ambani.
Staying Fit
Ambani’s day begins early – around 4 – with a run. If he’s not running on the treadmill, he’s out jogging on the roads of Mumbai or Delhi or whichever part of the world he’s in. Else, he’s giving the elevator a miss to dash up the staircases of high rises.
His fitness trainer, Rujutha Diwekar, said that Anil is disciplined, doesn’t smoke and is a teetotaler. While he doesn’t believe in dieting, Ambani is careful about what he eats. So, it’s honey instead of sugar, bajra or jawar roti instead of wheat. White products like milk are a strict ‘no’.
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