Meet Trailblazer Puneeta Dighe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Puneeta Dighe.

Puneeta, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always enjoyed the healing benefits of sweat… of challenging my heart to where I feel out of breath and break a sweat or mostly pools of sweat! While the journey to sweat is hard and I don’t always enjoy it, the healing it brings to my mind keeps me motivated along the way! And I am pursuing this passion through my mission to create happiness and well-being for others through the healing benefits of sweat – the best antidote to physical and mental health.

After 15+ years in Corporate Marketing, I realized it was no longer aligned to my beliefs and I needed more. So, I decided to take the leap in 2017 and follow my passion for sweat, health, fitness, wellness and nutrition. Transitioning into a new career is not for the faint of heart… and I am not so I took the challenge head on!

I spent countless hours getting certified, practicing, attending fitness events, networking, attending classes and doing my research. When your passion is your work, learning and applying becomes easy. You become more open and accepting of new opportunities that you may not otherwise see. I now teach a variety of fitness formats, 8 – 10 times per week at studios across the metroplex, one-on-one, virtually and at several Fitness events. I also love the opportunity to give back through partnership with It’s For Charity by teaching Pups and Pilates and Groovy Yoga events to spread joy through fitness.

Why I am living my passion through SWAZFit
Growing up in India, I was not the average skinny teenage girl. My body type was not the one to fit skinny jeans, shorts or dresses. I was constantly teased and made aware of my chubby physical appearance and how I was different from the average. One day, one of the boys we played soccer with mentioned how the earth was shaking because I was running. That was the day I could no longer pretend the teasing didn’t hurt. I left the field under the pretense I was tired and cried my eyes out at home. The next day, I decided I no longer wanted to give others a reason to tease me and the only way I knew how to change the situation was to start exercising. So, I inserted my Madonna cassette tape and started doing jumping jacks in my room I shared with my little brother. This led to high knees & anything else that I thought was exercise and would make me sweat. I remember feeling in control, empowered and really enjoying that feeling of catching my breath and the sweat! I kept going for days, months, years… but without any emotional support or formal coaching/training, the physical and mental exhaustion with overtraining led to depression and an unhealthy lifestyle of eating “enough,” but working out even more. An unintentional battle with anorexia in college, landed me in the hospital for two nights for dehydration. This forced me to make a change again. I had to change how I was nourishing my body and exercising. Through self-education, I realized skinny was not the answer, healthy was! When healthy became my goal, the rest of life fell into place. Each time I have come across a new challenge, I have been able to work through it with overall health and wellness at the forefront of my life.

I experienced postpartum depression after the birth of both of my beautiful daughters. I was gratefully able to work through each of these challenges by relying on my relationship with fitness and the healing it brings to my mind, body, and spirit. (There are many variations of postpartum depression and the accompanying struggles each includes, and I do understand and respect that many women struggle with challenges that exercise alone cannot resolve.)

Having a relationship with fitness creates a foundation in your mind to make exercise as much a part of your lifestyle as sleeping, working and brushing your teeth! When I realized how much I enjoy talking with people about my love of fitness and the journey I took to reclaim my health and wellness, I knew this was my path!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Opportunities rarely come without challenges. My challenge has mostly been balancing my role as a mom, wife & entrepreneur. It is not always easy prioritizing my entrepreneur ambition over my family’s priorities. But I am living my passion for my family and without their support, I wouldn’t be able to do what I Love so it’s small sacrifices for the life we are making together. I also don’t look the part, but I definitely Live the part! My success has been mostly through my true passion and motivation I bring to fitness and wellness to help bring results for my clients.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sweat At Zero (SWAZ) Fitness and Wellness – what should we know?
If you are wondering why SWAZ or Sweat at Zero, you are not alone. It’s because I have trained my brain for years to start my reps at zero, instead of one. It gives me a constant set of “extras” that helps me remember I can tackle life head-on, even when the unexpected arrives! When I’m teaching a cardio and strength-based class to my personal fitness coaching clients in a group, one-on-one or virtual sessions, we start reps at zero!

I also started SWAZFit to help companies build healthy businesses through healthier employees. For years I witnessed colleagues get unhealthier with increasing responsibility and tenure, which usually brought more stress and didn’t leave much time for self-care. Instead of bearing the burden of bad health as a cost, I want to help employers use wellness and happiness as currencies for profit by designing exercise and nutrition plans that are easy to implement and sustain for long-term savings.

I am giving individuals and businesses fitness, wellness and nutrition solutions to prevent disease and allow people to be better instead of just “feel better.” I love the energy from sweating, eating and being well, and I want to invite individuals on their journey to love themselves through a lifestyle of fitness!

I teach a variety of Fitness formats…. anything that makes people move – mostly HIIT, Dance and Mat Pilates formats. I am so blessed to be part of the fitness families at the YMCA, 24 Hour Fitness, Cowboys Fit and I started group fitness classes at Bent Tree West Swim and Tennis Club, a social community clubhouse in my neighborhood. I also work one-on-one with clients in-person or virtually on Fitness and Nutrition guidance and planning. Community fitness events include Pups and Pilates Charity Events I launched in partnership with the nonprofit It’s For Charity events. We raise money for dog rescues across the metroplex by giving 45-minutes of sweat and cuddles & licks from puppies that are adoptable. My other community events are in partnership with Athleta where I offer free Bollywood Pilates classes that blend Bollywood music rhythms with the benefits of POP Pilates. I was recently also invited to teach Groovy Yoga and a Pilates session at the Cosmic Yogi Festival. Ellivate Alliance, a group created to help female entrepreneurs thrive, recently highlighted my business as a featured business entrepreneur.

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
One of the reasons I left the corporate world was when it became clear to me that I had hit a ceiling as a woman leader. It was going to take so much more sacrifice and time away from my family to prove myself without the opportunity to have an equal voice to make a difference. Taking that detour from the corporate marketing world into the Fitness world, I am blown away by how many inspirational female leaders I can look up to and learn from, which pushes me to work harder every single day! The way to continue female leadership in the fitness industry would be to make sure we continue to lift each other up and live by our beliefs and priorities as women.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: sweatatzerofitness
• Facebook: swazfit
• Email: swazfit@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Atali Samuel Photography

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