Offline walkers to online buddies

July 06, 2010

A group of fitness enthusiasts in Bandra take their familiarity and fitness fundas online

Ashutosh Shukla

"In our group there is no stinginess or cribbing or envy. We share all we can so that all benefit. We are all inn this correction mode all the time where we tease friends if their paunch shows. We make them do extra rounds of the slope and ensure they are off fatty foods," said Poonam Karia

It was the common stretch where they walked daily that the women noticed each other. Soon they smiled. And from the smile grew proximity, with the group finally getting its formal name - the Rainbow Walking Buddies (RWB). RWB is a group of 12 fitness enthusiasts who swear by the slope they walk at - the Mount Mary Slope near Bandra Bandstand.

And while is still a part of their primary workout regime, RWB has outgrown its initial role. From cracking jokes and providing emotional support in times of distress, to preparing diet charts, sharing diet recipes and posting them on Facebook and even catching up for healthy diet meals, the group has come a long way.

"With changing work hours and children to look after, it gets difficult to meet at the same time every day. That is the reason we started the Facebook group to stay connected. We post messages and ensure that we meet at least once every week, mostly Saturdays," said Shehrebanoo Harneswala, one of the members of the group.

"And by diet plan, it's not like we starve ourselves or stay hungry. We do enjoy all kinds of food but in a way that they do not harm our health and forms part of our routine diet,' said Andrea Park, who has lost six kgs in the last two years. She now nibbles on something every two hours of the day, and it's a habit she is fast getting fond of. "Naturally, I have lost six kgs and I am trying out more variety of food while eating less at the same time, so how can I complain,' she says.

Eating every two hours is a suggestion she got from a friend who had visited a dietician, "In our group there is no stinginess or cribbing or envying. We share all we can so that all benefit. We are all in this correction mode all the time where we tease friends if their paunch shows. We make them do extra rounds of the slope and ensure they are off fatty foods," said Poonam Karia, another walker who lost 14 kgs in six months.

"Achieving targets is no mean task, and who likes to go to gym when you have such good friends to walk with. In fact we are so noisy that we are alarm people with our laughter," added Poonam.

Poonam too attributes her weight loss to the soups, egg whites and other healthy food items courtesy fellow-walker, Frazana Fazelbhoy. "It's something I learnt when I met a dietician, and shared. But it's not like we stick to only healthy foods. Once in a while we try out delicacies that our friends are good at,' added Farzana. Kombdi wads, biryani, ice creams and brownie are some of the items that they try when they meet up for dinner. "I even shared a brownie recipe after these guys had come over to learn," said Fazelbhoy.

And it's not just the food items. The group even manages to learn all they can from each other that can help them enhance their personality. "For example we learnt jive and cha cha from one of our colleagues. It was fun to learn it among ourselves," said Tarannum Afridi, another walker.

"It is this varied background and the different religions that we come from, which strengthen our bond and help us learn different things. That is also the reason we call ourselves the rainbow group, as we are all different but are found of each other too," added Afridi.