THE RUNNING 'BABA'
By
Khushwant Singh
Fauja Singh
British Marathon Runner
Fauja Singh British Marathon Runner
Fauja’s Diet
Fauja Singh was soon becoming a household name and one of the questions that intrigued the people the most was his diet. What was it that he ate that kept him fit, agile and healthy and almost immortal? At five feet eight inches, Fauja barely weighs fifty kilos and surprisingly has no fixed nutritional plan, which you would expect a top-notch athlete to follow. He follows his own diet plan, and the irony is that he isn’t a large eater and doesn’t get tempted by food.
His simple mantra of ‘eat to live’ as opposed to ‘live to eat’ has worked very well for him. ‘More people die of overeating than starvation,’ he says, justifying his limited diet that comprises traditional Punjabi food and savories.
An early riser, Fauja usually wakes up by 6.30am and kick starts his day with a cup of Indian style tea. Tea is followed by a half bowl of hot crushed alsi pinni (an Indian sweet made of flaxseed, nuts, wholemeal flour and jaggery cooked in rarefied butter). It is Fauja’s staple diet and the runner swears by its nutritional value. His pinni indulgence is followed by a bowl of homemade yogurt and two glasses of lukewarm water. He then leaves home for a long walk and meeting up with community members at the local gurdwara or shopping malls and eats a very light lunch. If he is at the gurdwara he eats langar, the community lunch, but keeps it light having one bowl of lentils with one chapatti. He doesn’t eat vegetables like cauliflower and okra. Dinner for Fauja is also very light and comprises a vegetable of his choice, a bowl of lentils heavily garnished with ginger and a slice or two of brown bread which he dips in the lentils. He is a strict vegetarian, and also enjoys fruits, mango being his favorite, and indulges in a couple of them during the entire season of the fruit. ‘It saves me from constipation,’ he exclaims. ‘I have eaten and drunk everything in my youth, but now I have to be cautious of what I eat and drink. Perhaps that is the reason for my longevity and healthy life,’ he says, which also works as an advisory for many.
