Photos of Isabel in the feature image were screenshots from her Instagram account.

You’ve probably heard in the news that actress/singer Isabel Granada passed away. She was 41.

On October 26, I posted on my Facebook page:

“I heard about what happened to Isabel Granada just last night through Chuckie Dreyfus’ FB feeds (my prayers are with her). It kinda shook me to my core. Here is a woman, just about 2 years older than me I think, who is so fit and active and practices a healthy lifestyle and boom! Brain hemorrhage which indicates aneurysm struck her!

I’m far from fit. The only exercise I get in a day is when I run after Tuz, organize his toys strewn across the floor, clean the house, do the laundry, wash the dishes and stroll in the mountains and in the malls. I have a workout routine I do about once a week when I’m not that over fatigued. I try to eat healthily as much as my willpower can muster. I more or less sleep 6-8 hours now unlike before. But still, I’m scared.

Yesterday when I found out about Isabel’s condition, all of a sudden, my left chest started to hurt. Then I remember a few nights back, I felt pain at the back of my eye. Then memories of slicing headaches came back when I was still working for the government and was under a tremendous amount of stress. Not to mention the occasional headaches I get when I miss taking my hypertension meds. I don’t know if these are psychosomatic but I will definitely have myself checked. According to what I’ve been reading online, I’m a high risk for aneurysm! Aneurysm is real and though the statistics are low compared to other killers like cancer, diabetes, heart attack, etc., it can strike just about anytime and anyone no matter how healthy you think you are. How much more for the not-so-healthy folks like me? 😦 I don’t want to leave our little toddler behind…

Anyway, maybe I’m just being overly dramatic coz I’m about to have my period. But just to be on the safe side, I did not attend this morning’s National Organic Conference (coz we’re setting up our mushroom, dragon fruit and vegetable farm) even if I really, really wanted to because that would mean I won’t be sleeping after work (I work as a Virtual Assistant on US TIME ZONE). Instead, I slept. My body will thank me for it.

We only live once… YOLO as they say! So let’s take care of our bodies, practice a healthy lifestyle as best we can, do what we love and what makes us happy, spend time with people we care about, let go of negative things and people in our life, reduce stress to the absolute minimum if possible, and love ourselves as much as we can without causing others pain. We live on borrowed lives and we can never know when it will be taken from us. This is the only life we have so let’s make the most of it and make it count.”

See related video: Chuckie Dreyfus’ interview with Tunay na Buhay regarding Isabel’s condition

I included her in my prayers every day. I’d like to believe that she could survive this. She was after all, very healthy and fit and there were no prior signs that she would suffer this.

 

GONE TO SOON…

It’s been 11 days since I posted that and yesterday dawn, as I was looking at my Facebook feeds, I once again found out from Chuckie Dreyfus that she passed away. I started appreciating life more. We’re here in the mountains right now, living in an old farmhouse, with no running water and no proper bathroom, but I feel so happy and blessed to be alive and to be given the chance to work on our agri-biz dreams. I think Isabel’s passing made me feel this way. Life is indeed very precious!

 

However, I am still deeply saddened by the news. I don’t know her personally but growing up, she and Chuckie was the love team I rooted for. ❤

 

Isabel was so pretty and talented and smart, I remember wishing I could be her (probably one of the reasons why I joined ABS-CBN Acting Workshop and delved into acting stints plus took singing lessons at Center for Pop Music, all in my 20’s)! Then the first time I got to meet and mingle with Chuckie Dreyfus during a 3-day trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia sponsored by Zest Air in 2013 (same trip where I met Richard Branson in person), I was really starstruck and I felt like that kid again watching local TV (That’s Entertainment) and cheering their love team on!

 

Now, Isabel Granada is gone. We are practically strangers to each other but my heart breaks for the people she left behind. No wonder Chuckie is so devastated by her passing. They had decades of friendship together and Isabel is the godmother of his daughter with his wife Aileen. I can also only imagine what her husband of 2 years, Arnel Cowley, must be feeling right now as well as her son and former husband, her mom and all the people who love her.

 

ISABEL’s passing inspired me to get fit

What happened to Isabel Granada gave me the motivation and push I needed to once again jumpstart a healthy lifestyle. If a tragic thing like this can happen to the most healthy of individuals, how much more to ordinary folks like me who already takes lifetime hypertension meds?

So the first thing I did when I heard about what happened to Isabel was to go see a heart and brain doctor here down south.

