Iza Calzado in pretty good shape

MANILA, Philippines - No, she doesn’t want to talk about “the break up” anymore. She wants to work out, take acting classes, dance.

For the past three months, Iza Calzado has been hounded by the media about the break up with her boyfriend, businessman Atticus King, but she has chosen to give only diplomatic replies.

Looking at her schedule now, it’s quite clear she isn’t wallowing in broken-heartedness or self-pity – or, least, she’s not allowing herself to do so. She’s part of the noontime staple show “Eat Bulaga” Mondays to Fridays unless, she says, “something worthy of skipping work comes up. Raket, you know.” She has dance rehearsals in between for the weekly noontime variety show “Party Pilipinas,” and now hosts the new showbiz talk show “Showbiz Exclusives” for GMA News TV.

Iza gets ready for her close-up

STARweek caught up with Iza at 4 p.m. at the GMA studios in Quezon City; she admitted she was sleepy.

“My schedule is a little tough and I only take one day off to do things,” she says as make-up artist Mike Lariosa does her eyes. “I don’t have anybody to make utos even to just get appliances for the house…I haven’t really considered getting one until now.”

She rattles off a few more items in her jam-packed schedule. CrossFit training three times a week, another fitness program, dance classes on Tuesdays, yoga every other week. And oh, last night, she says, she saw the movie No Other Woman with friends.

“It was all right. Anne’s hot,” she says of actress Anne Curtis who played the role of a notorious playgirl in the movie. “Bagay sa kanya ’yung role. I’m not saying na bagay sa kanya maging other woman. It’s the feel of the role. She pulled it off.”

And then she starts talking about CrossFit training.

“I like that it’s an intense kind of work out. I like that it’s tough. I see results and I think that I’ve gotten stronger in the three months that I have been doing CrossFit. This is a different kind of push,” she says, more animatedly now. “But I also know that you have to be more careful because sometimes you have to push yourself to do more volume and intensity. You have to make sure you don’t get injured.”

The results Iza is talking about is evident in her new slender and more defined physique.

“So this, I incorporate with my dance training, because in my head now, everything that I do has to complement the things I make money out off,” she says, throwing her head back in a hearty laugh.

And then there is also the workout by Ido Portal, a movement teacher, as Iza describes him, and the “fitness idol” of her ex-boyfriend.

“We attended the workshop before and I was really the weakest link kung baga in terms of strength,” she laughs. “But I like his teaching methods. He has online coaching and I signed up. He made a program for me and I’m following it.”

She’s looking forward to his visit to Manila on Nov. 19 to 20 during which he will host workout sessions at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

“It’s about strengthening the body, making you a better mover and being in control of your body. Because, you know, flexibility is all there and it makes sense for me to do this than to keep running or do triathlon because I like to dance,” she says, wide awake now.

Just listening to her talk about her workouts is honestly exhausting.

“I’m not the best dancer but I loooovvve to dance,” she continues as Mike takes the curlers out of her hair.

“What is your favorite dance form?” we ask the obvious question.

“Actually, thank you for asking. I’ve always had a knack for ballroom and it’s still there. It’s been there since high school, but there’s really something wonderful about contemporary and jazz,” she’s now gesturing animatedly with her hands. “The timing, the movement, it’s just beautiful, really. Hip-hop is fun but I just don’t get it as much as I do the other dances. ”

Iza is passionate. It’s in the firm handshake, her animated expression, the happiness in her voice when she talks about a killer – literally – workout. You know she wants you to be interested in whatever she says because she taps you on the knee when she tells you about it.

“And I’ll be taking up an acting workshop. It’s called the Stella Adler method,” she says. “It’s for theater, film, and television. I would say I’m lucky I don’t have a soap right now because I can study.”

By now, there would be no point in asking if she does sleep at all. But do these things help her cope with her newly single situation?

“Don’t understand why people keep… It just happened. It has nothing to do with the break up. It helps me cope with life in general and it helps me achieve my goals. I’m doing these things because I want to be better in the things I do,” she says.

Iza is looking forward to a lot of things right now. For “Showbiz Exclusives,” for instance, she’ll be eager for the opportunity to interview seasoned actresses Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos.

Is she ready to date again? “Sure, why not?” she says, not yet enthusiastically but in a manner that sounded sincerely cool. And when she does, surely she’ll be in great shape for it, right?