Losing weight is perhaps one of the most difficult personal goals to achieve for most people. The long days and nights of deprivation are enough to drive anyone crawling helplessly back to the fridge. Because no matter the marketing campaigns of diets that are supposed to make you feel full the entire day, the truth is you will feel devastatingly famished, deprived and eventually cranky.
The hardest part is keeping the excess weight off.
For now we salute these five people who have already achieved so much.
Andres “Andy” Vazquez-Prada
The 6-ft-tall creative director of W17 Home dropped 130 pounds in six months on the controversial Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG). From 314 lbs, he’s down to a trim 180.
The hCG, taken in shots or pills, reportedly regulates the metabolism through the hypothalamus gland. Granting that it does regulate the metabolism, the real deal here is that the hCG dieter is restricted to 500 calories a day. A fruit for breakfast, 100 g of fish or meat for lunch, and 100 g of veggies for dinner.
Today, Vazquez-Prada has adjusted to the diet, eating healthy and keeping to small portions prescribed by the diet.
Jackie Aquino
A year ago, director Jackie Aquino weighed 338 lbs. While his best friend, fashion designer Randy Ortiz, never gave up booking appointments for him at the Cohen Lifestyle Center
despite his consistent no-show, it was not until he felt a tightening in his chest that he gave it a serious thought.
After 11 months on Cohen, he’s lost 136 lbs. It was a weight loss that exceeded his expectations, he said.
This December, as he is officially off Cohen, Aquino’s resolve to keep the weight off will be put to the test. “My battle plan is simple. Eat smart and stay away from food groups that will make me gain weight. At this point in the diet, common sense with a good amount of exercise will keep me healthier and happier.”
Precious Lara Quigaman
When 2005 Miss International Precious Lara Quigaman was pregnant with her first child last year, the svelte 5’6” beauty queen ballooned to over 160 lbs.
A month after giving birth, she ventured out to buy clothes. A saleslady mistakenly thought she was still on the family way and asked her about the due date. That fateful encounter became her wake-up call.
Modifying her diet and going through the plateau stage only frustrated her, so she turned to Marie France for solutions. Four months after doing the Fat Mobilization System and TriPolar and Endermologie, she shed up to 25 kilos.
Geoff Eigenmann
Now here’s a guy who lost weight the “traditional” way—by combining exercise with a low-calorie diet. Actor Geoff Eigenmann looked so heavy at 5 ft 8, 240 lbs that GMA 7 management
put him under suspension last May.
Eigenmann took up Mixed Martial Arts under trainer Mark Ochoa at the Ultimate Fitness gym, joining classes up to five times a day and burning as many as 2,500 calories a day.
He cut down on his food, skipping breakfast or eating an apple before workout, eating taco for lunch and fruits for dinner. In four months the actor lost 40 lbs, and he’s been getting offers to star in a TV series again.
Eugene Domingo
Three years ago, the petite comedienne Eugene Domingo was seen on the big screen in all her 140-lb glory. After opting for healthier greens and fish instead of red meat and fried fastfood, and hiring a personal dietitian, the actress now weighs 112 lbs.
Save for an occasional slice of lamb, Domingo has all but eliminated red meat from her diet.
Her decision to lose weight began after the success of the first installment of the film “Kimmy Dora.” The actress said she found it increasingly hard to keep up with the irregular shooting schedules that she was often out of breath after each take. It was the combination of sensible exercise and diet, and lots of patience, that took her to her target weight.