This month, I start a series on fitness where I ask my guests about their fitness routine. I call the series, Fitness Spotlight.Why fitness? Because it’s something that has helped me believe in myself and I feel it has made me a better person. While most of us think that fitness can be intimidating, I find it easy because I took it slow and set my own pace. Later on you’ll learn a thing or two from my guests as they share their stories, which hopefully can inspire you to start incorporating fitness in your lifestyle.
Today’s fitness spotlight is on Maureen Larrazabal. For those of you who don’t know, Maureen is an actress and have graced the cover of a men’s magazine numerous times. Yes, she’s the girl that one can tag for #WCW (woman crush Wednesday) and #girlcrush. Her Instagram feed shows not only snippets of her life at work but as well as her regular day at home or at the gym.
There’s no denying how much I love doing Pilates and thankfully, Maureen was very game to do a session with me.
It was Maureen’s first time to try out Pilates and here she was with Teacher Che, learning the basics on how to use a reformer machine.
Maureen did a few minutes warming up. Immediately, she was able to get the hang of how her body works along with the machine.
After a few minutes, Maureen was already comfortable doing side planks on the machine. Ang galing, parang hindi naman nya first time mag Pilates!
ME: What’s your typical day like?
MAUREEN: I wake up at 9 in the morning, make breakfast, take a bath and go straight to the gym. I go the they gym 4 times a week and I lift weights. When I don’t have work, I make sure to do yoga to counter my lifting. I don’t let a day pass by without working out. Even if I’m tired from work, I find time to burn calories and sweat it out at the gym.
ME: Despite your busy schedule, how do you maintain your figure and how do you stay in tip top shape?
MAUREEN: Aside from going to they gym everyday, I do portion eating. I believe 70% food intake and 30% workout is the key to achieving the body you want. As they say, “eat like a king during breakfast, like a queen during lunch and like a beggar during dinner.”
ME: I learned you have a gym and it’s where you regularly workout. Can you tell us more about it?
MAUREEN: Yes, I have a gym and it’s called Curves Gym. It’s a gym perfect for those who are interested to lift weights. We also have a sensei there for those who want to learn karate. It’s pretty much a hardcore gym. Para sa mga babae na hindi takot mag buhat at pagpawisan. I’m there almost everyday.
ME: Do you have any food indulgence or cheat day?
MAUREEN: Yes, I have. Usually it’s on weekends, Saturdays and Sundays which are my family days. Mahirap mag diet when you see your family indulging in food, ayoko naman i-deprieve ang sarili ko. So I make sure I have a day to indulge and eat whatever I want. I don’t eat pork and beef anymore but I do eat rice once a week. I am also not conscious when it comes to calories but I really make sure I do portion control.
It was my first time to ever try the cadillac (pilates bed) and I was intimidated by it! Heehee. Good thing, Teacher Che and Teacher Therry were there to assist me. There was pressure because Maureen wanted to try the cadillac but would want to see me do it first. I felt conscious as everyone’s watching me do the jack knife. Heehee.
Preparing myself for an inverted suspension.
And I did it! First timer’s charm. Heehee.
Maureen was such a natural. She has strong arms! Okay now I must start lifting weights too! She was all smiles as she literally hung out from the cadillac.
It was challenging to do Pilates for the first time. I was surprised that I did sweat as much as when I would lift weights. I also never thought I’m this flexible! I felt different muscle groups in my body were activated compared to when I lift weights. I also felt it in my core. I’ll definitely do it again!
I asked Maureen if she ever had a phase in her life that she was challenged health wise or physically. I was surprised when she shared that it was just last year when she was her heaviest.
“I was 185 lbs. last year and it was the heaviest I’ve been. This phase in my life made me depressed. There’s pressure because the screen adds 10 more pounds to my actual weight.I have so many clothes but then none of it fit me anymore. That’s when I realize that I had to do something. It was a wake up call for me. So that’s when I decided to really make time and dedicate at least an hour of my day working out. “
ME: Do you have any tips on how one can start his or her fitness journey?
MAUREEN: I am asked a lot of times about this and all I can say is you should be prepared to start anything in your life. If you want to start your fitness journey, you have to be prepared not just physically but mentally as well. Because if you’re not, you’ll find a lot of reasons to quit in between especially when physical pain or laziness kicks in. There should be determination and focus. You should also be prepared to undergo training that’s gonna be challenging, because there’s no pain, no gain talaga. You must really be psychologically ready that training will be challenging and it can be difficult. Para of course, you won’t quit agad-agad.
Do watch the quick video I made (pardon me if there’s no audio, the song I picked has copyright so YouTube had to mute it!) of my workout session with Maureen.
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Thanks so much Maureen for trying out Pilates with me! Special thanks to Tanya and the whole One Life Studio team for opening up your studio for our shoot!
Catch Maureen every Saturday on Pepito Manaloto at GMA 7 and watch out for her upcoming movie entitled, Love Is Blind which she is still currently filming. You can also catch Maureen at Curves Gym, 4th floor of Dangwa, Dimasalang. She’s there almost everyday so if you wanna workout with her, go to Curves Gym. You can also follow Maureen on Instagram at @maureenelarrazabal and like Maureen Larrazabal Fan Page on Facebook.
I hope you enjoyed the first of my Fitness Spotlight series. Got anybody in mind you want me to feature? Let me know! 🙂
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