According to WebMD, women gain an average of 25 to 35 pounds (or more) during pregnancy. And any new mom would probably agree that it’s never easy shedding off the post-pregnancy weight. Former child star Chantal Umali knows this too well. (Remember her from the classic "Goodbye, Carlo" hotdog commercial in the late ‘90s?)
While she leaned on the chubby side as a kid, reaching her fitness goals became even more challenging after she gave birth to her daughter Elliana.
So in 2012, Chantal got into yoga and managed to shed off at least 60 pounds from her weight of 182 pounds—her heaviest. But getting fit was not easy.
In an interview with PEP.ph, Chantal recounted, "I was at a point na parang feeling ko nagawa ko na lahat.
"I've done everything that I could to be in my best shape, and the problem areas were still there."
Chantal continued, "So I was at a point na, 'Okay, I'm just gonna accept that I have sagging skin and a big belly and big thighs.'
"I was doing physical exercise, I was consciously trying not to eat so much.
"I was at that point I was working on myself, but it wasn't producing the results that I wanted.
"So parang self-acceptance na, 'Okay, love yourself, tanggapin na natin,' ganyan."
But this mom was not ready to give up just yet, so last February, she tried the non-invasive treatments of a slimming center, which, according to her, helped her waist shrink from 28 to 25 inches, and the size of her clothes went down from size eight to size two.
Chantal recalled, "I was kinda skeptical because I've been working on my legs all my life, 'cause I was born with talagang big thighs.
"And then one day, I woke up, I stood up, and then I felt like I was walking funny.
"Sabi ko there's something wrong with the way I'm walking, there's something different.
"And then, I realized that what was different was my thighs weren't rubbing against each other!" she exclaimed.
Chantal now weighs 108 pounds.
One of the most important things she learned as a mom is that it’s okay to splurge on yourself once in a while.
She explained, "If you're a Filipina mother, working mother, and you spend on yourself...people are gonna tell you, 'Parang ang selfish mo naman, ginastusan mo 'yung sarili mo.'
"But it's not a bad thing to take care of yourself, you know."
She continued, "I have a daughter, and I want my daughter to see na if you take care of yourself, if you spend money on yourself, you make yourself feel good, you make yourself feel better, you're healthier.
“It's a good investment."
The former TGIS star further noted that moms should not feel guilty about taking care of themselves.
"There's so much judgement.
“But in fact, we work better when we feel better about ourselves, 'di ba?
"When you have your own kid, and you're working and trying to raise your child or whatever, it doesn't mean na pababayaan mo na 'yung sarili mo.
"It doesn't mean na you let yourself go because that's even more na dapat you should be taking care of yourself.
"Because you're spreading yourself thin all the time."
This story originally appeared on Pep.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.
