The top winners of the health challenge pose with Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso during the awarding ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN.
13 July 2018 – The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN successfully concluded an office-wide health challenge that resulted in a collective weight loss of over 80 kilos in 3 months. The health challenge followed the successful conduct of Mission’s Gender and Development initiative, a talk entitled “Life Changes for Health,” which was held in March 2018.
When the challenge was initiated in April 2018, majority of Mission’s personnel was overweight and suffered a number of serious health concerns. Mission consulted with medical experts, including a nutritionist, on practical recommendations that each person could explore in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, taking into consideration diverse health issues, physical limitations and a grueling work schedule. They pooled together personal resources to offer simple prizes to provide added incentives to the participants. Since the starting weights and goals of the participants differed greatly, to level the playing field, the winning criteria was set at a combination of actual weight lost, together with how close one gets to one’s ideal body weight.
Ms. Carina Gaurana, Confidential Secretary to the Ambassador, bagged the first prize by losing 9.8 kilos, putting her very close to her ideal body weight. On the biggest lesson learned, the 41-year old mother of two commented that, “It really is never too late to be healthy and get fit. With discipline and hard work, nothing is impossible if you really, really want something.”
Mr. NJ de Guzman, Mission’s Communication Officer, who lost close to 12 kilos said, “This is just the beginning. I know I still have a long way to go but doing this made me realize that nothing worth achieving comes overnight. I am excited for the rest of my health and fitness journey!”
Some undertook drastic changes in their diet, while others enrolled in group fitness activities, such as zumba and spin classes. However, some changes were also very simple. Deputy Permanent Representative Noel Novicio, who lost close to 5 kilos, said that he consciously pursued relaxing activities with his family on weekends, like going on long walks around their neighborhood. He said, “one of the keys to a healthier lifestyle is to ensure a good work-life balance.”
During the simple awarding ceremony and thanksgiving dinner, Ambassador Buensuceso inspired her team to “continue their high standards of being the DFA’s best organization mentally, physically and spiritually, in order to do more good for each other, our country and the world.”
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