How Lotlot lost weight and found herself?

My editor had been requesting me to write an article about a woman I fondly call "Lotlot." I wondered if the interview would ever take off. Baka magtawanan lang kami. That’s how Lotlot and I are like when we’re together.

But I still set an interview with Lotlot at her bakeshop/café at Don Antonio Heights. Oh, yes, she has one called Charlotte’s Kitchen. We set it at 5 p.m. but unfortunately she got stuck in traffic coming from Parañaque. I decided to just leave the questions I had prepared.

Before she became my sister-in-law, of course, I knew her already. Superstar Nora Aunor was her mother so Lotlot was also always in the limelight.

I did a movie with Nora and Lotlot’s dad Christopher de Leon so I would see her. After a couple of years Lotlot became an actress, had her own variety show, Lotlot & Friends, where my brother Ramoncito was a co-host every now and then. Little did I know she would become my sister-in-law. Little did I also know we would end up treating each other even more than sisters. She is like the sister I never had.

This woman I call "Balot" is someone who, though much younger than I am, has a maturity beyond her age.

I run to her for a lot of my problems and she has given me answers or solutions I didn’t even know there were.

Young as she was when she married my brother, Lotlot adjusted so well to being a mother and a wife. I would look at her, see that little girl and yet see a woman.

She is also someone who has successfully been able to do something about the weight she gained during her pregnancies.

She battled her weight gain for a year. Everybody had been hounding her about it, until one day she decided to go for it and passed with flying colors.

Excerpts from our interview:

Jacquilou Blanco (JB): Did you have weight problems when you were younger?

Lotlot de Leon (LD): I don’t think so although I was never really conscious about my weight and the way I looked. But I remember a time when I was 10 or 11 that I was a little big and my mom enrolled me in Vivian Zapanta’s workout classes.

JB: After you gave birth to your firstborn, Janine, did you try and lose weight right away? How much weight did you gain?

LD: I had gained a little already before having Janine. I was around 130 to 135 lbs. Then, I got pregnant. I think I gained about 65 lbs. During my ninth month, I was 205 lbs. My doctor said I might have a hard time giving birth because I had gained so much weight! I didn’t try to lose weight right away because I was too busy taking care of Janine. After a few months, I decided that I wanted to.

JB: How did your weight gain affect you as a person, if it did? The way you looked at yourself?

LD: I have never been vain. I was never really bothered about the way I looked. I remember there was a time when there would be write-ups about me saying na mukha daw akong aparador, but I was never bothered about it. I was too happy with Janine and I couldn’t care less about what other people said about me.

JB: What did you do to lose weight?

LD: When I had finally realized that I needed and wanted to lose weight, I tried everything and anything. Even Mamita (that’s my mom, Pilita. That’s how we all call her, including her grandchildren) would help basta may mahanap siyang diet or anything to do with losing weight, she would encourage me. But none of them really worked. I would lose a couple of pounds and then gain them back again after. Andiyan yung mag-exercise ako, mag-gym, mag-aerobics. I even had packed diet food delivered to my house. But after that, I just gave up, until I discovered playing badminton. That’s when I lost all the weight I had gained.

JB: People were badgering you to lose weight. Did that encourage you or piss you off more?

LD: I think I got frustrated because of all the pressures from other people. They were impatient for me. I would tell myself "What’s happening? Why is it taking so long for me to lose weight?" Discouraged, I’d stop whatever it was that I was doing.

JB: How often did you play badminton and how long did it take you to lose weight? How much did you lose?

LD: I enjoyed playing badminton so much. I played everyday for one to two hours. It took only three months to lose the weight. I think I was 150 lbs. when I started, then I dropped to 125 lbs. hanggang sa bumaba ng bumaba. (According to her husband Monching, Lotlot now weighs between 115 and 120 lbs.-ed.)

JB: When you lost weight, what were the changes in you?

LD: I was happier. I felt lighter and had more confidence.

JB: What else do you want to improve on?

LD: Everything pa. I want to have a firm body and have abs like you.

JB: Have your eating habits changed?

LD: Still the same but now, everything in moderation.

JB: Do you think your getting slimmer has contributed to your having more work now?

LD: Yes. Definitely. In the past, nobody would get me because I was too heavy.

JB: How does it feel having a regular TV show like Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan?

LD: I feel very blessed now that I’m working again. It’s like a second chance for me to do something I love, to do something I’ve always wanted and that is to act again.

JB: You put up Charlotte’s Kitchen last year. What made you decide to do so?

LD: I really love to cook. Naisip ko masarap naman akong magluto tapos kikita pa ako.

JB: Where did your passion for cooking/baking come from? Did anyone influence you?

LD: No one really. I was always interested in cooking. Nobody taught me. Since I was small, I really loved to cook. I started from cooking hotcakes and following recipes at the back of the box.

JB: Now that you’ve lost weight, is it harder to maintain your figure because you have to taste what you serve?

LD: Not really. Patikim-tikim lang ako.

JB: You have plans to take up a culinary course. When you finish, what next?

LD: I want to have my own bistro someday. I’m already excited! That’s why I want to study so I can enhance what I know in cooking to make me better.

JB: What are your dreams for yourself? For your children?

LD: Naku, madami ‘yon. For my kids, I want them all to finish college and find their true happiness.

JB: What advice would you give anyone who wants to lose weight since you became successful in doing so?

LD: First you have to decide on it. You have to do it for yourself and not just for anybody else.

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I tip my hat off to Lotlot. She was able to lose all that weight in three months only. As she said, what’s important is that you have to be focused and you’ve got to do it because you want it, not because others want it for you. She did it for herself and enjoyed every minute of it.

Lotlot has been successful not only in achieving her new figure but in how she handles her life as well.

We all know Lotlot and her siblings (except for Ian who is Nora and Christopher’s real son), were all adopted, but she has managed to help all of them become close to one another. Though they are all grown up with lives of their own, they have a bond like no other.

And I know that Lotlot is the reason why this is so. She has always had the desire in her heart to keep them together, to make sure that no matter what, she would always look out for them and she always taught them to look after one another.

I am deeply touched by this woman’s heart. She has a great capacity to love, to understand, to embrace life and everything it has to offer, good or bad.

In many occasions in my life, she has been my strength; her arms were those that embraced me when I felt no one else would. She cried and laughed with me. Although I know that sometimes sa tigas ng ulo ko, gusto na niya akong batukan, all she would say was "Hay, Ate Jacq!"

To this woman I call Balot, thank you. Thank you for the joy of knowing you. Thank you for the wonderful person you are. Thank you for your willing arms that hold me. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for you. I love you.

* * *

(E-mail me at babyjackster@yahoo.com)