Here’s an update of the happenings in our company!

Wondering why are these iPad2 here? We’ve got one in each colour sitting in our office, waiting for their new owner to claim them!

Do you still remember The Great Health & Beauty Bonanza?

The Great Health & Beauty Bonanza

These are the bonus prize given out at the end of the draw.

Listed below are the winners for the monthly draw:

November 2011

First Prize: Teo Hwee Buay (Sxxxx605H)

Second Prize: Annie Tin (Sxxxx932I)

Third Prize: Tai Ly Na (Sxxxx447H)

December 2011

First Prize: Thian Ai Choo (Sxxxx225J)

Second Prize: Tan Kan Ban (Sxxxx284D)

Third Prize: Doreen Tan (Sxxxx454C)

January 2012

First Prize: Margaret Tan Pek Noi (Sxxxx968G)

Second Prize: Teresa Tan Hui Keow (Sxxxx184E)

Third Prize: Tan Siak Kwang (Sxxxx471F)

Bonus Prize: 2 x iPad2

Tay Lai Heng (Sxxxx738Z)

Mo Geok Hiang (Sxxxx696D)

Congratulations to all winners!

The joy of rewarding our customers doesn’t end here.

From now till 30^th June 2012, simply print and present the voucher below to get $2.00 off your purchase of ChocoMarvel™.

ChocoMarvel™ $2 voucher

For a full list of terms & conditions for the above voucher, please visit: www.chocomarvel.com/promotions 

Stay connected with us through our Facebook pages to get the latest news and promotions.

Wanna win? It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Festive Photo Contest 2011

1. Take a photo with the person whom you will like to share AVALON^TM Japanese Fish Collagen with.
2. Upload the picture with a creative caption to Facebook page
3. Tag us in the photo.

Top 3 photos with the most creative captions win a product hamper worth $166.60 each!

Contest is open to all Singapore & Malaysia residents.

Closing date: 7 Jan 2012

Hurry and submit your photo today!

Image source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

Here comes the question: Which fat is good for us and how to avoid the bad fat. 

There are four major kinds of fats found in the diet: saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans fatty acids.

You’ve probably seen these descriptions of fats on product label. However, can you differentiate which are the good fats / bad fats and their health effects?

Good Fats VS Bad Fats

The “Good” Fats

Monounsaturated Fat and Essential Fatty Acids

These fats are referred to as healthy fats because they do not adversely affect your health and may actually contribute to good heart health. Instead of relying solely on supplements, try and get your “good” fats from food sources such as fatty-fish like salmon or walnuts, etc.

Polyunsaturated Fat

Polyunsaturated fats provide omega-6 fatty acids and should be enjoyed in moderation as part of a healthy diet. Sources of polyunsaturated fat include corn oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil.

The “Bad” fats

Eating a diet rich in “bad” fats can lead to high levels of cholesterol in the blood and increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Saturated Fats

Saturated fat should be limited as often as possible. Saturated fat is found mainly in foods from animal sources. Foods that contain saturated fat include: whole milk, butter, cheese, red meat and coconut oil.

The best way to improve and lower fat in the diet is to make healthy food choices.

Trans Fats

Trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat that actually elevates blood cholesterol levels more than saturated fat and should be avoided as often as possible.

Trans fat is typically found in “junk” food such as processed meat (hotdogs) , snacks, etc. Look for the words “partially hydrogenated oil” or check the nutrition label on food packages to lower your consumption of trans fats. Foods that commonly contain trans fat include most margarine, fried foods and commercially-baked goods.

How to Improve and Lower Fats in Your Diet

Go lean

Choose lean cuts of meat and poultry. White meat is the leanest option for poultry while the leanest cuts of meat are sirloin, chuck, and round. Cook meats in a healthier method by baking, broiling, and grilling. Cutting back on processed meats also lowers consumption of saturated fats.

Choose Low-fat and Fat-free

Source: Health Promotion Board (Singapore)

Minimize intake of full-fat dairy products such as cheese, milk, and yogurt. Instead opt for low-fat and fat-free options. Read the labels of food products to ensure you are choosing low-fat and fat-free selections.

Be Choosy

Try to choose from good fats as often as possible — quality can be as important as quantity. Eating the right amount of “good fats” may counteract the effects of eating too much “bad fats”.

