FOR most of us who belong to Generation X—now in our mid-thirties—thereis probably no other singer/actress more recognizable than Sharon Cuneta. Even without the presence of the internet and social media back then, we all knew what was happening to her. We’ve all been witness to almost every event in her life. We grew up with her, saw her fall in love, get married and bring KC Concepcion into this world. We’ve also seen her get hurt, breakdown, get separated, and eventually find a new love and start a new life. But in her more than three decades in the industry, there was only one thing we never saw her do—fail.
Maybe that is why people have made her battle with the bulge such a big issue, because throughout her life and career, the Megastar has only failed in losing those pounds and keeping her weight down.
But just like the resilient actress she’s become, Sharon takes this battle head on and enlisted the help of Marie France in her quest to slim down.
At a press conference for her latest endorsement The Mandarin Oriental Makati, the Megastar showed off her new body to prove just how serious she is about losing weight—permanently.
“I’m a happy person. I prefer to be positive and not think that there are struggles that cannot be solved. My faith in God is too big for that. But if there was one problem that I knew I could control, but I just did banjing-banjing for a long time – it’s really been my weight!”
“I signed up with Marie France in the second quarter of 2010, and I started the treatment in July,” she revealed. And despite of her “on and off” visits to the clinic because of her showbiz commitments, Cuneta says she’s already lost several significant pounds and 24 inches all over her body.
“I’d like people to realize that out of the 45 years of my life, I was slim for more than three-fourths of my years on earth. But there were a lot of factors in my weight gain. One was I think I ruined my metabolism with all the crash diets I did. Plus I realized I was an emotional eater,” she admitted. “Ang daming emotion ng pagpayat or pagtaba ko. Even before, hindi ma-predict ng mga tao na either I was in love or nag-break kami ng boyfriend ko that’s why I lost or gained weight. If a project did not push through, I got upset.
So nawawalan ako ng gana. I started eating without the intention naman of gaining weight.
She also mentioned childbirth and not having developed proper eating habits because of her work as the other factors of her weight gain.
“My weight loss is so important to me, before inuunahan ko lang, tatawa ako. I learned more about self-preservation. You save your heart from pain. Sabihin ko or i-psych ko ang sarili ko na, ‘Oh, pipintasan ka kasi hindi naman ganyan ang itsura mo noon.’ So when other people would comment, ‘Ang taba-taba niya,’ ready na ako agad. Eh totoo naman eh. ‘Di ba? Tapos masakit. And feeling ko whenever I look—and this is so important especially to me–whenever I look in the mirror before, it wasn’t myself that I saw. And
I missed myself so much. Because the image was so far from what I used to have. Sharon what did you do? Where are you? I would tell myself that. So halos kaya ako maiyak-iyak kasi hindi ako makapaniwala sa pictures pa lang, parang nakikita ko ako.”
Cuneta says this time she opted to become more fit to enjoy a more active lifestyle with her four kids.
“I’ve always wanted to have nice long walks with my children; not naman marathon. It’s to keep up with them ‘pag naghahabulan dyan, so that when I tickle them, hindi ako hapung-hapo agad.”
She admits work is also part of the reason. “I want to do a lot of work. I couldn’t possibly finish a movie if
I have no energy. I wanted to give my fans my best. On screen it’s really unfair; if I lose 10 pounds it doesn’t register agad. Because I’m still carrying 10 pounds on TV. If I’m malas I’m 10 to 15 pounds bigger on the screen.”
She reveals a busy year scheduled but has kept Valentines free. “I’m not doing a Valentine show this year, because my husband wants me to himself.”
After Star Power, she’ll be hosting the Pinoy Edition of Biggest Loser, followed by a movie and a concert tour in Europe in the middle of the year.
Compared to her previous attempts at weight loss, Cuneta says she’s more realistic this time. “Honestly, I had an invasive treatment before. I never denied that. But that’s such a quick fix and it gave me more headaches because of the problems it caused on my body. I think there’s nothing wrong with that though. But I wish I could have gone to Marie France before going through the invasive procedure. I wish I could have lost weight much sooner, and I would be able to keep it off. Now I’m losing the weight that’s close to the natural way. So far I feel good! I’m happy with the results.”
The Megastar says she is fully aware that her battle with the bulge is far from over, but this time she says she has found new hope. “If you’re feeling hopeless, please don’t. I’ve been in that desperate stage. There is a way and you owe it to yourself to look and feel better,” she ends.