Actress Deepika Padukone on Wednesday addressed the misconceptions around dieting, offering an insight into the dietary rules she has followed over the years to keep herself fit and healthy.

The mum-to-be emphasised that she enjoys food and prioritises a balanced, sustainable approach to eating. She also admitted to indulging in desserts and snacks without making it a regular affair.

“I eat! And I eat well! Ask anyone who knows me. So don’t believe anything else you might hear or read. The trick? Balance, Consistency and Listening to YOUR Body,” the Pathaan actress wrote along with a collage of pictures of desserts and snacks often considered unhealthy.

Deepika challenged the common perception of diet as starvation. “There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding around the word ‘Diet’. We often believe that ‘Diet’ means to starve, to eat less and to eat all of the things we detest. What ‘Diet’ really means is the total of all the food and drink consumed by an individual. The word actually comes from the Greek word “diaita,” which means “way of life”,” she explained.

The Fighter actress also admitted to indulging occasionally, but clarified that these indulgences are not the norm for her.

“I’ve always, for as long as I can remember, followed a ‘Balanced Diet’. And it is for me ‘a way of life’. I’ve never followed a diet that I cannot be consistent with or one that is a fad. Now, do I indulge? Of course, I do, as demonstrated above!😅 But it most certainly isn’t my way of life,” she wrote.

“Ever heard the phrase ‘you are what you eat?’ If there’s one thing I’ve learnt (the hard-ish way) is that those words couldn’t be truer,” she signed off, inviting her followers to share their diet-stories with her.