Stay Young, Stay Energetic!

Ah, to be young again! Where do kids get their energy from? I think it's a two way street - being young makes you naturally active, and being active keeps you young too. Or at least a playful attitude will!

Jolie had her first Sports Day in her kindergarten today. She didn't win anything but she had fun with her friends. I think it's important that schools also give all kids the chance to be active, whether they are good at sports or not.

You don't really need to spend a lot of money to stay active. Sometimes all you need is a ball! Notice how many sports in the world involves varieties of chasing after a moving ball? Soccer, baseball, basketball, ping pong, tennis, volleyball, polo, squash. A ball is man's best recreational friend!

Parks are great places to explore. When was the last time you went to the Botanic Gardens?

Taking the stairs too, is good exercise. If you can still take steps, do it.

Of course, the more fun something is, the more you are likely to want to do it regularly. I bring my kids to explore all kinds of playgrounds, we take long walks, we go to the East Coast beach, and generally any space they can run around or climb up.

Both of them love swimming, and Nadine is the more fearless of the two in water. Lucky girl gets a heated hydrotherapy pool in school at Rainbow Centre!




After that you can get quite hungry. These Milo energy bars are very handy to have around. Interestingly, the original-flavoured one has more fibre (1.6g) than fat (1.5g) per serving! I prefer that one to the milk-flavoured one.

But what I found really helps Nadine eat more and gain more energy is the Milo drink itself. She is normally superfussy with food, but will thankfully drink whole cups of this! I didn't really believe it at first when my domestic helper said Milo can increase appetite, but I saw Nadine eating a lot more after taking Milo. I don't know how it works, but it just does.



She especially likes the Milo Easy Cool, that dissolves easily in cold water. I remember not liking Milo as a kid because it was normally prepared hot. Hot Milo in our hot weather just does not make sense (to me, anyway).  Iced Milo, however, is a treat! For the kids, I don't make it ice-cold of course, but just gently cool.

I notice Nestlé has also given a snazzy name for the special malt extract only found in Milo - Protomalt. Hmm, I'm still trying to figure out what it is that increases appetite. There's malt, milk and cocoa plus B Vitamins, Vitamin C and calcium. Oh well, no matter what, I guess kids are still better off drinking Milo than sugar-laden soda or sweetened drinks with no benefit.

I got the Milo Easy Cool on sale at a supermarket for S$6.30 (usually S$6.90, I think). Each huggable pack has 15 sachets. I hope in future there will be a version that's not 3-in-1 but just pure Milo without added milk or sugar.

Hey, this product is made in Singapore, and approved by the Health Promotion Board too! So this is part of my August spotlight on locally made products.




Oh you can try out different things with it too, like Milo toast! Just toast the bread, spread some butter and sprinkle Milo on top. Nice change from kaya toast! You can also add Milo to jelly and have a chocolatey pudding. You can give biscuits, cakes, brownies and muffins a Milo treatment too. Have fun trying new things out!