Most women in the fashion and entertainment industry spend their lives either aiming for or maintaining an hour-glass figure. "You can never be too rich or too thin" are mantras they live by. Fortunately, there are a precious few who strongly advocate keeping it real. Pakistani model and actress Hareem Farooq, who has her own fitness goals, makes sure she doesn’t go beyond her healthy weight. "My fitness goals are just to stay fit. I’m not a size zero fan at all; I think curvy is a beautiful shape," Hareem maintains.

A remarkable addition to the pool of modern day Pakistani actresses, the beautiful and talented Hareem Farooq made her way to the entertainment industry with her theatrical acting debut in 2012 followed by a film, Siyaah. Hareem is a brilliant actress, who has worked in several hit TV plays including Mausam, Doosri Biwi and Diyar-e-Dil. She will be playing a lead role in the upcoming film Dobara Phir Se and is also producing Janaan simultaneously, both releasing this year.

While Hareem’s path to professional fame is undeniably impressive, it’s her personal, weight loss journey that most women don’t know about and could actually benefit from. Hareem managed to lose 35kgs, gradually over a period of two years, when she realized that she had gained a lot of weight at the age of 18-19. But there were no boot camps or fad diets for her. All she did was adapt a healthy lifestyle, which included eating better and exercising more to stay in shape.

Instep caught up with the actress for a low down on how she manages to maintain a balanced lifestyle – both physically and emotionally.

"I try my level best to not follow a sedentary routine, especially after losing 35kgs," Hareem shared while talking about her lifestyle choices.

Food choices

When it comes to eating preferences, high protein and low carbs dominate Hareem’s diet. "I am really into organic foods and proteins, especially fish. I also have lots of green tea and lemon. That’s the first thing I have in the morning and [I] can never let go of that," she informed. Also, she believes nothing is better than fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

Talking about her eating routine, Hareem asserts, "I have small meals every three hours and do not eat anything at least two hours before sleeping."

Burning calories

Not very happy about the fact that she misses out on her workouts while shooting, Hareem says she exercises at least thrice a week. Quite surprisingly, she doesn’t have a personal trainer. "I like doing my own research and be my own motivator," the self-driven actress added.

Hareem mostly opts for weight lifting and cardio, while at the same time enjoys burning some calories by dancing when not at the gym.

Mental wellbeing

Considering mental peace to be the most important thing, Hareem shares, "I love listening to a lot of music and also watch a few good television series and movies to keep myself mentally fit." She likes to spend some quality time with her close friends and family and is adamant about her sleep routine – seven hours is a must.

However, it is interesting to note that Hareem has recently found a new way of releasing stress – coloring books for adults have become her new addiction now.

Motivation factor

Hareem has a natural tendency to gain weight quickly and it often becomes very difficult for her not to gain weight. In that case, "the feel good factor you get by staying fit" keeps her motivated.

Piece of advice

Hareem considers it important to concentrate on good health and not sizes, and advises the same to her fans and readers. "Please remember healthy means healthy and not size zero," she concludes.