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Actress and digital content creator Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio is at the pinkest of health and living her best life at 40 years old. That's why many consider her as a #fitspiration.

But what probably makes Rica so relatable as a health and fitness advocate is that she's not afraid to admit about a number of unwise decisions she made in the past regarding her health.

During her recent guest appearance on Pinoy MD, Rica talked about how unhealthy her former lifestyle was.

Rica confessed that she was a former smoker and heavy drinker. She first tried smoking at 13 years old, and began regularly smoking by age 16 to 18. Fortunately, she was able to kick the bad habit at the age of 25.

Rica also revealed that she's had breast implants at the age of 18 and had them taken out when she was 37 years old.

Rica Peralejo talks about her inspiring fitness journey on Pinoy MD / Source: Pinoy MD

The mom-of-two said that one of the wake-up calls that made her rethink her lifestyle is when she developed a lesion in the gut five or six years ago, when she would starve herself to prevent weight gain.

Rica has since resorted to following a proper diet called the Baron Method, which also helps her manage her auto-immune disease.

“Sa mga kinakain ko, gluten-free, tapos sana as much as possible lahat ng mga produce namin katulad ng mga manok,beef, pork, sana ma-source namin nang tama, at malinis naming nang tama,” Rica told Pinoy MD during an interview. “Para 'pag kinain namin, maganda rin 'yung epekto sa katawan. Kumbaga, we're eating living foods, not foods that are dead or heavily preserved by chemicals.”

Rica also added, “It wasn't because weight conscious ako. Kaya lang alam ko talaga na 'yung gine-gain ko ay galing sa masasamang eating habits. So, ayun 'yung parang naging health journey ko.”

The former T.G.I.S. actress also emphasized that her weight loss didn't happen overnight, like what some people think.

“And then recently, ayun na nga, namayat ako, naging active ako ulit. And it was a slow process. Hindi siya 'yung--akala kasi yata nung ibang tao (na), 'Wow! Ang bilis mong pumayat, Ms. Rica.' Hindi mabilis 'yun. Marami akong pinagdaanan,” Rica shared.

Aside from eating gluten-free and organic foods, Rica also started a more active lifestyle after she and her family went through a battle with COVID-19 last March.

“Parang nag-resolve kami-- individually ha--na pagkatapos nitong COVID na 'to, magiging active na kami ulit . So, naghanap kami ng mga gagawin. Siya, nalaglag siya sa jump rope at tsaka sa pagbubuhat ng weights. Ako naman, ang ginawa ko was yoga. Sabi ko ayaw ko ng mga nagsasapatos. Ayoko ng pinapawisan. Pero, gusto ko lang gumalaw. So, nag-yoga ako,” she added.

Rica Peralejo teaching the basics of jumping rope in her vlog / Source: Pinoy MD

After initially doing yoga, Rica tried jumping rope or skipping out of whim and accidently fell in love with it.

“And then one of those days na nag-eehersisyo 'yung asawa ko dun sa may baba, nakita ko na nagja-jump rope siya. Sabi ko, 'Sige nga. Subukan ko nga 'yan. Dati pa kong may jump rope. Hindi ko lang ginagalaw.' Nung sinubukan ko, nagulat ako na naka-60 ako kaagad. Tapos nagulat ako na parang, 'Wow. Kaya ko pala 'to,'” she said.

“(Ang) Jump rope ay napakabilis niyang gawin. Kaya rin siguro ako nahumaling sa kanya kasi in ten minutes, you can already do so much.”

Rica also debunked the myth that jumping rope is not for people on the heavy side.

“Hindi porke mnabigat ka, you actually cannot jump. Ganun pa rin naman ang technique. Kahit pa sabihin mo pang payat; eh hindi naman porke payat, eh malakas na, 'di ba? So, magbi-build po tayo ng strength to strength na from this point hanggang sa point na malakas ka na, kahit na 'yung ating body weight ay kaya na natin, whatever that body weight is,” Rica explained.

She also encouraged everyone to aim for building strength instead of just achieving a certain body measurement or weight, because the benefits of it will last longer.

“It is better to aim for strength, instead of something as simple as kung ano'ng itsura natin. Kasi hindi rin po tatagal 'yon. Lahat po tayo tatanda ang balat, tatanda ang mga buto at lahat. Ang pinakamaganda po nating mababaon at magagawa na as of now is to build that strength, so we could last many more years na malakas tayo. Dahil 'pag malakas tayo, mas marami tayong ma-e-enjoy,” shared Rica.

You can watch her whole inspiring health journey in the Pinoy MD video below.

For more features like this, watch Pinoy MD every Saturday, 6 a.m. on GMA.

And for more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

See other inspiring celebrity body transformations in the gallery below.