Last Friday, July 7, showbiz icon Sharon Cuneta and her daughter Miel Pangilinan were introduced as the new InLife brand ambassadors or Dreamweavers who will amplify the company’s mission to help Filipinos lead “A Lifetime for Good.”
Aside from taking inspiration from the Megastar’s wise financial decisions and investments, I also find her weight loss secret intriguing. I asked what it was after the media conference and referred to her recent photos where people online have been raving about how younger and slimmer she looks.
“It took seven years!” Sharon smilingly reacted. “When your weight loss is slow but steady, people only notice when you have trimmed down. They don’t remember the whole journey. If you go through my Instagram feed from a year ago, [you will see the difference].”
Sharon revealed working on her weight loss for seven years but really took it to heart last year.
“If you go through my photos, you will see the progress,” she said and later emphasized that one will not be able to lose ten pounds overnight. “Even if you have liposuction done, which I had done many years ago, I have proven that it would be useless if you don’t go on a diet. For me it’s diet,” she revealed and laughingly joked about being too lazy to engage in exercise.
Her weight loss tip was consistent with what she said in a media conference for the primetime series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano had in 2021. Back then, people had already started noticing Sharon slimming down.
She revealed then, “I started in January 2016. I remember making a commitment to myself, finally. I’ve been losing weight slowly but steadily. You reach a point when you hit a number, you don’t know what it is, when you hit that number on the scale, it will suddenly drop and people will notice.”
Two years ago, Sharon described her weight as almost half of what it used to be. And these days, she is noticeably looking lighter than before. Overall, Sharon said it has been a healthy journey.
“It was for my health, actually. I really made a commitment to myself that I want to be able to play with my future grandkids,” she shared.
The iconic singer and actress also added that she wants to be healthy enough to spend time with her children Miguel and Miel, who are both in their teens.
“I don’t want to miss out on anything so I had to do it for myself. When you do it for someone else or something, it’s not going to last. I had to talk to myself, ‘Kaya mo ‘to! (You can do this!) Has anyone questioned your discipline before? No.’ So, I challenged myself. Thank God, [things worked out].”
“I wish I could say that I work out regularly but I’m not going to lie, because I don’t,” Sharon confessed during the mediacon which is still the case for her these days. “If I can, I just go on the treadmill.” She added rediscovering her love for swimming which she loved as a little girl.
For those who cannot commit to strict diets like the popular no-carbohydrate type, Sharon’s journey is inspiring. She shared her slow-but-sure eating secret, “I did not remove carbohydrates
[from my diet], I just lessened. I just got used to it. You just have to train your tummy. They say, when you stretch it, it will stay there when you eat a lot. Over the years, since I was in my 20s, I was also used to having viands with vegetables as my rice. Thank God I’m not very much into rice. I’m also not into sweets and I cut down on bread, my weakness. I also avoid sweet drinks.”
Sharon said, “I’ve done so many crash diets in the past and they have all resulted in rebound weight. The rebound weight gain is often bigger than what you lost and harder to remove. So, I stopped.” She reminded with confidence, “I speak through experience. I’ve been through so many diets. More protein, less carbs. Not no carbs, just less.”
Anyone battling to lose excess weight right now can learn a thing or two from Sharon. She captured her journey with this piece of advice we often take for granted, “Everything in moderation.”