A 1998 study in the Diabetes Care journal found a special diet could reverse insulin resistance in as little as four days. The special diet includes 30% low fat protein, 40% low glycemic carbohydrates and 30% mainly good fats. After all, we are what we eat. Let’s start making changes to our diet and stay healthy everyday!

If you’ve answered “YES!”, REJOICE!

Because The Great Health & Beauty Bonanza is back! This time round, with 2 more bonus prizes!

The Great Health & Beauty Bonanza

Promotion Period:

1st November 2011 to 31st January 2012

3 winners will be announced each month. Additional 2 bonus prize will be drawn at the end of the promotion.

How to participate: 
1. Spend a minimum of $50 worth of AVALON™ or ChocoMarvel™ products in a single receipt

2. Post the original receipt together with your Name, NRIC no. ,Age, Gender ,Contact number and Address to:

Hi-Beau International Pte Ltd
18 Boon Lay Way
#07-102 Tradehub21
Singapore 609966

Remember the contest held last month exclusively with Watsons (Singapore)?

Exclusive Promotion with Watsons

Here are the lucky winners! 

First Prize Winner ($500 cash): Ms. Cassandra Lee

Second Prize Winner ($300 Watsons Voucher): Sheryl Chew

Third Prize Winner ($150 Watsons Voucher): Mabel Ow

Congratulations to all winner and a big thank you to all participants!

Special thanks to Watsons for allowing us to do the prize presentation at their store!

Trying to slim down is never an easy affair, especially when we are living in the city where temptation of grabbing a bite is EVERYWHERE! So, how are we going to stay in shape without giving up on every single snack that we enjoy?

Besides training ourselves physically; i.e exercising, let’s start training ourselves to eat healthier !

1. OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND! 

Is that sinful, calorie loaded chocolate bar lying in the drawers of your office desk? Avoid temptation by removing unhealthy foods(especially those that are loaded with FATS and CALORIES!)  from your home and your workplace.

How to start?

• Avoid all-you-can-eat buffets and restaurants. 

They promote over-sized portions and you may end up eating more than what you intend to

• Before shopping for groceries, make a shopping list of healthy food and stick to it.

 This way, you can keep the healthier alternatives insight, and the unhealthy ones out of mind! Alternatively, you may wish to shop for groceries online so you don’t have to fight temptation while shopping.

• Place healthy food around. 

Instead of putting a bar of chocolate at your work desk, put a bar of muesli! It satisfies your hunger, minus the excess sugar and calories from the chocolate bar.

2. IT’S ALL ABOUT P-O-R-T-I-O-N.

We’ve all seen the nutritional facts labels on packaging .

But do you know how much is 1 portion?

A visual guide to serving portions (Source: manitoba healthy living)

How to start?

• When you snack, do not take the whole bag of chips or whole chocolate bar with you.

Absent minded eating will cause you to eat more than what you intended to. Take a small portion every time you crave for a snack. DO NOT REFILL after you finished the portion!

• Hide craved foods in the middle of a meal!

According to nutritionist Susan Roberts from Tufts University, you may wish to avoid all the unhealthy craved food for the first 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you may treat yourself to 100 calories of the food that you were craving in the middle of the meal.

According to her, “If you eat chocolate at the beginning of a meal when you’re really hungry, your brain will think — associate chocolate with feeling satiated and happy. If you put it at the end of the meal, your brain will remember it as the last delicious thing you tasted.”

3. ARE YOU DRINKING CALORIES?

Are you always reaching out for flavoured beverages after your meal? These beverages are probably the biggest hidden source of empty calories in your diet. Scientific evidence shows that our bodies don’t detect the calories in liquids the same way as when we eat solid foods. In other words, our body register calories from solid food more easily than calories from liquids. Solid foods are more likely to make us feel full.

In a Harvard Nurses’ Health Study of 50,000 women, researchers found that those women who increased their intake of sugar-sweet beverages from 1 per week to 1 or more a day consumed an average of 358 extra calories a day and gained a significant amount of weight.

How to start?

• Make your water more refreshing with a few slices of lemon/oranges.

• Cut down calories from beverages with healthier alternatives.

You may wish to substitute those drinks with hot green tea instead. Green tea is high in anti-oxidants and is readily available. If you crave for an icy beverage, indulge in fresh fruit juice* instead of sodas.

*Note: fruit juice contains natural sugars (such as fructose) and little fibre. Therefore one should consumed in moderation.

