Re: Maria Venus Raj: Bb Pilipinas - Universe 2010 (MU 2010 4th Runner Up)

**Wojtek** Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:34 am

She is so full of sex appeal! This is what I like most in her Smile

**bonner** Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:37 am

Wojtek wrote:She is so full of sex appeal! This is what I like most in her

oh thanks..me i dont want to expect anything......hope she will do great in miss u Very Happy

**bonner** Sat Jul 10, 2010 1:11 am

**Venezuelanbeauty** Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:03 pm

**Venezuelanbeauty** Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:24 am

**bonner** Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:40 am

John Jay Cuay: Maria Venus Raj’s Abs are NOT YET “OUT”!

I could hear the tone of frustration in the voice of John Jay Cuay, Fitness Coach to the beauty queens. We were enjoying coffee (him just coffee, me coffee and a slice of chocolate cake) at a cafe in Robinson’s Galleria. Below us, just meters away was Gold’s gym where he trains most of the nation’s top beauty queens for their international pageants.

His most important ‘project’ this year is Maria Venus Raj, Bb. Pilipinas Universe 2010 and he’s got less than a month to try to get her abs ‘out’. She’s leaving on August 7th to wear the Philippine sash in the Miss Universe 2010 beauty pageant in Las Vegas and that’s 28 days away as of publishing time.

Maria Venus Raj’s Strengths and Weaknesses

At first John Jay Cuay thought that Maria Venus Raj would be a piece of cake (haha) because at first look, John could see the she was genetically blessed with a guitar-shaped body, legs that go beyond forever, and an ubelievably tiny 22-inch waistline. Although the build of her chest is small, he says, Maria Ra Venus Raj has the kind of curves that almost every girl dreams of.

After 3 months of gym work, John Jay Cuay says Venus Raj’s best improvement is the shape of her shoulders and back. Unfortunately, Miss Universe judges never judge a contestant’s back since this is not Miss Olympia or some body-building contest.

But, lean and round shoulder muscles add a lot to one’s look – first of all, the shoulders are on the edge of the spotlight because they’re just below the face and neck. Secondly, beauty contestants often wear off-shoulder dresses and gowns exposing the clavicle and curves of shoulder to neck. Thirdly, modeling movements are greatly enhanced by the shape and movement of your shoulders. So don’t ever take that body part lightly!

Maria Venus Raj’s weakness he says is her abs and inner thighs. They are still too soft for his satisfaction; like water, he says. John Jay Cuay explains that a cut set of abs are crucial to the Miss Universe competition because if you observe last year’s Top 15, they all had cut abs.

This year’s Miss USA, Rima Fakih is John Jay Cuay’s peg. Why her? Because of the Donald Trump factor! He owns BOTH the Miss USA and Miss Universe franchises. It is a well-known secret that Donald Trump is directly involved in the selection of his pageant’s winners. So if he likes Rima Fakih then she’s the one to beat.

John Jay Cuay says Rima Fakih’s abs are gorgeous and Venus is going to have to focus hard on getting her abs to come out in the next 28 days.

DIET is the Culprit!

The reason why Venus’ abs aren’t coming out is that she’s not sticking to her diet. The nutritionist at Gold’s gym has prescribed a high-protein (lean meat) and whole-grain (no white carbs) diet. Junk food and greasy or fried food are not allowed. Maria Venus Raj can also have unlimited veggies (with minimum dressing) and a little fruit everyday.

John says there are several reasons why Venus hasn’t been able to stick to the food plan. First of all, healthy food is not served in the functions she attends. Whenever Maria Venus Raj and the other winners have meetings they either have buffet meals or sponsors feed them stuff like pizza and burgers. One company even sent Maria Venus Raj boxes and boxes of thier product – a drink meant for old people recovering from illness – so it’s high in fat and carbs. It also happens to be very delicious. Think MILKSHAKE!

The second reason why Maria Venus Raj is struggling with diet is that the condo where she lives with some of the other Bb. Pilipinas winners has no stove for cooking. So she just runs out to a nearby carinderia for meals. John Jay Cuay says who knows what they put in carinderia food? Not to put carinderias down, John says, but being disciplined with what you put in your mouth is so important if you want to get cut.

Nikette Henson is on fire.

So out of the Top 5 winners of Bb. Pilipinas 2010, who has the most pageant-ready body? John Jay Cuay flat-out says that it’s Nikette Henson. She’s the one with the most discipline and the motivation to eat right and bust her body in the gym. He says it’s just too bad that Nikette Henson most likely won’t be competing in an international pageant since she is 2nd Runner-up.

