Bela Padilla, who's known for her spontaneous and lively travels was recently in South Korea. And while she shared her adventures, she also opened up about the struggles of managing PCOS and hypothyroidism all at once on her Instagram Story uploaded last November 25, 2024. One of her main struggles was staying fit and she pondered upon how hard it's been for her to lose weight after her trip. "I was 63kgs when I arrived," she wrote in the caption of her Instagram Story.
Bela described how difficult it was for her to lose weight. She detailed that her weight jumped from 63 to 57.1 kgs after committing to intense workouts and "eating almost nothing." She said, "Working out intensely four to five times a week and eating almost nothing. Now I’m at 57.1kgs (still not my usual 50 to 53 but I'll take it)."
For Bela, managing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and hypothyroidism meant a lot of adjustments. But she's sharing her experience not for others to follow her. Instead, to learn to follow their bodies. "What works for most people might not work for you. I used to tire myself out in the gym but it was stressing me out more which was making me bloat. My hypothyroidism and PCOS are making things challenging but I never back down from a good challenge," the actress stated.
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Bela Padilla's health journey
This is not the first time that Bela talked about her condition. In 2023, the actress shared how she would experience sudden flare-ups because of her condition. "Flare-up talaga and you don't know when it's gonna happen," Bela told PEP.ph in an interview.
To manage her condition, she shared that she's been eating clean and refrains from smoking or drinking. "I eat clean. I don't smoke. I hardly drink nowadays. I work out four times a week. Parang wala nang ifu-flush out ang body ko."
She has been diagnosed with PCOS and hypothyroidism since she was 19 years old. "Lahat ng babae sa family namin, halos [lahat] may PCOS," Bela noted. "So I'm prone to have acne, and, you know, it can cause insecurities. Even when you're growing up, you're in front of the camera. Yung trabaho mo, palaging nakaharap ang mukha mo. It's really hard."
ICYDK, PCOS is a hormonal condition that affects women's reproductive system. According to a study, 4.5 million Filipinas suffer from PCOS. Meanwhile, hypothyroidism, which is a condition when one's thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormones in your body, affects four out of every 1,000 Filipinas.
