Nanita’s advice to female body builders:

Nanita Maharjan’s journey to the world of body building and physical fitness starts in 2016 when she wins the First Mr. Kathmandu and Lady’s Fitness Championship held in Kathmandu. At that time there were only six participants in the tournament.

After securing first position in the Lady’s Fitness Championship Nanita got the chance to participate in two international events in 2016 and 2017 when she succeeded in showcasing the talent of Nepalese women athletes in international arena.

“After winning the crown in Kathmandu in 2016, I was selected for the 8th World Body Building and Physical Sports Championship held in Pattaya, Thailand, where I won bronze medal in the athlete physique in 165 cm height category in the same year,” she shares with The Nepal Weekly.

Nanita became the first Nepali woman to win international medal in body building and physical fitness. She then grabbed silver medal securing second position in the 9th World Body Building and Physical Sports Championship held in Mongolia in 2017.

However her dream to win gold medal remained unfulfilled as she could not participate in the world championship in 2018 due to her physical illness despite practicing for about a month. Thereafter, she didn’t participate in body building and fitness competition, rather she kept herself busy in training, planning, judging and other athletic activities.

She has set an example that women are none the less bold and courageous than men. At the age 39, she is both bold and beautiful, and strong as well as attractive. A soft-spoken and intelligent woman, the mother of one son, Nanita still looks pretty despite being a dedicated athlete.

She was interested in sports since her childhood. “I used to play basket ball and volley ball during my school age,” she recalls. She likes music as well. “Who doesn’t like music?” she asks. “When the music is on I feel like dancing.”

When asked “Do you think that women were not much attracted to the field of body building a decade ago?

“Yes, 7-8 years ago, very few women were attracted to the fitness sports. But now it has become quite popular among women,” was her answer. “At that time many women were not aware about it. After I won the medal many women became aware and they showed interest in the area of physical fitness.”

When asked, whether women hesitate to practice body building because they might loose their beauty Nanita says, “women usually do not prefer huge body, as it doesn’t look nice and attractive. “They wanted to build the body but at the same time wished to look beautiful and sexy as well.”

Many women want to build their body through fitness exercises, and also prefer to keep their beauty and feminine qualities intact, according to Nanita. “The society also expects the women to be attractive and beautiful even when they practice physical fitness exercises.”

Therefore, Nanita advises women to maintain a moderate body not a huge one, while practicing fitness to remain healthy and strong. Women should have all those qualities, which make them look like women or different from men, she opines.

Here Nanita shares her story how she got involved in body building some ten years ago:

“After my marriage at the age of 23, I became very fat gaining weight up to 75 kg. Then I decided to do yoga and joined yoga classes at Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur. I was going to yoga classes alone at that time. Then my husband advised me to start doing gym. I joined gym and after practicing for months I lost lots of weight. The result was surprising, my weight got reduced to 53 kg. I looked 10 years younger and beautiful than before. I then started participating in games, which helped me to look even younger.”

Nanita says her husband is the inspiration behind her progress in the field of body building and physical fitness.

She wants to train her 14 year old only son in physical fitness. Her entire family is in a sense involved in physical fitness. Her husband is also a body builder, from whom she got inspiration to join this field. “My mother in law also practices Yoga and stretches. My sister in law and brother in law both are involved in fitness exercises.”

So far as her diet is concern, here are her tips:

“I eat dal bhat every day like other normal Nepali people. However, I take food by maintaining calories. I consume 200 gram meat every day and eat 5-6 eggs.” She also takes fruits. During tournaments she avoids spices food.

In her opinion, vegetarians can also become athlete like her.

In a question she says Nepali sports persons are lagging behind in international competition not because their diet is poor or they don’t get training or do exercises, but because of lack of awareness. “THey don’t have awareness and also they lack platform to show their talent,” says she.

In her opinion, one can earn sufficient money for maintaining life by pursuing body building and fitness as career.

After she made physical fitness her career her confidence level increased and she got respect in the society as well, according to Nanita. She has no plan to enter the film world and also she has shown not much interest in politics till now. She wanted to train people specially women, who want to learn physical fitness.

Currently she is running Bajra Nanita’s Fitness at Bhaisepati in Lalitpur district. There are at present 200 members and 50 percent of them are women, according to Nanita. She is the managing director of the fitness centre. She has employed few trainers for the centre as she is not involved in training. “I am involved in the management side at the fitness centre,” she says. Nanita is also involved in sports management at Mangal High School at Kirtipur, her birth place and her home town.

Here are her likes:

–     Best Food – Newari cuisine

–     Best dress – Coat pant and Sari

–     Best place – Kathmandu

–     Best Colour

–     Aim in life – To earn money and embark for world tour