Aanya Hirdaramani on Balancing a PhD with Psycle

Brown Game Strong

In this episode I ask Aanya how she quite literally manages being a Psycle instructor whilst doing a full time science PhD. From having been diagnosed with leukaemia as a child whilst growing up in Sri Lanka, to coming to London for treatment and boarding school and falling in love with science, fitness has been something that has followed her throughout her adult journey, and she shares with us how she organically came across the opportunity to apply to be an instructor at Psycle or the PhD she is now pursuing. Through her 'A Team', she motivates hundreds of people to fall in love with themselves and their bodies, and push themselves to show up and be better. However she doesn't shy away from her struggles and we talk about the times she has found it really difficult to manage everything and what she does to help get herself out of a funk.

One of my favourite parts of this episode is discussing food and nutrition and various misconceptions that exist around certain diets such as vegetarianism or veganism. There are some great practical tips on how to include certain food groups if you are struggling to figure out what to cook at home.

Aanya may not quite realise it but she is massively paving the way for South Asian women to fall in love with fitness and their relationships with food. I'm so proud that she is part of the same Sindhi community that I am from, because many women in our community don't typically place much importance on fitness and exercise and so it's great to see her among some other amazingSouth Asian women in the fitness space in Europe, charging right through that barrier.

You can find Aanya on Instagram at @aanya.h and definitely check out some of her music playlists that will get you pumped on your next workout.