SHIFT SHAPE

 

‘Tis the season to be merry and to eat, and so eat we did.

Most likely by today, some people, like me, are already worried with how much food we’ve consumed over the holidays. The weighing scale becomes a detested companion, and we resolve to delay the “big reveal” until the last bite of the year end feast.  Some people even laugh off and mock the now defunct 2012 End of the World scare by saying, “Too bad the world didn’t end when I ate like there’s no tomorrow the whole year round.”

The ‘post-gobble guilt,’ as I’d call this agony, usually leads me to self-imposed hibernation and quarantine until I’ve dieted pitilessly enough to emerge similar to how I looked during pre-Christmas time. I used to think this is the easiest and fastest way to lose the holiday gain. Well, this year I’m doing things differently by taking the road less traveled.

I know I am not the most credible person to take diet tips from. I’m no health practitioner. I closed the chapter on dancing and working out from the time I got pregnant, and simply just yoyo-ed my weight through the years with fad diets and starvation. I’m sure my friends who’d read this would go “Is that you?” right at the next paragraphs.

However, just a few weeks ago, , I’ve learned a couple of points which helped change how I see and eat food --- thanks to my man-friend who is a passionate sports and health fanatic. Though it took quite a lot of strength to fight my zzz’s as he went on with his sagacious discourse on the metabolic jargon, weight management, and calorie burning routines, the bits and pieces my brain managed to absorb seem sensible and doable even for working moms like me. To be a steadfast follower of this healthy living is now my goal even before I bid 2012 goodbye. Imagine, after close to seven years of fast food (in the literal sense), my daughter exclaims, for the first time, “Wow! There are fruits and vegetables in the ref now, Mommy!”

Let’s keep it real. I’m sure none of us women gained 20 pounds after 2 weeks of Christmas dinners. However, 10 pounds would be a bit more difficult to lose than 20. The closer you are to your normal weight, the more stubborn the excess poundage becomes to lose.  The only way to beat the dreaded plateau is to watch what you feed yourself and understand how metabolism works. This is no rocket science, it’s basically about striking balance without deprivation.

The slow burn to your dream body is probably because of the myths you (and I) believe in. Rice, they say, makes us fat and bread is the better option. Truth be told, it’s just the amount of rice we take that makes us fat. Some would even go for a strictly low sugar diet, while the healthier option would be to move to preservative-free food. Time and again, I’ve heard doctors debunk diet myths which eat our approach to fitness.

“Great bodies are simply not born, they are made.” Despite our differences in genetic makeup, we can still reprogram our body to change its shape. Some of us are blessed with good genes of small frame and speedy metabolism.  If you are constantly feeling lethargic, constipated, and vulnerable to headaches and flu, chances are you have a slow metabolism. Instead of depriving yourself to a few bites over a 3-meal diet, eat small meals every 3 to 4 hours. This will ignite your metabolism to work faster and adjust to the proper rhythm, and keep your stress hormones in check.

Eating well balanced meals is just the tip of the iceberg, but knowing how often and how much is totally a different story. Those who tend to starve themselves to thinness unknowingly kill their metabolism and adapt a grouchy state of mind.  Tech savvy-wise, it’s helpful to have a pocket light friend who calculates the calories you take. This usually comes in the form of a phone application featuring an easy- eat guide that keeps you within your calorie and metabolic range. It doesn’t tell you what to eat. It helps you properly distribute your calorie-limit all throughout the day by doing the math on how much calories there are in each plate. What makes this gadget perfect in this generation and lifestyle is how it aids you in carving out a plan for yourself that lets you breathe and enables you to eat out in restaurants.

Warning: do not mistake cravings for hunger pangs. Cravings would make you drool for either something sweet or salty, while true blue hunger makes you want a satisfying and filling meal to ease the growling inside.

Stepping out of a sedentary lifestyle doesn’t mean you over-exercise. Do not go on a gym binge. A maximum of 2 hours per day is enough --- anything more than that will make you look tired and fat. Too much exercise releases stress hormones and your body can’t cope with too much stress.  If you are maintaining an action-packed schedule, you need to back it up with proper nutrients. Depriving yourself with food when your body needs it will only deteriorate your immune system and slow down your metabolism. This results to catabolism, which is the negative way of burning. It just eats on your body components and slows down your muscle activity, which is the important engine in burning fat. It’s better to maintain an active and balanced lifestyle to convert calories to energy and not fat.

This simple shift in lifestyle is no boot camp. This baby-step to fitness is as simple as cutting down on food that are preceded by the words “junk,” “processed,” and “fast.” Don’t fall prey to a languid lifestyle and start maximizing your day with proper nutrients and activities. Not only will you start shaping up and look better, but you’ll feel happier and more productive day in and day out.

