Despite the flu, Regine Velasquez looked fabulous at her concert
ASIDE from the Zoren-Carmina surprise wedding on Show Time’s banner today, another much talked about entertainment event this week was Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid’s 25th anniversary concert, Silver, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

As everyone knows by now, the celebrated belter was unable to finish what was meant to be a spectacular production because of a viral infection that practically wiped out her voice.

While admiration and sympathy have poured out for Regine’s professionalism—the Songbird tried her very best to sing her trademark numbers despite her condition—there has been much speculation about the cause of her flu.

Noticeably svelte so soon after appearing in public with a lot of postpartum weight, the buzz is that a drastic diet had weakened her resistance.

But on Tuesday, Regine—whose voice is still quite hoarse—set the murmurs straight and explained exactly what happened: “Two weeks prior to the concert, [my son] Nate got sick.

One by one, everyone caught the virus—the household [helpers] and even si Ogie nahawa.

“I was the only one who wasn’t getting sick because the diet I was on actually kept my resistance up, especially the detox juices, which are very high in vitamins and nutrients.”

Ironically, Regine got sick only when she went off the diet program prescribed by the Belo Medical Group’s Sexy Solutions brand.

“It was when I stopped dieting the week before the show na tinamaan ako,” she related. “I was eating, but I guess I didn’t get as much vitamins as I did during the diet and my resistance went down.

“Dapat pala hindi ko tinigil yung mga juices,” she regretted.

Present to literally lend Regine her voice in enumerating the details of the Sexy Solutions
Anti-Plateau Diet Plan was no less than the eating plan’s designer, weight loss specialist, Nadine Tengco of the Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition fame.

“We had four weeks to work with Regine to lose her last 10 to 20 pounds,” recalled Nadine who makes up a quarter of the Sexy Solutions partnership, together with the Belo Medical Group, which provides the ultra sound and radio frequency treatments for fat burning and body sculpting; Rachel Alejan-dro’s Sexy Chef, which cooks and delivers the food to the client’s doorstep; and Cravings Restaurant for the organic ingredients.

“We put her on this anti-plateau diet because she had already lost 25 pounds of post-partum weight by then but despite continuous diet and exercise, she couldn’t get rid of any more
weight, and she was also very manas.

“What happens when our body loses a lot of weight is that the body gets scared to lose more weight—even if there’s that last 10 to 20 pounds to lose—so it fights back and reaches a plateau.

“I put together this program specifically for this stage of weight loss, and luckily, lahat ng conditions ni Regine, we met. Sabi niya she wanted to get rid of her manas and to flatten her tummy, pero ayaw din niyang mag-mukhang bagsak or unhealthy at ayaw niyang pumangit yung skin niya like the effect of other popular diets.

“She also said that a week before the concert, gusto niya pahinga na siya from the program.”

Regine’s diet consisted of anti-bloating ingredients such as turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, basil, pineapple and foods rich in Omega-3, as well as two types of detox juices specially formulated by Nadine, which reduces gas, bloating and swelling, while promoting healthy blood flow.

“Best of all for Regine, puwede ang rice sa diet,” laughed Nadine. “So in other words, the diet is really healthy, and it really keeps off the weight.”

Crystalle Belo Henares also lent her voice to Regine by talking about the miracles of the Anti-Plateau package. She added that Songbird besides the Songbird, Sexy Solutions has also helped seductive actress Andi Eignemann lose her postpartum weight, bring top model Georgina Wilson’s waistline down to 25 inches from 29, and significantly trim down host Raymond Gutierrez’ previously padded physique.

“This is the perfect program for those who are scared to go under the knife but want to lose weight,” Crystalle affirmed.

To date, Regine has lost a total of 37 pounds, and whittled down her waistline from 37 inches to 29 inches.

The Manila Times can attest that the Songbird does look healthy and glowing despite her hoarse voice. With a few more days of rest and the endless well wishes from friends and fans, she will surely be a knockout at the free concert of Silver in December. Not in singing, but in her figure hugging gowns.

For more information on Sexy Solutions, call 810-SEXY (7399).