 

Funny because my doctors told me that I’m one of the many patients who came to see them that day because of what happened to Isabel Granada. So far, I am good. My ECG is normal, the chest pains I’ve been having could be largely due to my GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) and I was asked to take prescription meds for it for 10 days. I still have the occasional headaches which hopefully is not an aneurysm.

I am saving up for an executive checkup just to really see a more detailed account of my health but in the meantime, I am maintaining my healthy eating habits. I’ve dramatically lessened my sweets/sugar intake, I haven’t had rice for more than 2 weeks now and I eat more organic vegetables and herbs.

But one thing that I really need to do is to be more physically active. Isabel was very fit, sporty and active no wonder she was able to maintain a very sexy physique! I also read somewhere that sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time is bad for your health. And because my work entails me sitting down in front of my computer for hours at a time, I’ve started being more conscious of my work hours and try to stand and do some light physical activity every 30 minutes.

 

THE COMPLETE BIKINI BODY BLUEPRINT BY COMPLETE PT SOLUTIONS

I mentioned on my previous blog post about a new exercise routine I’m trying by The Complete PT Solutions. The name of this exercise routine is The Complete Bikini Body Blueprint. It’s a Complete 6 Week Transformation Program inclusive of workouts, diet plan and support that has been designed by their expert Personal Trainers who have a huge amount of experience and who specialize in training clients in their homes.

The Complete Bikini Blueprint has been designed for one reason, getting us the bikini body we’ve always wanted! They’ve taken all the guesswork out of it and packed into this blueprint everything we need:

1. Bikini Body Coach Support your very own dedicated expert with years of experience, on hand, to help you. You’ll receive tips and guidance each week, to guarantee your success.
2. The Bikini Workout PlanTM Will help to boost your metabolism and sculpt your entire body, without spending hours in the process. Each workout lasts no longer than 30 minutes!
3. The Bikini Meal PlanTM Helps you to learn exactly what to eat and how to diet for success without actually feeling like you’re dieting. Each meal is planned out clearly for you.
4. Fat Burning Smoothie Guide Provides you with 10 nutritious smoothie recipes packed with healthy ingredients to help you breeze through your day to day life with ease and begin to burn fat at a quicker rate.
5. BONUS Bikini Workouts as an added extra you’ll receive extra workouts, specially designed, for you to use anytime, anywhere.
6. Exercise Library to help you learn exactly how to perform every exercise effectively.

I haven’t really followed through it yet. I did it for 2 days back in September. I noticed that when we went up the mountain after that, I wasn’t as tired as before. I also seldom stopped to rest unlike before. Perhaps my endurance increased even after only 2 days of doing the workout.

Then around Halloween, when I heard about what happened to Isabel Granada, I decided that it really was high time for me to do something about my fitness level… and my mommy body! I want to be sexy again! A lot sexier when I was still using my previous online moniker SexyNomad! Health is wealth. And with the many things I still want to accomplish in my life (like helping out Mahal in our organic farm biz, writing books, traveling the world…) I really need to increase my energy level and basically improve my health and fitness. Plus, I want to wear a bikini again come summer next year! Let’s get the sexy back! These were the last bikini shots I took last summer and I think I’m a lot fatter now:

 

So, I really started pursuing the Complete PT Solutions program this time. It should really begin in the mind. Once I’ve committed to the workout program, I noticed that I was able to maintain it for 5 days straight and can’t wait to do it again later. I do it every 5am as I take a break from my online work.

When we first came here in Mindanao last September, my weight was 124lbs and it would increase further whenever I’d binge eat on pasta and my other favorite foods every time my period nears. Now, by having done just 5 days of the 6-week workout program and not eating rice for two weeks (I still binge eat on pasta, potatoes, chocolates and my other favorite foods whenever it’s that time of the month though), I’m down to 119lbs even after eating a really huge meal. So perhaps, by continuing with the program, and hopefully decreasing my bad food intake during my period, controlling the portion sizes of my meals, and following their diet recommendations, maybe I can continue to lose more weight, be a lot sexier than before, and become more fit!

 

THE COMPLETE BIKINI BODY BLUEPRINT is only £58 but you can get it for £29 using this link:

https://cptsworkouts.lpages.co/purchase-tcbbb-momtraneur/

I’ll update you again with before and after pictures once I’m done with the Complete 6 Week Transformation Program. You might want to join me!

I may not be as sexy as Isabel Granada was who was fit, sporty and healthy all her life, but it’s a start. Perhaps by achieving this goal, I can become healthy and fit and try to live a bit longer for my babies and our dreams. Thank you, Isabel, for motivating me. May your soul rest in peace.

Til then! Wish me luck!!!