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Story published in my newspaper column, Metro Mom.
A4, INdulge section, Edge Davao, Vol. 5 Issue 212, 27 December 2012.

MEET THE AMBASSADORS OF STYLE

Yesteryears saw a highly classified era where only celebrities and models got a taste of the sweet success in the business of advertising. Endorsers, as they are called, are utilized as ethical promotional marketers of products and services. While giving a face to a product and service through these personalities maintains to be one of the highest (and most expensive) forms of advertising, the with-IT culture created by social media gave birth to a new breed of endorsers in the form of brand ambassadors. A brand ambassador is described as an advertising model that leverages the authority and credibility of online personalities to create a powerful direct marketing strategy. 

 

The Style Amabssadors of What A Girl Wants

This formula is now being adopted by companies to build a closer relationship with their consumers and customers. After all, a brand ambassador has to be, first and foremost, a true passionate consumer who agrees to sponsor the product or service he or she believes in. In the eyes of the general public, a brand ambassador, is a person who embodies the values of each brand he or she speaks for.

WAGW Style Ambassador Maria Louise "Milen" Aquino

This new wave of endorsement paved way for the celebritweets and bloggers who showcase and promote the latest from each brand. They utilize communication approaches across the web and social media that are more in tune to how one would normally give advice to friends. The voice and style is more personal and direct, which proves to be a more effective vehicle for marketing communication than that of the most expensive advertising campaign. This, to a certain extent, help build a stronger relationship between the audience and the brand.

WAGW Style Ambassador Lorenzo Rabat

Taking this to the POV of fashion, a consumer’s first moment of truth with a new product comes right before a new dress hits the racks. In this generation, an outfit post, scrapbook assembled photos on Intagram, and plugs on Twitter have raised the bars in product endorsements, making it THE customer’s first moment of truth.

So, what does it take to be a brand ambassador?

WAGW Style Ambassador Chelsea Marie "Ccia" Ang

The role of the brand ambassador is to transcend all aspects of the brand. In a sense, the brand personality and the endorser must hold the same morals and principles, style and appeal. They can be a respected followed authority, a blogger or small publisher targeting a specific niche. Just as the brand endorser embodies the product’s values, the product must also reflect elements of the brand ambassador’s personality.

Last Saturday, December 8, the What A Girl Wants clothing brand revealed the Young Ambassadors of Style campaign during the official opening of their newly renovated flagship store in Davao. Its “Young Ambassadors of Style” project is an annual selection of the city’s fresh new faces and stunning style setters, individuals who epitomize the brand’s image of style, substance and youthful exuberance. Featured in the campaign’s debut are Davao’s eco-advocate Lorenzo Rabat and fashionable doctors in the making, Milen Aquino and Ccia Ang.

WAGW's owners - creative director Kryz Uy, marketing director Jacklyn Uy and their Young Ambassadors of Style Davao Ccia Ang and Milen Aquino

 

 

WAGW Founder and CEO Diane Uy enthuses “It has always been a dream for us to open here since Davao is known as a home to some of the most elegant, stylish, and fashion forward people in the country.  This dream was realized when we opened our doors to the Davaoeños last year in May right here in the heart of Davao. We have been very grateful and blessed to have received such a warm welcome since then.” Marketing Director Jacklyn Uy continues, “To mark what has been over a year in the Land of Promise and to unveil the much awaited Holiday Collection, WAGW launched the first annual search for the Young Ambassadors of Style Davao, which celebrates and recognizes some of Davao’s most stylish and promising young personalities who epitomize the WAGW’s image of style, substance and youthful exuberance.”

Bigseed PR & Events' Vanessa Deen Araneta and Jaja Chiongbian Rama

Marianne Louise Aquino, or Milen, is a 20 year-old BS Biology major who just recently graduated from De La Salle University. She aspires to become a successful doctor someday. Milen is a classic beauty which translates to her style – simple yet sophisticated. It’s no surprise that her style icon is Audrey Hepburn, whose delicate features are much like Milen’s. During her down time, she likes to do pilates, travel, dance and read.

Jessica Pineda, Trixie Pineda, Cheska Garcia and Milen Aquino

Chelsea Marie Ang, or Ccia as her friends and family call her, is a 20 year-old Dentistry student of the Davao Medical School Foundation.  She dreams of putting up her own orthodontic practice as soon as she finishes medical school. Ccia’s style is simple and elegant, and, like Milen, her style icon is Audrey Hepburn. When she isn’t too busy with school, Ccia enjoys spending time in the kitchen, cooking and baking sweet delicacies.

