Celebrities around the world are no strangers to fad diets - and this includes Hong Kong actress Angela Tong Ying Ying.
She was in Singapore recently to promote a new weightloss treatment programme that she is an ambassador for, and she shared about her many attempts over time to lose weight.
Angela first entered the Hong Kong entertainment industry after being crowned Ms Chinese Montreal in 1995. The actress admits that her weight has always fluctuated.
According to The Straits Times, the 38-year-old has tried everything, from diet pills to the Atkins diet. She even resorted to eating only green apples.
But nothing worked. Angela said "diet pills made my heart race. The Atkins and apple diets made me grumpy and I kept yelling at my assistant." She says, "in this industry, you can be really busy or not doing anything. When I'm not doing anything, that's when I put on weight."
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The only time she did not mind gaining weight was when she was pregnant with her daughter Alyssa, who was born in March this year. The 1.63m-tall actress weighed 64kg then.
Angela, who married Hong Kong actor Chin Kar Lock, 48, last year, said she just loved being pregnant. To her, pregnancy was like being in a happy place where "everything tasted so good!" But she admits she gained even more weight during this period because of the traditional Chinese diet she followed post-birth, which included foods such as pork knuckle with vinegar and ginger rice.
The beautiful actress says after she was chosen to represent a a slimming treatment company, within just 3 months, she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight of 53 kg.
So Angela's secret to weight-loss is slimming treatments, you must be thinking. Not really. She says along with the slimming treatments, she also stopped eating sweets and cut out fizzy drinks from her diet. The winning weight-loss formula was completed with brisk-walking and yoga.
The actress does not in any way condone fad diets, even though she once followed them, and said she will make sure her daughter won't do the same. Instead, Angela says she will encourage her daughter to take up team sports which will help her stay fit physically and mentally.
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One thing is for sure - the pregnancy weight gain won't stop Angela from having more children! She says both she and Kar Lock come from big families and they feel it's good to have siblings.
But if she becomes pregnant again, Angela promises to stay away from sweets!
Weight-loss tips for mums
We all identify with Angela because we are mums too and we know just how hard it can be to shed those unwanted pregnancy kilos, post-birth. So here are some tips that will make losing weight just that little bit easier!
1. A clever tip from a clever working mum - use an exercise ball to sit on at work! This is so much better than sitting on a chair all day in front of a computer, as an exercise ball forces you to use your core muscles to keep your balance. And we all know how our core muscles take a pounding during pregnancy!
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2. This same mum had another great idea - get yourself 3 or 5 kilo weights so you can work on those arm muscles when you're taking a break from work, or typing with one hand.
3. If you live in a house with 2 or more storeys, keep your baby's change table in a room downstairs (if your baby's room is upstairs, or vice versa). This will force you to climb down (or up) one or two flights of stairs, providing you with some great, gentle exercise several times a day. Just remember, if you have had a c-section, don't try this till your cut heals.
4. Play your favourite music and dance with your baby at home! If you feel you can't really be the dancing star that you are while holding your baby, strap her securely in a bouncy chair and dance your heart out - just be prepared for your baby's amused giggles and laughter!
5. You can also use your baby's weight to do squats, sit-ups and arm-lifts. As your baby grows older and heavier, so will the intensity of your baby-weight workout!
6. Walk with your baby - to the shop, to the mall, to the beach or just around the neighbourhood.
7. Breastfeeding can help some mums shed those pregnancy pounds. The majority of theAsianparent readers who took part in a poll said they lost weight while nursing.
8. If you need a target to help you lose weight, why not sign up for a 5km or 10 km run (of course if you're brave enough, a half or full marathon would work too!)? Give yourself plenty of time to train, but having that goal will force you to exercise.
9. Limit the unhealthy snacks. It's so easy to stock your cupboards and fridge full of those cookies, samosas and kaya toast you loved eating while pregnant. But out of sight is out of mind, so try not to buy those naughty but nice food items when you go marketing. Instead, stock up on healthy treats such as fruits, rice crackers etc to munch on when you feel hungry.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Do you have any post-baby weight-loss tips of your own? Do share them with everyone by leaving a comment.