Cover Story
Anita has a note reminding her to drink green tea and coconut water , two drinks she swears by .
“ They both have amazing health benefits ,” she says . “ Green tea is great for an energy boost and weight loss , and coconut water helps me to stay healthy , hydrated and fresh .”
I suspect there ’ s probably more to Anita ’ s lean body and glowing skin than tea or coconut water , so I ask her what else she does to stay fit . True to her upbringing , Anita tells me that a love of vegetables is at the heart of her good health : “ What makes me feel best are greens . They just make me feel cleaner .” Fresh vegetables play a big role in the dishes she cooks at home ; they are a nutritious accompaniment to a diet of lean meats and good carbohydrates .
Living in Bangkok , surrounded by culinary temptations , who can resist checking out the latest restaurant openings , sipping cocktails on Soi 11 , or enjoying dessert a couple of days a week ? I ask if Anita swears off alcohol , dining out or eating sweets . “ There are times when I ’ ll eat out a lot and have some sort of treat every day , and it feels great . But I like to think that I make up for it in the gym the next morning ,” she says .
For health and aesthetics , Anita works out four days a week , looking forward to “ leg day ” the most . Sticking to compound movements — like squats or deadlifts — she believes she can work out her whole body and really feel the burn in her core . It helps if she exercises alongside her boyfriend of four years , Tom .
“ We always try to go to them gym together . It makes such a difference — especially when we work out to the same program — because I push myself to reach his number . I ’ m competitive like that !” she says .
THE AMAZING RACE
It was this competitive nature that spurred Anita to apply for The Amazing Race Asia last year . Teaming up with Tom , the couple submitted a video introducing themselves as they scaled a wall , drove ATVs in Pranburi , and hot-air-ballooned in Bagan . According to Anita , they “ nailed it ” with their video . They made it through the application process and onto the reality show .
The aim of the game is to travel to different countries throughout Asia , completing a series of challenges , uncovering hidden clues , and making it to the pitstop before your opponents . Being physically fit gave the couple a strong advantage , but Anita assures me that smarts are also essential . “ There was a team of contestants that was in great shape ; we thought they would go so far in the competition . But they got eliminated after the first challenge .” The task that did them in ? Searching a wall of a thousand compasses to find the one that pointed 210 degrees north — a challenge that requires math skill , not just brawn or speed .
Anita and Tom made it through the first round and onto the next , successfully completing challenges in Malaysia , Vietnam and Indonesia . The couple was eliminated in the Philippines , during the sixth leg of the race . Though disappointed not to make it to the final , Anita looks back on her time on the show fondly .
Her favorite moments were the challenges here in Thailand . Teams were tasked to get from Phuket Airport to Hang Nga , where they had to pick up pineapple leaves to feed to elephants .
“ It was really tough ,” says Anita . “ There were maybe 50 kilos of pineapple leaves crawling with cockroaches and white scorpions , and we had run back and forth with the heavy loads through the rain and the mud .”
Then it was onto Sarasin Bridge , where teams traveled to Phuket Island to untie a series of complex knots on the beach , dash to a temple to balance coins on their head for 15 minutes , and then race back to the shore to hunt for coconuts . Exhausting ? You bet . But Anita took it all in stride — and she understands the relationship benefits of surviving challenges as a pair , too : “ It was tough at times ; but we live our lives like that , always keeping active together . As a couple , we had some stressful moments … it ’ s made us so much stronger today .”
HANDSTANDS TO HELPING HANDS
Anita ’ s biggest ambition as a child was to become a gymnast . But a growth spurt left her suddenly too tall for optimal performance , so this dream was put to bed . Instead , Anita flipped her attention to healthcare , inspired by her father — a doctor — and her mother , who went on to train as a nurse .
Frequent visits to Surin , her mother ’ s Isaan hometown , ignited this new ambition . Anita tells me about her mother ’ s dedication to the children in her village and those living around it , particularly young women who had fallen pregnant and were left to raise babies alone . Often , the only option for these women is to move to a big city , find a job , and send money home to their children being cared for by grandparents , who are subsequently faced with raising children through their twilight years .
“ My mom started opening free daycare centers ,” Anita explains , “ which soon developed into something similar to kindergartens , places where the grandparents could leave the children to play , learn and get fed .”
Anita recognized that Surin has needs that reach beyond kindergarten — residents here lack access to school , food , sanitary products and even homes . Anita ’ s mother has spent the last few years trying to meet those needs by calling friends and family and asking them to sponsor the children to give them the chance to live normal , healthy lives .
“ I grew up watching my parents helping others ,” she tells me . “ It has really inspired me to do the same .”
When she ’ s not volunteering , Anita studies at a Norwegian university through distance learning and has recently finished her final exams . The next step is her thesis , although she has yet to decide which area of medicine will be her focus . She wants to help others lead the healthiest and happiest lives they can , so she is particularly interested in environmental toxins and how they relate to disease and cancer .
I ask if environmental toxins are of concern to her while living in a traffic-riddled city like Bangkok . “ I try my hardest to stay away from harmful toxins . Through my studies , I ’ ve seen a lot of research on how big an impact they can have on our bodies .” In fact , Anita would go as far to say that everyone should detox once in a while — or even just once in their lives — to cleanse their bodies from the toxins they take in , whether through food , chemicals or even stress and negativity . One way Anita “ detoxes ” is by
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