It took a painful break-up for Taiwan supermodel-actress Bianca Bai to start putting herself first.

The leggy doe-eyed beauty, who turns 30 later this year, broke up with her boyfriend of seven years, Taiwanese basketball player Mao Jia En, last October.

She told The New Paper over the phone from Taiwan: "In the past, I was more concerned with what the other person liked or wanted...

"Women so easily devote their time to loving their man, kids or family, but we forget to love ourselves.

"So this year, I want to learn to love myself and ask myself what I want."

Bai has acted in dramas like Skip Beat! and Soldiers, which is showing on VV Drama (StarHub Ch 855) every Sunday at 7.45pm.

Modern women are independent but they don't like being alone, she added. She said she rarely enjoyed the time she was alone in the past.

Now that she's single, she's often at home reading a book, watching a movie or cooking.

"I like the time I have to myself. It's a good thing but there's still the rare moment when I feel lonely."

Bai had earlier told the Taiwanese media she felt unstable emotionally after she broke up with Mao and also lost weight.

The couple has gone through several break-ups before but this time it appears to be for good.

Mao was recently spotted with a new model girlfriend Sarah Wang, daughter of a Taiwanese tycoon.

And Bai confirmed that her romance with him is over.

After dating a sportsman for seven years, she added she'll gladly steer clear of sportsmen and celebrities.

"If both of us are in showbiz, I feel we would always be reported in the papers. I want a low-profile romance."

Bai added that all these years, her character has always been more masculine, in the sense that she looks out for the people around her.

But as she turns 30 this year, she has slowed down to take stock of her life. Now, she wants to be more feminine and let her guy take care of her.

She also went through a phase about half a year ago when she wanted to get married.

However, she's over that already and only wants to work hard at her job.

In the army drama Soldiers, Bai plays Minhui, the virtuous and devoted wife of a general who gave up his life defending his country during the 1940 Japanese invasion.

Following the general's death, Minhui fasted for seven days and died.

The drama also stars rookie actress Kirsten Jen, younger sister of Selina Jen from pop girl trio S.H.E.

To look thinner for the role, Bai said she lost around 5kg from her usual 53kg by keeping to a strict exercise and food regime before filming began last August.

She woke up earlier to jog before work every day and also cycled for a few hours after work.

Strict diet

She kept to a strict diet of an oatmeal breakfast and chicken soup, vegetables and fruits for lunch, skipping dinner altogether.

She also avoided going out with friends because she didn't want to be tempted by food.

It took a lot of perseverance and was particularly difficult when she filmed the fasting scenes, she said.

Bai said she consumed only water during those two days of filming, which coincided with the Mid Autumn Festival. While her family celebrated with a hearty barbecue, she could only watch and take in the aroma.

She let herself go only when filming wrapped.

"On the same day we finished filming, I sat on the couch and gobbled down 24 pieces of Taiwanese pineapple tarts and six wife's biscuits," Bai said.

"When I finally stopped, I realised I was covered with food wrappers. It was horrifying. I wasn't really hungry, I was just satisfying my food cravings."

She is now back to her previous weight and exercises two to three days a week.

This article was first published in The New Paper.