Aamir Khan took his daughter Ira Khan for a ‘fasting retreat’ in Germany: ‘He held my hand and…’

Aamir Khan's daughter Ira Khan revealed that the actor took her to Germany for a fasting retreat (Photo: Instagram/Ira Khan)

Aamir Khan’s daughter, Ira Khan, has always been candid about her mental health and body image struggles. She had earlier revealed that she attended therapy with Aamir years ago. Now, in her latest social media post, Ira has spoken about her challenges with weight loss and recalled a phase when she believed she was “fat”. She also shared that Aamir took her to Germany for a fasting retreat and held her hand during walking sessions.

Ira took to her Instagram handle on Monday to post a video, in which she talked about her complex relationship with her own body throughout the years. Along with the video, she wrote in the caption, “What I looked like when I thought I was ‘fat’/‘unfit’. And the moment I understood what it felt like to be in a… fight, almost, with your body, weight and sustenance. It’s one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt.”

In the clip, Ira Khan started off by talking about how she avoided looking in the mirror while growing up, and never really understood the difference between being unfit and overweight. “I grew up never looking in the mirror because I thought it was vain, so even when I brushed my teeth or when I was in a lift, I would never look in the mirror. I would sneak glances and then look away even when no one was watching. What this means is that I didn’t really know what I looked like, and so in the beginning when I thought I was fat, I would say fat. I meant unfit. I actually didn’t know what I looked like,” she said.

She added, “In 2017, I got a slipped disc and I think I kept re-injuring it because of being silly up until 2019. Towards the end of 2019 is when I started to feel unfit and in my head I started to think I’m fat because to me unfit and fat were the same thing. Here are pictures of when I thought I was fat.”

Ira then shared that there was a point of time when she used to cry at the gym, and shifted to her favourite sports, football. “It kept getting worse, and before I knew it, I had put on 30 kgs. At the end of 2020, I was at a place where I didn’t want to eat anything unless my mum had said I could eat it or a doctor had said I could eat it. Even if it was home food, I would feel bad about eating it. And through the year I remember times where I would order a lot of ice cream and a lot of dessert and eat the whole thing and then feel really sick afterwards,” she admitted.

Ira continued, “Fortunately I caught it and I was like, ‘no, you are not going to develop an eating disorder.’ So, I would make sure that I didn’t starve myself but I really wanted to. I would feel really horrible, and very scared to eat. At some point towards the end of 2020, I really freaked out and I was really struggling.”

However, it was her father Aamir Khan who supported her and went with her to Germany for a fasting retreat. “We went to Germany for a fasting retreat. We spent 17 days there. I fasted for 17 days in a completely controlled environment with doctors and making sure it was safe. Apart from the fasting, we had free rein to do whatever we wanted…. They would take us on a walk and there were 3 levels. There was the fast group, the medium group, and then the old people group,” she said.

After joining the medium group, Aamir stood by Ira like a rock, holding her hand as they walked. “I remember crying and at every step, I felt like I didn’t know how to take the next step… My dad was standing next to me and holding my hand. He was trying to say ‘we just take one step at a time.’ But I remember looking down and thinking how helpless I felt,” Ira shared.

Ira wrapped up the video by telling that between 2020 and 2026, there were three times where she was “fat and obese.” “I finally checked my weight last year in June and I found out that I was 84 kgs. And that really shook me because the last time I checked, I was 57…To anyone who struggles with their weight, whether it’s putting on weight or losing weight, I believe you. It is very painful and very hard if you feel like your body’s not listening to you… It’s one of the most terrible feelings I’ve ever felt,” she concluded.