Let’s all make little changes to our lifestyle to stay slim and healthy from today!

Photo source: Diane Kennedy

Knowing your body shape not only helps you in choosing the right apparels to balance your proportion; It helps you identify which are the areas in your body that FATS are most likely to be stored. However, no matter which shape you belong to, we all face one common area of trouble which makes us look out of shape! i.e the bulge located at the tummy area!

Let’s find out the common causes for that bulge and the best way to combat it!  

1. Poor digestion

Do you know that poor digestion constitute to the bulging look on our stomach? Poor digestions usually lead to problems such as bloating and/or constipation.

How to combat it!

i.            Instead of finishing your meal in 5 minutes and swallow everything in 5 chews, make more effort to chew your food slightly longer to aid digestion.

ii.            Build and “army” of good bacteria in your intestine with probiotic supplements such as AVALON Probiotics Detox. These good bacteria helps to fend off the bad bacteria which feeds on poorly digested food in your intestine and producing gases that makes you feel and look bloated.

2. Water Retention

Have you been weighing yourself at different timing of the day and realised that your weight fluctuates? This could be due to water retention by the body, especially in the morning (ever experience puffy eyes when you wake up?)!

How to combat it!

 i.            Always ensure that you are well hydrated! Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day so that your body does not store excess water.

ii.            Reduce your daily sodium (salt) intake. Salty food makes you thirstier, and your body will hold on to this water.

3. Slow Metabolism

Metabolism is the way our body uses calories to create energy. Ever met a person who does not gain weight, no matter how much they eat? Only some lucky people has high metabolism rate; Most of us has average metabolism rate.

Furthermore, our metabolism gets slower as we get older. This means we do not burn calories (and fats) as fast or as we did before. A slower metabolism can result in extra storage of fat…particularly around the middle.

How to combat it!

   i.            The best way to improve your metabolism is exercising! If you do not have enough time to exercise, try taking supplements that enhance your metabolism rate such as AVALON Fat Burner.

ii.            Ensure that you have a balanced diet with an average calorie intake per day is not less than 1200kcal. Extremely low calorie intake will results slow metabolism and exhaustion

iii.            Be “picky”! Choose food that is prepared with lesser fats. For example, you may wish to choose steam fish instead of fried fish.

4. Stress

Stress doesn’t just make your stomach bigger; it can make everything bigger if you’re not careful. When you are feeling stressed, your body will produce cortisol. This hormone causes your liver to make more sugar that your body’s requirement. As a result, you begin to feel hungrier and begin to eat more.

How to combat it!

Everyone has different methods to relieve stress. For example, you may wish to pick up a new hobby, spend some quality time with your family or take a short break by going on a holiday! Managing your stress level well helps you to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.

Always remember, no matter which body shape you belong to, Calories in < Calories out is the best formula to maintain your body shape. However, you should ensure that you have a balanced diet with not less than 1,200 calories intake per day. When incorporate with regular exercise, you look great no matter what size we are.

Let’s start our “shaping” regime to look your best, especially at the upcoming year end parties!

What is Detox?

Detoxification is the process of removing accumulated toxic substances from a person’s body.

Why should we detox?

Every day, our body is exposed to pollutions such as the harsh chemicals from our surroundings. With our hectic lifestyle, most of us have poor dietary habits and tend to consume more processed food for convenience. These cause toxins to build up so rapidly in our body that our body could not detoxify itself fast enough to regain the equilibrium in our body.

These toxins can destroy body tissues and, over time, may lead to:

• Poor digestive system

(eg: constipation, indigestion, bloating)

• Slower metabolism rate

• Lower immunity to illness

• Poor complexion

From now till 21^st October 2011, simply purchase a box of ChocoMarvel (8 sachets) from any Watsons outlet and stand a chance to WIN $500.00 CASH!

Exclusive Promotion with Watsons

How to participate? It’s as simple as 1-2-3!

Step 1: Purchase a box of (8 sachets) from any Watsons outlet

Step 2: Send us the original receipt with the following details:

• Name
• NRIC no.
• Age
• Address
• Email
• Contact number

Step 3: Mail the receipt to the following address before 21^st October 2011

Hi-Beau International Pte Ltd

18 Boon Lay Way

#07-102 Tradehub21

Singapore 609966

Best part of the deal? MULTIPLE ENTRIES ARE ALLOWED*!

Wanna know more details? Click Here!