Name: Francisco “E-BOY” Bautista
Fitness Background: Before April 2011, sedentary.. Post Biggest Loser, ACTIVE!
Favorite WOD/Exercise: The burpee for the only reason that I was only able to successfully do a full burpee after biggest loser while doing CFMNL.
1. You were on the biggest loser pinoy edition but we’d like to know your life POST Biggest Loser - what your current schedule is like and what do you do?
The bigger purpose of the show is to teach us or equip us to do the things we did in camp outside. Yes, we lost the weight but it was because we were supervised and we had the same goal. The true test of what I learned in camp was if I were able to do it still. I do CFMNL, I run, I sometimes do Yoga. My goal is to be the first Filipino G.I.Joe. I currently do not have a day job but in a few weeks I will be a Property Consultant with Century Properties.
Monday to Friday, I do CFMNL at noon. Some days, I would do Yoga and on Sundays I would join fun runs with fellow contestants Art Mendoza and Angela Lupango. They are currently my support group outside camp.
On the side, I am a Social Media Expert (one who creates/manages Facebook Like pages, Twitter accounts for clients who are too busy to do it themselves) and like to, one day, be a part of SPIT Manila. (Silly People’s Improv Theater)
2. What did you say in your audition? Do you have a youtube vid of it? Care to share?
The main reason why I wanted to join the show was to please my family. It wasn’t my intention to join, really. I thought I was happy then and didn’t see the need to lose weight. No YouTube video because we weren’t allowed to bring cameras inside. You can search for it, though. There were some auditoners who shot the waiting area and I happened to be in it.
3. You didn’t win. WTF?! Why? !f you could do things differently, what would you have done?
The week that I left camp for losing the least amount of weight was the same week I had my hand accident. I was in the hospital for 2 days which meant a lot if you were a contestant since you were being weighed in every week. I was off by just 1 pound.
4. Can you tell us what juicy stuff happened behind the scenes during the show? Any cat fights? Any blossoming relationships? Any group/individuals you’d want to smack in the face?
Most of the things that happened on air continued off camera. The conflicts you saw in the show were raw and real. They shot the whole thing as it happened. It even got to the point that our being annoyed at the cameraman following us around added to the emotion. The relationships were the obvious ones on camera and I would say that it continued on after the show. One thing that they did not show long was my friendship with Art. In the show, they portrayed Art as someone who was always at my case; someone who hated my personality. But Art was just being the killjoy big brother making sure I was doing the right thing and knowing why I was in camp in the first place. His approach was not like your typical Filipino big brother but I felt that he was sincere. (even though he voted me out, that bloody bastard.)
Angela, on the other hand became like a confidant when I liked this other contestant. I have gotten attached to her because she reminded me so much of my younger sister. The way she reacted and moved reminded me of my younger sister while I was in camp.
5. Let’s put you on the spot. Please no showbiz answers. Who is the better Coach? Jimbo Saret, Chinggay Andrada, John Britton, or the combo of Byron So/JV Co? Please explain.
All the coaches have their strengths. John, By, and JV are amazing coaches. Jim taught me a lot, too. I love being trained by all of them but the only reason why I would say Chinggay Andrada was because she was the one who truly saw I had potential. Despite the screaming and scolding, I felt that her heart was pure and really, really wanted to help me out. Even after leaving she made sure she had time between shoots to train me. She was the one who first taught me that life is beautiful and that you sometimes you may fall but that should not stop you from getting back up and starting again. Her favorite chant is, “You are stronger than that.” And I think I’ve brought that attitude when I started doing CFMNL.
6. You workouts were crazy in the HOUSE. How are they similar and different from WODs?
I think you could say the workouts at the camp were crazy because it was being done by plus-sized people whereas with the WODs, the plus-sized people wouldn’t dare try it (I dunno why). I wouldn’t say they were any different from CFMNL. When Art, Anj, and I did the trial WOD at CFMNL, we all had the same feeling, “shet! Para lang nasa camp ah.” CFMNL is the closest thing to being in the Biggest Loser camp minus the long hours or training and having to sleep in a room full of plus-sized strangers.
7. You’re on Day 11 of the Paleo Challenge. It’s a dumb question to ask if it’s hard because it’s HARD. So how have you lasted this long? Does it remind you of the show? Any differences?
The Paleo challenge has helped me to be strict again with my eating lifestyle. I admit that I’ve faltered in my meals after the show but seeing the results after just a week made me want to see how far this Paleo “thing” can take me. The last time I lost 16 pounds in one week was when I was at my 4th week at camp and that was with 5-7 hour workouts 5 times a week. This was Paleo with less workout time.
Yes, it kinda reminded me of the show. Because of Paleo, I prepare my own food again. I’m afraid that the people at home might blindly add non-Paleo ingredients while cooking it so to make sure I don’t fail Bugsy, I do the prepping and cooking myself.
In camp, we were trained to eat every 2-3 hours, hungry or not. In Paleo, we eat every 2-3 hours, too. Why? Because of the limited options, you tend to eat less than what you usually eat and therefore get hungry in 2-3 hours.
Aside from that, Paleo makes sense with what is allowed and not. In camp, I would blindly eat this just because they said it even though the logic did not make sense to me. I lost the weight, yes. But if you would ask me to explain why? I wouldn’t be able to answer that. With Paleo, it makes sense. Eat clean, period.
8. Usually you need a support crew to help one go through an endeavor like the Paleo Challenge. Who’s your support crew? Are Art and Ange still a part of it?
Art and Ange will forever be my support crew. They are a message away when I feel bad because I gained and they are my cheerers when I lose weight. The friendship we’ve gained goes beyond fitness na eh. We’re like family na. We used to do a different diet together, but since I wanted to learn Paleo, I joined this challenge.
With the Paleo challenge, the support group comes from fellow challengers. Yeah, Art and Ange are there to root (and tease) me but there is no other support group better than with people who go through the same “suffering” with you.
The CFMNL community is the best support group anybody can have. It’s not just the Fort and Libis boxes but it’s the whole CFMNL community. Watching all the videos, the games, you know that you are not suffering alone.
9. To the readers out there who are scared of CFMNL and Paleo, any words of wisdom?
Yeah, stop analyzing and start moving. You will never know how difficult or easy something is until you try it. Don’t let your brain analyze the difficulty level of one thing, better let your body be the judge and see for yourself the benefits from doing Paleo and dying from CFMNL.
As they say in one cartoon show, TRIUMPH is TRYING with UMPH!!