Opening his own three-floor restaurant didn’t just feed his passion, filmmaker and passionate foodie Erik Matti said it also helped him lose weight.
The acclaimed director shared on April 10 that he had a routine medical check-up at a hospital, where he said his doctor was “surprised” by his reduced weight.
“And as soon as she checked my lab report, she was even more shocked to see that everything was normal,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“With all the meats I eat, my creatinine is low. Including proteins. With all the alcohol I drink, my SGPT and liver [are] normal,” Erik added, referring to “Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase,” an enzyme produced by the heart and liver cells.
“She asked me how I lost a good amount of weight, 8 kilos [kilograms] to be exact. I said, ‘I dunno. I just opened a three-floor restaurant and since it opened, I was climbing up and down Rekdi,” the director added.
Rekdi is his own restaurant which he opened last February in Poblacion, Makati. Its name is derived from the backward spelling of “direk.”
The restaurant, described as a “modern karinderya,” is a three-floor establishment offering grilled dishes and a cocktail bar.
Meanwhile, Erik also said that his doctor was “proud” of his weight loss.
“She asked if I had complaints, and I said that when I get up early in the morning, I get dizzy. I thought it was alarming. My doctor said, ‘you just have too much meds.’ My blood pressure has been getting low because of my weight loss that the meds make me dizzy due to low blood pressure. So my meds were adjusted. She brought down my dosage,” he shared.
“Nice! I’m so healthy. I deserve a drink!” the filmmaker added.
“So tonight I’ll be at @rekdi.ph for a few hours for my regular walk up and down the stairs,” Erik concluded.
He also added “The Real Slim Shady” as background music in his post.
Erik’s post has amassed 4,700 likes and reactions and over 170 comments, including from Facebook friends who congratulated him on the weight loss.
“Congrats, Rekdi. Pag-akyat at pagbaba lang pala sa hagdan ang gamot, magawa nga hahaha…” a Facebook user commented.
“Galing galing naman!!!” another wrote.
“Maayo ba! Nagbata ka, Rik. Then it would be wise to have all the desserts on the 4th [fourth] floor. Your doctor will be floored with the results of your next bloodworks!” a different Facebook user commented.
“Doing great with your health stats, cuz! Keep it up!” another Pinoy wrote with emojis.
Stair climbing
Climbing the stairs regularly can help burn calories, according to a report.
Research also shows that climbing stairs burns about 20 times more calories than walking on flat ground.
Dr. Alberto Minetti, a physiologist and biomechanist, said that moving 1 kilogram of body mass 1 meter horizontally expends 0.5 calories.
“If you move 1 kilogram of body mass vertically on stairs, it’s 10 calories. So it’s 20 times the calories moving vertically rather than horizontally,” he was quoted as saying, explaining the benefits of stair climbing.
