Striving to be complete

As I was growing up, I was constantly exposed to healthy living habits and maintaining an active lifestyle. My parents, titos, titas and cousins were all relatively athletic and were very active with various sports. I remember having mini-olympics with my cousins when I was younger and until now, we always have games during our get-togethers, especially during Christmas or Easter! Since we were such a tight-knit family, it’s no surprise that I caught the habit and eventually loved the idea of getting into different kinds of physical activities.

On top of the active lifestyle, my parents always strived to eat well. They remained very fit as they got older and, even today, my mom is still very slim considering she has had to give birth to and raise eight kids (or maybe raising us became her workout?). Back in the day, I distinctly remember my parents trying out all sorts of diets and hearing their conversations about going to the gym together and looking for new exercises. As they raised me, I would grow up eating food that was relatively healthy and my junk food and soda intake was very limited. But most importantly, they enjoyed living healthy and eating well and I think I also picked that up.

As I grew older, I found myself gravitating towards the mini-gym that my dad had set up at home. Given that I was a geek of sorts, I also read up a lot on how to build muscle mass, how to eat well and other health-related topics. As time went by, I grew fond of healthy living and it became a part of my personality. It even went as far as me signing up for a Nutrition 101 elective back in college even if it had nothing to do with my business management course. I just did it for fun and to probably satisfy the geek within me but that moment also says a lot about my commitment to being healthier.

In light of all that, I see it as a major milestone in my life that I am now an ambassador for the very prestigious brand, Centrum. I think it’s a perfect fit for me to endorse the product because I align very well with the message it sends out to the consumers. At the same time, I always thought that when it comes to endorsements, I should only accept it if I can truly support the product and it’s something that I live out. True enough, I think that is exactly what happened.

Centrum looks to provide Filipinos with a product that can help them live attain healthier lifestyles. From my perspective, I am more than willing to take an active role in reaching out to Filipinos and raising awareness on how they can live healthier lives. It’s a match made in heaven, the way I see it, and I am ultimately very thankful that I have this unique opportunity to endorse a product I truly believe in. On top of that, I enjoy the company of the team behind Centrum. I think we share the same passion for excellence and that we all sincerely want to make the most out of the work that we do. I have a feeling I will be learning a lot from them and our time together will be very productive and fun.

Another interesting aspect about the newest Centrum campaign is the Centrum Nutricoach. It is an online nutrition tracker that is developed specifically for Filipinos. This may sound daunting to some but it’s actually a great tool for everyone to get an idea of how they can eat better and be healthier. In the past, I’ve tried other nutritional calculators but they don’t quite add up because they are catered to the foreign audience. With the Centrum Nutricoach, I think there’s a lot that Filipinos can discover about themselves and their eating habits.

Overall, being an ambassador for Centrum is the highlight of my year. I know that the selection process is very meticulous and I am flattered that I was chosen. With that, I really want to make the most of this opportunity because it has and will still open a lot of doors for me. Partly because of this, I made it a goal of mine to eventually put up an organization or foundation that is geared towards helping people and pushing my advocacies. I decided that I would push for two things very close to my heart, which is education and health.  Hopefully, in the near future, I can turn that dream into a reality alongside the Centrum brand. I’m aware that I am in a unique position of possibly influencing a lot of Filipinos so I fully intend to make the most out of it and do my part giving back to everyone.

(Try out the Centrum Nutricoach on Centrum.com.ph. Follow me on Twitter @mikaeldaez. You can check out the TVC and BTS stories of the Centrum campaign on my blog www.mikaeldaez.com.)