at a recent awards function vidya balan was repeatedly congratulated for her weight loss but the actress didnt pause to utter thank yous in reply to the compliments it has taken vidya balan two decades of crash diets exhaustion from exercise regimes and constant criticism for being fat to finally come to terms with her curves backed by family and husband siddharth roy kapur the 36yearold is finally detached from the public dialogue surrounding her body and revealed her long journey to acceptance in a conversation with mirror vidya recalls that she spent her childhood without being subject to body shaming but that phase was short livedread bollywood actresses who lost weight i have always been a fat child but growing up i thought i was a beautiful girl with large eyes and long hair but when i went to college i began to feel very small in my bigness she says it was a passing comment from a friend which put her on the path to crash dietingread vidya balan sanjay leela bhansali to visit ghais film school i drank 10 litres of water everyday the friend called it water therapy that was the beginning and the dieting continued for yearsthanks to peer pressure the focus point of my life was being a desirable shape after finishing her ma vidya decided to pursue a career in bollywood and entered a world obsessed with gymhoned physiques she did not fit in and the criticism began after the release of kismat konnection in 2008 vidyas weight and its reported connection to the end of her brief relationship with shahid became stuff headlines are made ofvidya gave in and sought professional help my nutritionist told me that i had a medical condition which hindered weight loss and i was put on a pill the pounds dropped off her and vidyas slim appearance in paa was given the thumbs up by starwatchers and industry insiders but the actress paid the price for the regime i was constantly exhausted while i was on the medication and once i stopped i gained double the weight i had lost i went from doctor to doctor and imagine my surprise when i was told that i was absolutely healthy the actress realised that her nutritionist had fabricated the story of a medical condition to make her consume the weight loss pills her goal was to become the nutritionist who made vidya balan thin my weight loss meant she could set an example and get more clients i have since become wary of doctors if this can happen to me it can happen to anybody vidya gained 12 kgs for the dirty picturevidya was revelling in boxoffice success and public adulation but the compliments turned into sniggers when ghanchakkar released but this dark cloud has a silver lining it has helped vidya identify her true friends over the years she has weeded out the friends she made after her bollywood debut i made a lot of friends i