Actress Saiyami Kher's passion for fitness and sports is not hidden from the world. Beyond the realms of acting life that come with a super hectic schedule, she remains disciplined and focused on her fitness routine, which includes waking up at 4 am to exercise.

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On World Health Day, Saiyami spoke exclusively with WION, emphasizing that "health is the greatest wealth," and the only way to achieve overall fitness is consistency, which will eventually become part of your life, just as it has for her.

The Mirzya actress encouraged young kids to leave their phones behind and participate in outdoor sports. She expressed concern over children adopting strange diets in the name of fitness.

Read excerpts from her conversation below:

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WION: How do you define ‘health’ beyond just physical fitness?

Saiyami: Health is everything. When people use the phrase health as wealth, it means something that was not understood when you were younger. But how much you work, how much money you make and how famous you get, if you don't have health by your side and you are in a hospital bed or you are at home, none of the wealth or money matters. So, I think health is more important than anything in the world.

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WION: What is the key to your fitness journey, and how do you balance intense training with your packed schedule? 

Saiyami:  Consistency is the most important thing. If you stick to doing something every single day, you are bound to get better. Just showing up is extremely important when we speak about fitness. Because we get lazy, we do it for three days. Also, it's not about intensity, but it's about consistency. Because you come in and do like 40 km on Monday. Nobody wants you to do that. Gradually grow to that. So, being sensible, being consistent, and just showing up are the most important lessons that I have learned. 

When it comes to balancing training with work, I think it's just a little bit of planning that you need. I push myself and wake up early at 4.30 or 4. So, usually, I finish my training before my day starts. And it's almost become a part of my life. Like, I can't imagine not doing something or not training, swimming, cycling. I can't imagine it. So, it just becomes routine, like how we wake up,  have breakfast, and have tea. I exercise for 2 hours.

WION: Do you think that people are too obsessed with performance and data?

Saiyami: Everything has become so technology-driven that this watch, this ring, I also wear all these things. But sometimes, I feel like just leaving, not being very data-heavy, enjoying your run or enjoying what you're doing, and not being bothered about posting your time. Just go out and enjoy it for the sake of enjoying it.

WION: What would you tell young women who think health is about losing weight or looking a certain way?

Saiyami: I feel that aesthetics is something that you should not pay attention to, because the weighing scale and looking a size zero and looking slim, this is unhealthy, doing diets, because I see so many 16, 17-year-olds doing all these strange diets and this Intermittent fasting for 20 hours and not eating. I think it's not advisable for your body at that age to do all these things. You need to lead a healthy, balanced diet life with exercise, not be stuck to your phones and digital gadgets. These are very basic things which keep you healthy. As you see, everyone is obsessed with their phones.14-year-old kids in parks- they're not even playing, they're just playing on their phones. So, I feel this needs to change. Get out and play cricket, play some sport, that's what you're meant to do when you're young.