Oh NO!!! I Lost TWO Pounds!!!

Pinoy New Yorker Cesar Obrero

I’m trying to do a Manny Pacquiao here and go up to a certain weight class so that I can be part of the Philippine Fashion Week Season 12 this October! So I was horrified to discover that I had LOST TWO POUNDS! You see, my dear dear friend Cesar Obrero whom I used to party with in the 80s asked me to be one of his catwalk models for a new PLUS SIZE fashion line for women!!!

What is MORE exciting for me is that Cesar Obrero invited my lovely 19 year old daughter Diandra Zach to join the line-up of models after I sent him some of her stunning photos. Before I continue, I would like to point out that PLUS SIZE here is defined as sizes 14 to 26 and that Diandra Zach and I are on the lighter end of the Plus Size spectrum and in danger of falling out if we lose weight. So I have dutifully warned her not to sabotage her catwalk debut by going on some cock-a-mamie diet.

My darling Diandra Zach

Now in my Size 8 days I was a relatively successful catwalk model and did shows left and right for the top fashion designers of that time. I remember the VERY first experience I had with catwalk modeling; it was for the grand old dame herself, Tita Conchita Sunico (bless her soul). The one month series of luncheon shows was to be held at a fancy hotel on UN Avenue which today houses a Casino. Any of the dinosaurs reading this remember the name of that hotel? If memory serves me right it’s name was changed once or twice over the years.

I was 14 years old then and 5′9″. And I’d like to think that I was cute for tall girl. But I had one grave problem: just like Barbra Streisand, I suffered from the fear of stages and audiences. The difference was that Barbra could still perform under extreme fright while I was just plain frightful. I don’t remember much of my catwalk debut except that I was walking around like a lost scarecrow because I had forgotten ALL my cues. That got very little sympathy from the other models but Tita Conchita Sunico was wise and merciful; she pulled me off the modeling team but continued encouraging and training me. I will never forget that lady for her kindness when everyone thought me a blistering fool.

Ahhh…  my final catwalk show was also pretty memorable. I was living in Davao City at the time with my hubby and two small kids (they are BIG now) when Mama Renee Salud rang me up and asked me to model for him. I was already in my 30s but still slim enough to squeeze into some of the bigger Renee Salud creations, LOL! Other models included Beauty Queen and top fashion model Melanie Marquez and my favorite Marina Benipayo whom I adore for her willowy frame and cat-like countenance.

Well, I guess that THAT wasn’t my final catwalk show after all! I’m going back on stage, this time as a Plus Size Model – and I’m proud of it. I get my inspiration from Queen Latifah and that lovely actress who played Arwen, I always forget her name. They are Plus Sized chicks who ROCK!

Unfortunately, in my younger Bb Pilipinas days, I was of a different school of thought. Skinny was in and I had dangerously fallen into a cycle of Bulimia and Anorexia because of my struggle with weight. My career depended on looking like a waif so I kept up the Anorexia/Bulimia cycle until I hit a feather-light 108 lbs. I was so thin I was able to fit into the jeans I wore when I was 12 years old.

My pre-anorexia days. From this skinny size I managed to lose 20 lbs.

Those were truly weird days – I was eating only one tablespoon of rice per meal then sleeping all day and watching tv all night. On show days, I’d binge (for energy) then purge. It got so bad that even my period became irregular – that worried  me but not enough to stop. Not even the psychologist my parents coerced me to see could help. (In fairness to Dr. Brown, I ended up thoroughly enjoying our sessions together.) I clung to my deep dark secret, sharing it with nobody but feeling justified that it was the ONLY way to remain on top of the game.

Then one day, something scary happened: while paying the cashier at SM Harrison Plaza, I suddenly felt cold, my eyesight grew dim and I collapsed. Not on the floor but on one of the male workers who had noticed my dazed behaviour, blue lips and sudden paling. He had caught me in time.  It was then that I discovered that I was pregnant with my first baby. My emaciated 108lb frame must have been struggling to nourish the life within me. And the funniest thing happened: Right after I found out I was positive, I ran out and had a big merienda with my friends and was instantly cured!  The whole idea of that little boy (I kinda knew he was a he) inside of me made me break through the cycle of Anorexia/Bulimia.

Reading the news...

The problem wasn’t permanently gone though. After giving birth and returning to work as a model/actress, I had several relapses. It wasn’t only until I finally understood the love God had for me that I began to change. He loved me thin and He loved me fat. But it pleased Him if I lived according to the design He created me in. When I also started to trust that God could and would give me a career even if was not billboard-sexy, I began to allow and then adore the natural size and shape of my body.

Sure enough God opened doors for me. I started a 2nd career in Radio and TV News and in Voicing. It was a career that turned out to be more lucrative than modeling. I might not have a Megan Fox body today, but boi-oh-boi my voice has dangerous curves that can kill! Click here to watch some of the TV ads I’ve recorded.

It is amazing that at this “size and age” I have been given the chance to go back to the catwalk side-by-side with my 19-year-old daughter Diandra Zach – we both as Plus Size models. She is already practicing her walk and I am reviewing the current catwalking styles.

Sigh… What more can a mother ask for? Except maybe another scoop of ICE CREAM!!!

by Joyce Burton Titular, the blogging beauty queen…

Click here to read my article on our rehearsals!

Click here to read more on Philippine,  Fashion Week 12th Season!

My drop dead gorgeous Diandra Zach...