Singer-actress Sophie Choudry, who was born and brought up in London, felt that she was big and larger than everybody when she moved to Mumbai.

"In London, except for 2-3 desi girls, all there were tall, blonde and slim and I also felt that I was that. I felt I was big when I moved to Mumbai, when I started working for MTV. I found the girls in Mumbai very skinny, very small, I felt I am much larger than everybody.

"Maybe I'm more curvy, I'm slim but not like a 'dandi'. Typical Indian body type is skinny legs and a tummy, but I never had the stomach, I had fit legs, a fit body," said Sophie on a panel discussion on fitness and nutrition.

"Few people would comment on it and that's a very bad health space to be in, because I was fitter than most people, maybe girls might have been much more skinnier than me, but they were not as fit as me, someone could be half your size, and she could not be fit at all, whereas you might be heavier, but you have muscle and not fat.

"I was confident about my body, I was different from other girls and that became my asset," she added.

"If I do not work out or if I don't do some kind of exercise, I'm miserable. And it's not because I want to be thin, it's within myself that don't feel good, I don't feel positive. I do not diet, I do not deprive myself of anything, but I maintain a basic healthy lifestyle."

About three secret fitness tips she would like to share, she said: "My number one secret is consistency, second don't do something because somebody else is doing because everybody is unique; understand your body and what works for you, and third, never starve yourself, you'll actually become fatter."

Sophie was last seen in a song in the Paresh Rawal-starrer "Dharam Sankat Mein".