But the work-outs are not going to waste for Nikette Henson – they’re coming in handy for all the modeling she’s been doing, not to mention her TV work for GMA7. John Jay Cuay thinks that it’s her exposure in GMA7 that’s giving her the drive to excel. It is a competitive world in entertainment!

How is Maria Venus Raj like as a fitness student?

John Jay Cuay’s eyes crinkle in laughter when he thinks of all the threats he’s had to make just to get Maria Venus Raj into the gym. She’s not really a sporty person, he says, but in spite of that she has a good level of fitness because of growing up on a rice field and helping with all the farming work at home in Bicol.

Now while it might be difficult to get her into the gym, once she is there, she works out with GUSTO! But one surprising thing about Maria Venus Raj is that she’s not really flexible. For all her slinky-ness, she CAN’T touch her toes without bending her knees!

John Jay Cuay says inflexibility is not such a serious problem however it does hamper Maria Venus Raj’s work outs because she can’t do full range movements. In order to increase her flexibility, John has included Yoga in her exercise routine. He also makes her hang on a pull-up bar while he gently pulls down on her ankles to lengthen her body. John Jay Cuay says this should help her become flexible and it should help lengthen her look.

Maria Venus Raj’s Exercise Routine

Aside from Yoga and stretching exercises, Maria Venus Raj’s routine includes Pilates which she still struggles with. John Jay Cuay says even if she is in the gym 4 times a week, she still needs help with the medium to hard Pilates movements. Pilates is a core/abs discipline and John is a licensed Pilates trainer. He swears by it saying that if you want to get those abs out, Pilates (combined with diet) is the way.

Biggest worry – the pageant month of August.

I asked John Jay Cuay if he can get Maria Venus Raj’s abs out in the next 28 days. Unfortunately, he’s not convinced it can be done if her diet isn’t improved. He’s not giving up though – he’s going to intensify the work-outs for Venus and take it one day at a time.

His biggest worry is the pageant month of August. Maria Venus Raj will be flying to Las Vegas on August 7, 2010. Coronation night is August 23. So that means for three weeks she won’t have him to badger her constantly about diet and exercise. To make matters worse, for those three weeks of competition, the contestants are treated to daily buffets and rich fancy meals. And there’s hardly time to exercise with all the photo shoots, functions, rehearsals and events the Miss Universe contestants need to attend. While that might make some girls lose weight, it certainly makes others gain depending on thier physical make-up and how they cope with stress.

John Jay Cuay says he will be prescribing a hotel work out for Maria Venus Raj. He says that the buffets are not a problem as long as she sticks to the salad (with minimal dressing) and lean meat choices. NO SWEETS and no alcohol.

While John might sound a little pessimistic regarding her abs, he is still thrilled to the bone for Maria Venus Raj and believes she has a big chance at the Miss Universe 2010 crown. She might not have the physical core he dreams of, at least not yet, but he knows that at the real core of Ma. Venus Raj is a gracious, beautiful and humble woman who carries all the best traits of the modern Filipina woman.

The Philippines is behind you all the way Venus; for us you are ABS-olutely amazing!!!

by Joyce Burton Titular, the blogging beauty queen…

**Missy** Wed Jul 14, 2010 1:55 pm

enjoy your vacation in U.S miss venus

**Venezuelanbeauty** Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:44 pm

**Missy** Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:24 pm

Venezuelanbeauty wrote:

who is that girl smiling on the left she is stunning she should presented instead

**bonner** Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:54 am

Missy wrote:
Venezuelanbeauty wrote:

who is that girl smiling on the left she is stunning she should presented instead

czarina gatbonton..she will be going to miss world

**eja** Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:48 am

What ever happened to Helen who whas Miss Philippines Universe for a short while??
She also was a strong contender for Miss Universe I think.

eja

**Venezuelanbeauty** Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:46 pm

**bonner** Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:15 am

eja wrote:What ever happened to Helen who whas Miss Philippines Universe for a short while??
She also was a strong contender for Miss Universe I think.

eja

yeah henson is beautiful...shes doing host career on tv....maybe she will join again next bb. pilipinas

**Taxi** Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:06 pm

Venus Raj at Showbiz Central

**Ray Dacascos** Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:58 am

Missy wrote:enjoy your vacation in U.S miss venus

she will enjoy the vacation together with Miss Albania and Miss Kosovo. Best of luck to these three women.

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