Kamini finds her soul’s harmony

“As a Valentine’s Day idea, I coated some chicken hearts in sumac and crushed garlic. They were incredible!” – Kamini Pather

Where did your fitness journey start?

I have always been sporty. In pre-primary school I was asked to be both the school mascot for my internal sports house and to compete in a sports event. I alternated between being upfront, singing chants in a tutu and ballet pumps and cheering the other children on before swopping to my running shoes and looping around the track for my races. I’ve always run to some extent, but I was more of a five- or eight-kilometer distance runner. It was only when I was invited to be an ambassador for the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in 2016 that I decided that I needed to take my training up a notch. At that stage I was running four times a week, but these days I run three days a week. Exercise makes me feel free. In my line of work, there’s daily pressure to look a certain way and say the right things and exercise is how I release my brain from the shackles of society. I enjoy listening to podcasts while I run or going to heated yoga sessions which re-align my mind. The rhythm is my moving meditation.

Tell us about the big races you have run?

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was my first and only marathon so far. The word “gruelling” doesn’t even begin to describe that race. Yes, it’s beautiful and the energy of the crowd is incredible but by 30 km in, my body was starting to feel the weight of the 12.2 km still to go to complete the 42.2 km total marathon distance. The Soweto Half Marathon was quite a challenge. Having trained in Cape Town, the difference in climate as well as the altitude made that a particularly difficult race. But running through the streets of Soweto with people lining the streets cheering us on carried me through. The Cape’s Gun Run 21 km was fun because I ran with a few friends. When we ended the race we went straight to lunch!

Your career revolves so much around food. What does it mean for you to eat healthily?

If I go for a morning run or to a yoga session, I will drink a glass of water before I head out. The second I get home I have breakfast which is usually low-GI toast with an egg and tea. I don’t drink coffee often because of the post-caffeine dip. My tea is either black rooibos or breakfast tea with a splash of cold milk. Lunch and dinner are usually a protein with veggies, unless I go out for dinner. I’m adventurous with my meals so nights out could be anything from corn tacos with langoustines to beef burgers with cheddar and chipotle or a tuna hokey. I eat as healthily as possible but there are times when I crave a burger. My go-to spots are Junior Burger and Cafe Royale in Cape Town. If I am going to eat fast food, I will opt for flame grilled chicken or sushi. I take sugar but I believe that balance is key. If I’m out at tea time, I will order black tea, no sugar, and a slice of whatever cake takes my fancy. The fact that I run means that whatever extra sugar-derived baddies are left over are taken care of on the road. I adore cheese - glorious cheese! Give me any brand of goat’s milk, 12-month aged Dutch Gouda, mouth-coating brie or an obnoxiously stinky Swiss Raceltte – and I will eat it all!

Why is seasonal food important to your cooking?

Seasonal food is important to me. My best example is the litchi and mango season in KwaZulu Natal. That’s when my taste buds know that it’s December and the season is short so I make sure to eat my fill. I appreciate the seasonality and lower prices of fresher produce which make me feel like a witness to a fruit or vegetable’s time on shelf is a coming-out party. They’re debutants for only the locals to feast on.

Why do you want to get South Africans off junk food and cooking using seasonal and locally grown foods?

I want to get South Africans to start thinking about how they eat. Even if they choose to eat junk food, they need to do it with knowledge of where the foods they eat come from and how they are made as well as understanding the health effects of added sugars. Many people don’t know that there are seven teaspoons of sugar in a 340ml cold drink and merrily feed it to their families. I hope that by speaking out about the food values I believe in people will begin to eat critically. A focus on seasonally and locally produced food is not just buzz words, it’s an economic concern. With our pending recession, purse strings have tightened. I want to show people that eating healthily can be cost-effective and easy. I want to empower people in simple ways, for example by giving them ideas of how to turn one meal into two or how to bring variety into their meal routines.

You will be hosting a MasterClass at the Discovery HealthyFood Studio in early June. How does a partnership with Discovery Vitality help you to take your aims forward?

Not only am I a Discovery Vitality member, but I have also signed up for the Vitality HealthyFood cash back at Woolworths, as well as the HealthyCare benefit. I have my app on my phone and enjoy knowing that I made my weekly activity goal. Providing me with achievable short-term goals positively influences my long term, overall health. My collaboration with Vitality makes sense because we both believe in sustainable, healthy living which includes an active lifestyle.

If you’re motivated by Kamini’s story and want to run a race – whether 5 km or a marathon - join SA’s most popular running and cycling club,Team Vitality. To catch Kamini’s HealthyFood MasterClass between 2 – 3 June 2017, simply register here.