Nestle urges Pinoys to choose a healthy lifestyle

MANILA, Philippines -  Leading the way to a healthier lifestyle, families gathered in front of the Megatrade Hall at SM Megamall B last July 13 for the opening of the annual Nestle Philippines’ Choose Wellness Expo. In celebration of Nutrition Month, Nestle Philippines organized a two-day Wellness Expo, urging visitors to adopt a healthier lifestyle through balanced nutrition and adequate physical exercise.

Events like this are a great way to push Filipinos to step up their fitness regimens and make better informed lifestyle choices by eating the right food, exercising, and choosing wellness over laziness. The event aims to engage family members — from kids to adults — in fun, wellness-oriented activities complete with various games and booths where special prizes, giveaways and souvenirs were given away, imbibing the spirit of good health for Filipino families.

Twenty thousand guests attended the two-day fete, with everyone experiencing Nestle’s wellness programs.

Guests happily participated in a wide variety of activities like interactive games, cooking demos, dance and exercise lessons, product sampling, and short talks about health issues. Special Nestle products were also given away like Nescafe, Coffee-Mate, Nido, Milo, Bear Brand, Nestea, Maggi, Nestle Low and Non-Fat milk, Fitnesse cereal, Fruit Selection Yogurts, and Acti-V as these make it easier for people to achieve a healthier way of life.

As Nestle Philippines continues to remain truthful in their advocacies, it is imperative that they cultivate interactive ways to help Filipino families achieve wellness. “With a heritage of good nutrition and unmatched scientific R and D network, Nestlé as a world nutrition, health, and wellness company puts emphasis on responding to the needs of consumers, in our support of the thrust towards healthy lifestyles by the Department of Health. One major health issue that we are now addressing as a priority is micronutrient deficiency, which is prevalent in the country,” shared Nestle Philippines director of communications Sandra Puno.

At present, Filipinos commonly encounter diet problems often caused by overeating or not eating at all, according to a study. “Diet fads are not balanced, because these do not contain enough food groups in the amounts that the body needs to stay healthy. We may lose weight from a fad diet in the short run, but it is not sustainable and there is eventually a rebound” explained Leslie Go-Alcantara, Nestle Philippines Corporate Wellness head.  “Nestlé wants to emphasize a basic but important concept: Moderation, variety, and balance are indispensable to a proper diet. So we have the Wellness Plate as a simple visual guide for a healthy diet. A balanced plate would be half-full with vegetables or fruits, one-fourth full with a carbohydrate source, and one-fourth full with a protein source.”

Nestle also provided sufficient information about good workout activities and a balanced diet. The company invited two known celebrity health buffs, model Tweetie De Leon-Gonzales and fitness coach Jim Saret, to give motivational recommendations for guests. The two gave valuable advice to everyone, encouraging them to never underestimate the power of a serious workout and to veer away from food temptations.

“If I’m going to have that cookie, boy, I’m going to have that cookie. I’ll have two, even three. But five? That’s overdoing it. If I’m going to eat pizza, I’ll have two or three slices. But five? I’ll have to run more than five kilometers just to burn it all off and repent,” said Gonzales.

More than anything else, she considers her workout divine. “My workouts are sacred. No one or nothing gets in the way of me doing it. Treat it like a board meeting, if you will. You need to schedule it for yourself.” She disagrees with the idea of totally eliminating carbs from one’s diet; as a matter of fact, she encourages everyone to enjoy a reasonable amount of carbs especially before engaging in any physical activity like before a game. She suggests taking two small pieces of pan de sal “with fillings and with feelings, because I enjoy it.”

“There is a key to all this, and it’s balance. Work and play, diet and exercise, crazy fun, sanity, alone time, me time, time with friends and family, it’s all about balance. But I’m not even going to tell you that it’s easy and achievable because it can be elusive. You have to commit to a healthy lifestyle. And that, my friends, is my secret to feeling beautiful and enjoying happiness,” she concluded.

Coach Jim Saret who is the camp head facilitator of the Nestle FitFil Boot Camp advised that in order to lose weight, one must eat. Yes, one must eat.  â€œEat well, eat the right foods. There are a lot of fad diets right now, but they’re only about calorie reduction.”

He emphasized the way people should treat each workout. It doesn’t matter to him if you go to the gym or not, any person can be fit. Together with his wife, coach Toni, they introduced a workout routine fit for busy people. It is a four-minute workout that is proven to burn 600 calories.

Over the years, Nestle has been successful in organizing events like this that espouse good nutrition through quality products.