Thanks to coach Elma Muros, Sylvia Sanchez lost 17 lb in a month

Sylvia Sanchez —Photos by Leo M. Sabangan II

I love food,” said actress Sylvia Sanchez on why shedding pounds was the most difficult challenge she had to hurdle for her new ABS-CBN soap series, titled “Hanggang Saan.”

Sylvia said she has lost 17 lb since she began working out last month with her training coach—no less than track and field athlete and Southeast Asian games medalist Elma Muros.

“Before asking Elma to help me, I did all sorts of diet and even enrolled in a gym, but nothing worked. I did not lose a single pound. Elma’s old-school style of training worked for me,” Sylvia said during a recent visit to the Inquirer office in Makati City, where she read a story to street kids during the newspaper’s December Read-Along session.

Under Elma’s supervision, Sylvia trains every other day at the Philsports Arena grounds (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City. “We would run around the Ultra track oval for five times. Elma would then make me go up and down the bleachers of the football field,” the 46-year-old actress recalled. “She would also make me train with a tire drag and then make me run after her. Sometimes, Elma would make me lift and throw the tire the way boxers do during training.

“I did all these things even though they’re hard. I sometimes felt like I was becoming Elma Muros myself!” Sylvia quipped. “I don’t mind it, at least, I lost weight. It’s really difficult for me to control my food intake. I enjoy eating, especially when I work long hours and lack sleep. Doon ako bumabawi.”

Sanchez as Inquirer Read Along’s guest storyteller

This was why playing Sonya, her “Hanggang Saan” character, was far more difficult than portraying Gloria, a woman with Alzheimer’s disease in her now-defunct show “The Greatest Love,” Sylvia pointed out.

For the new series, Sylvia also had to learn how to use a gun. She likewise had to master how to control her emotions, especially when doing dramatic scenes. “I’m not allowed to shed tears,” she explained.

“Unlike [my character] Gloria, I can’t just let go of my emotions whenever I feel like it. I cannot sob during dramatic scenes. The directors will scream ‘Cut!’ if they see even just one tear falling. I have to distract myself to keep me from crying,” said the actress.

Sylvia considers “Hanggang Saan” a dream project because she gets to work with her son, Arjo Atayde, who became a household name via the top-rating Kapamilya series “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.”

“I’m Arjo’s biggest critic, especially when he was still doing his first show. I would tell him what he needed to improve on. These days, I just let him do his thing. He has developed so much as an actor,” said the proud mom. “The only problem with him is his inability to deliver lengthy lines in Filipino. He always gets tongue-tied. I would tease him by saying, ‘Sige! English pa more!’”