Ben&Ben’s Paolo Guico with his twin brother Miguel (Image: Instagram/@paolobenjamin_)
Paolo Guico of the folk pop band Ben&Ben has opened up about the “unhealthy” dependence that he had on food and the reason why he ate the way he did in the past.
The Ben&Ben vocalist talked about his past eating habits while showing moments of the band at an airport on his Instagram page yesterday, March 18. This comes after he showed off his weight loss progress after two years of getting back into shape.
“[I] had a weird relationship with food. I always had the feeling that I had to get more food to feel satisfied. I had to get the last piece, and I always had to get a ‘better piece’ of ulam (a dish) or dessert than my friends or family,” he said.
According to Guico, his eating behavior was fueled by being compared to his twin brother Miguel when he was growing up, though he stressed that he loves Miguel and his brother had been with him throughout his healing process.
“A big part of growing up with a twin is having to deal with people comparing you to each other and oftentimes I was called the less favorable twin. Because of this, I’d always felt inferior to Migs (not his fault) and food was one of the ways that I ‘gained back control’ over the opinions of other people,” he told fans.
Guico described food as his way of giving himself relief amid his insecurities, though this eventually turned into a “negative cycle.”
“Over the years, it turned into an unhealthy addiction [with — and dependence on — excessively] consuming food. I was addicted to the feeling of comfort that it brought me,” he recounted.
Guico has now realized that the loss of balance and his “abuse” of food was not good for him, and being aware of that helped him change his habits.
“There are many other reasons for this unhealthy relationship I’ve built with food, but identifying them was the key to changing things for the better,” he noted.
“Negative emotions and thought patterns will always arise. But the key to living a better life, from what I’ve learned, is identifying and befriending these negative emotions and thought patterns, and then building healthier coping mechanisms to manage them in a constructive, positive manner,” Guico added.
Ben&Ben recently held an in-person show in the United Arab Emirates for Expo 2020 Dubai. They were supposed to perform in person at the event last January, but had to postpone due to COVID-19 cases “within the band.” /ra
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