Beauty queen secrets: Ditch sugary stuff, drink water like crazy

Some people would do anything to stay beautiful: getting a bird poop facial, shelving out $350 for an anti-wrinkle face-slapping treatment, or soaking one’s hair in bull semen for shiny locks. 

 

But not Joyce Ann Burton Titular, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 1985, formerly a news presenter, and now a voice-over artist.

Proudly 46 years old, Joyce says her foremost beauty secret is taking care of her relationships, especially with God.

 

“I love my age and all the perks that come with it!” she says, adding “My relationships bring me so much joy and joy makes me beautiful.” 

 

Born in Cavite to a Filipino mom and an American dad, Joyce grew up mostly in Pasay but has lived in Parañaque, Davao, and now Marikina.

 

Joyce and her husband, broadcast journalist Ron Titular, have two children – Wolf and Diandra, who are both living abroad.

 

Describing herself as an empty-nester, Joyce says her dogs are her babies now. “I have an aspin who survived distemper, a chihuahua, and a schnoodle (schnauzer-poodle mix). But it's not a one-way street with them. My dogs are constantly teaching me how to love others without condition!”

 

Long walks with her dogs are a part of Joyce’s exercise regimen.

 

She and Ron also hit the gym thrice a week. She believes the best anti-aging exercise is lifting weights.

 

“When you lift weights, you strengthen your bones. Milk can't do what lifting weights does for your bones. Osteoporosis will have a difficult time setting into my bones because I lift weights,” Joyce says.

 

She says lifting medium to heavy weights and stretching have helped her keep her feminine curves.

 

“When I get bored, I'll do a cardio routine or go wall climbing or maybe swim laps. Spinning is not beyond me, neither is boxing or aerobics. But I always return to lifting weights because that will keep me away from the wheelchair when I'm old and gray,” says Joyce, who also gets a spa treatment once a week.

 

She cautions that people need to seek medical advice before pursuing any exercise regimen, especially for first-timers at the gym or those who haven’t done any regular exercise in years.

Joyce also emphasizes the importance of getting enough sleep.

 

“Sleep really makes a big difference when you reach your 40s. But if you get into the habit of living on little sleep when you're young, you'll pay for it when you reach my age,” she warns.

 

Drink water like crazy

 

To maintain a healthy and young-looking skin, Joyce has a simple formula: Drink plenty of water and do not smoke.

 

“[Smoking] makes the skin ugly,” she says.

 

Drinking water, on the other hand, will keep your skin well-moisturized. 

 

“I drink water like crazy and know all the bathroom stops from my house in Marikina to my workplace in Makati,” she says.

 

She adds that eating healthy will make your skin glow. “Salmon and melon reportedly give you a glow. I eat lots of both when I have an event coming up,” she shares.

 

Her diet? “No sugar, no processed carbs, no starving,” says Joyce, who has stopped eating beef and pork since she was 16 years old.

 

“My main foods are fish and [organic] chicken, fruit and veggies. I do drink coffee,” she explains.

 

“I try to avoid regular chicken because it's packed with antibiotics and hormones but sometimes, I can't avoid eating regular chicken. I minimize canned food and processed turkey and chicken meats although I love turkey sausages,” she says.

For fruits, she prefers eating them whole instead of juicing them.

 

“Eating berries is great for the skin. Salmon and melon are too. But if you really want clear skin, avoid processed carbs and all other processed foods. Ditch sugary foods,” Joyce says.

 

Keep it simple

 

For her beauty regimen, Joyce likes keeping it simple and natural.

 

“I only use extra virgin olive oil or VCO (virgin coconut oil) on my face. I do use soap but it has to be the clear glycerin type with no perfumes. Sulfates in shampoo are bad for you so I use gugo bark. My conditioner is organic,” she says.

 

She also dislikes using sunscreens, saying these are “loaded with chemicals.”

 

To protect herself from the sun’s skin-damaging rays, Joyce uses a hat or shades or just stays out of the sun. 

 

“But I will use SPF, the organic type if I have to, like when we are at the beach or poolside and under the sun for a long time,” she says. “Better to swim in an indoor pool if there is one.”

 

She does make it a point to expose herself under the sun 10 to 20 minutes a day. “This keeps me from looking like a Twilight vampire and insures that my vitamin D supplies are high,” she says.

 

Volunteer work

 

Joyce believes that “when you give freely, you get beauty in return.”

 

She does volunteer work for 700 Club Philippines.

 

“I also have my own project called The First Day of Christmas where I ask friends to donate decor and then use them to decorate orphanages and others,” she says.

 

“As a voice talent I 'donate' my voice to Christian churches that need a voice-over for their video projects. I have also done gratis voicings for groups like Earth Hour, Gabriela and the Cerebral Palsy group in the Philippines,” she adds.

 

Joyce is also an active blogger. “My blog in many ways is a ministry because it's not a money-making thing. My writing is from the heart and given with no strings attached,” she says.

 

On her blog, she says, “I’m a child of God and the beauty queen crowns I used to wear are laid before His feet.”

 

That’s who Joyce is, truly beautiful, inside and out. —KG, GMA News