Leandro Jaldon, Joliz Parco, Carlo Pacana, Lorenzo Rabat, Mikko Buendia, Mico Ching, Dianne Ko and AC Sian

Lorenzo Leon Rabat, or Enzo for short, is a 21 year-old Civil Engineering Student at the De La Salle University. He dreams of making the world a better place by promoting sustainable development. He wants to focus on eco-friendly contruction methods and technology to help preserve the earth’s natural resources and fight global warming. A sporty adventure seeker, he enjoys playing basketball, working out, and going to the beach and mountains. Enzo’s personal style reflects his easygoing nature. His staples include shorts and sunglasses, both essentials in the outdoor world he enjoys so much.

WAGW's Creative Director Kryz Uy, Young Ambassadors of Style Davao Ccia Ang, Lorenzo Rabat, Milen Aquino and WAGW Marketing Director Jacklyn Uy

 WAGWs Young Style Ambassadors of Davao were featured wearing the brand’s holiday collection. Inspired by oriental high-build embroideries, opulent fabric and immensely decorative details, a collection of ornate grunge is born. According to WAGW’s Creative Director Kryz Uy, “This collection brings about feelings of luxury and elegance juxtaposed with rawness and distressed modernity, making use of stunning brocades against laser cut leather, metallic spikes on elegant satin, heavy embellishments on figure skating spandex, giving the wearer a sense of refinement, excessiveness and class with today’s edge and sense of self-power.”

Benedict Ang, Rhee Demafeliz, Nikka Go, Milen Aquino and Miggy Aquino

 The ladies behind What A Girl Wants, the Uy sisters- Jacklyn, Kryz and founder Diane Uy-Ang - continue to stand behind their vision to satisfy the shopping needs of vibrant, edgy, street chic girls and boys by providing them with a wide selection of clothes, bags, footwear and accessories to further enhance their personal style. New collections hit their racks every Friday, all of which are in line with the current fashion trends. From what started as a corner stall in Cebu in 2004, What A Girl Wants will have a total of 10 boutiques in key cities all over the Philippines.

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Story published on my newspaper column, Metro Mom.
A1 and A4, INdulge section, Edge Davao newspaper, Vol. 5 Issue 202, 12 December 2012.

 

THE REEL DEAL ON AIDX PAREDES

It has been seven years since I graduated from the UP Film Institute and I have been feeling a bit idle for not having gotten any hands on experience in film production right after college. While I still revisit my love affair with photography through various outlets and projects, I have yet to finish my full length script and experience the “reel” deal.

Despite my time off from film production, I continue to get inspiration from young and independent film makers who show a lot of promise in the art of storytelling.

A few more years before he steps out of college, Aidx Paredes, photographer / graphic artist, is now making his debut as a filmmaker. He has made a huge transition with his newly completed short film, “Somnolence.”

 

 

The 14-minute silent film, written and directed by Aidx, tells of a girl and a boy who fall in love and are faced with the challenges of their own dreams and desires.  Love does not encompass all in between bizarre realities that surround the couple. Just when love is supposed to find them, it opens doors to their own self defiance which leads to further complications.

 

Aidx draws inspiration from sad movies and sentimental songs. The styling, the treatment, and the rest of the elements of are vividly inspired by the hipster culture Tumblr has created. He even gives him film a touch of nostalgia with digitalized film burns and vintage color application.

 

JM Santillan, the director of photography, is also the first “litratista” of the year of the prestigious school award, the Foto Modelo Ateneo. He recently won an award in an Asian photography contest. Aidx finds harmony with JM’s treatment, having worked with him for almost a year through collaborations and magazine shoots. Together, they have come up with a mutual idea of how they want the film to look, branding it with their own style and vision.

 

 

The cast, LA Subido and Michael Lu, are two of Aidx’s favorite muses whom he has worked with the ad campaigns for Pickled and Peppered. Aidx also had a hand in styling his artists with help from Davao-born clothing brands, SOUL Lifestyle and Pickled and Peppered.

 

 

The musical score was done by two independent artists from Manila, namely Idris Vicuña from the Bee Eyes band and Francis Regalado from the group Love in Athens. These artists are quite known in Manila's underground music scene.

“Somnolence” will be shown on December 6 at the Cinema 5 of Gaisano Mall. Movie starts at 8pm.

Discover what a young blood like Aidx Paredes can do, and let’s support the next generation of Filipino filmmakers.
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Story published on my newspaper column, Metro Mom.
A1, INdulge section, Edge Davao, Vol 5 Issue 197, 05 Dec 2012.