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Sunday, August 7, 2011

An Active Lifestyle - Make It Fun For The Family

In Singapore where a very high work ethic is essential, having a couple of young boys can ensure that my whole family always stays active.


Whether it's the extended office hours, making sure I keep up my work-out time at the gym, running around for various engagements as a celebrity blogger, keeping on top of blogs, freelance article writing and other online projects, taking the kids for exercise in the park, or just generally chasing after a (sometimes 'hyper'?) active 4-year old, it's no wonder I don't usually get to sleep before 4am on weeknights.


This means I usually average just 3 or 4 hours sleep every night of the week (except Friday nights when I am rewarded with a sleep-in on Saturday mornings).

Many of my friends and colleagues ask me how I keep up with such an active lifestyle, and I'd love to say that it's all as a result of constant motivation - but that would really be a lie... although I do get a buzz out of a lot of things that I take part in and am very passionate about most of them, I do actually often feel a sense of obligation to many people which can sometimes become overwhelming. I have high expectations of myself and my outputs, and I personally feel down if I don't meet commitments that I've made to others. This is both a good and a bad thing, I suspect.

So here's a tip for all of my readers - forget the high doses of caffeine or so-called 'energy drinks' packing large taurine kicks. I grew up drinking a simple but effective energy-booster known the world over, and I still stand by this today - a beverage well-known to all Singaporeans... none other than MILO!!

When I decided to write this article, I did a little research and found out the secret behind the ingredients and why it's been packing punch with so many generations in so many countries for so many years.

Did you know for example, that the key ingredient, barley, has more nutritional value than other simple and common carbohydrate sources such as rice or wheat? Hulled barley, for instance, is a particularly rich source of dietary fibre and vitamin B.

I have also learned that the marketers of this product got the name right all those years ago - The name MILO was based on a Greek mythical character MILON, who was known for his STRENGTH!!

Mythological Milon:



Modern Day Milon:


Recently, a friend put me on to some Milo products that I was not aware of... of course, I always have the good ol' tin waiting for me in my pantry, but did you know that there are other ways of boosting the daily energy with this product?


For example, if you haven't tried them yet, check out the Milo power bar or (now this is really 'cool' - pardon the pun) Milo Easy Cool... you can make it using cold water instead of hot! I downed a couple of glasses of this just before I ran up the stairs of Millenia Tower in Singapore's financial district last week as part of the 'Vertical Challenge' to raise money for charity.


All of my family enjoys staying active and healthy together - I strongly recommend that you do the same... turning an exercise commitment into family fun will ensure that it never feels like an obligation, rather quality time that can never be replaced! :)

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