If you believe that having a family and having children means abandoning your aspirations, let Kiran Dembla be your motivation.
Currently, you may recognise her as a fitness celebrity who is pioneering the way for women in the muscle-building industry. But it wasn’t always this way for her. But where there is a will, there is a way–and Kiran is evidence that nothing can impede you when you resolve to achieve greatness. She is, after all, a DJ, climber, celebrity fitness instructor, and businesswoman.
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But Kiran was not the same ten years ago…
If you believe Kiran’s goal has always been to be a fitness influencer, you’re incorrect. She was entirely focused on her children–a boy and a girl–about a decade ago.
Destiny had a distinct master plan for Mrs Kiran Dembla. She was diagnosed with a blood clot in her brain shortly after the birth of her second pregnancy.
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“I was shocked and shattered. The stress of it all, as well as the post-pregnancy weight increase, hit me all at once. “I used to look in the mirror and realise how much of myself I had lost over the years,” she recalls.
“I didn’t know what I was doing with my life.” It was almost as if I hadn’t done anything till the age of 30. I was obsessed and didn’t look anything like I did in college. And believe me, that was not a pleasant place to be. I couldn’t concentrate on anything”.
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Then came her pivotal moment, when everything shifted for the better for Kiran Dembla
She tried yoga, swimming, and ultimately a gym, where she was “too nervous.” “Sometimes, I’d just go in my salwar-kameez and attempt to blend in, hiding behind the equipment.”
This world of weight lifting, repetitions, and protein drinks were foreign to Dembla so she just mimicked what the gym bunnies around her were doing. “Eventually, I made friends, and the lads would assist me out. I became obsessed with working out and shed 25 kg as a result. I was in a better mood.”
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She informed her spouse a year later that she wanted to begin her own gym. He said, “Are you insane? All of a sudden, yeh kaunsa bhoot chadh gaya dimag mein?” “But I was motivated, so I took an online gym training course and hired a neighbouring flat so that I could be close to my home as well.”
It didn't end there for her…
When she reached 40, she established a new goal for herself: to have a six-pack. “However, there was a lot of pushback; people began saying on social media that I was getting macho and using steroids. Nobody dared to say it to me directly because they knew they’d get slapped if they did.”
Kiran Dembla had her six-pack and an opportunity from the Indian Body Building Federation to compete in a World Bodybuilding Championship in Budapest seven months later.
“My husband opposed since I’d have to wear a bikini, but I eventually won him over. I consider it a blessing that I do not live with my in-laws, as they do not interfere with my decisions.”
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She represented India at the competition after four months of rigorous training and adhering to a strict meat-based, high-protein diet.
Dembla’s life is now a few galaxies distant from her previous one. “I moved from being a housewife with no aspirations or hobbies to being a bodybuilder and a personal trainer to hundreds of people. I had to give up my love of eating and afternoon siestas, but it was well worth it.”
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