health is wealthIt was 10:00 PM and quite dark at the Xavier Hall grounds in the Ateneo Campus. Lauren left the Blue Rose festivities earlier than the rest of her friends. I directed her to meet me at the Flagpole. She glanced over me from a distance and ignored me, or so I thought.

I yelled “Laauureeennnn”

She looked surprised to see me wave at her.

“Oh mom I didn’t recognize you. You ‘re so slim”

oohhh…Music to my ears

“It’s just my tight fitting shirt!” I hugged Lauren with glee.

I don’t think I lost much weight the past weeks. It’s just that some clothes I own make me look slimmer. Losing the last 10 pounds is not an easy goal. My daily routine consists of 2 hours at the gym leaving me with approximately 6 hours of work. I often tell myself “what good will my income be if I am unhealthy?” as I huff and puff on the treadmill.

“Health is wealth” is my mantra as I continue to exercise.

When the girls aren’t busy with their studies, they hie off with me to the gym for cardio vascular activities or participate in group exercises. All of us are enrolled at the Fitness First and summer break means more exercise time for the girls.

My girls are so weight conscious. They often ask “Am I fat?” before taking a scoop of ice cream.

I often tell them that as long as they are within their desired weight level, they are alright. It’s also good they are weight conscious. Diabetes runs high in my family and my doctor often warned me that my girls might also acquire diabetes if they are overweight.

M is persistent ” I am fat”.

I say ” You just have big bones. You’re not fat”

Lauren whines “I hate my flabby arms” as she pulls out nachos from the refrigerator.

About Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

You may contact Noemi (noemidado @ gmail.com) for speaking and consultancy services in the following areas: Parenting in the Digital Age (includes pro-active parenting on cyber-bullying and bullying) ; Social Business ; Reinventing One’s Life; and social media engagement. Our parenting workshop is called "Prep to Prime (P2P): Parenting in the Digital Age (An Un­Workshop)" P2P Un­Workshops are conducted by two golden women in their prime, Noemi and Jane, who have a century’s worth of experience between them. They are both accomplished professionals who chose to become homemakers. This 180­degree turn also put them on a different life course which includes blogging, social media engagement and citizen advocacy. They call their un­workshops Prep to Prime or P2P, for short, to emphasize the breadth of their parenting experience. They tackle different aspects and issues of parenting ­­ from managing pregnancies, prepping for the school years of children, dealing with househelp, managing the household budget, to maximizing one’s prime life and staying healthy through the senior years.

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