The traditional Greek Mediterranean diet included fresh produce, fish from the sea, lots of olive oil, and sourdough bread. The food was simple to prepare and very tasty.
Here I am in our family kitchen with a good friend about to enjoy a healthy Mediterranean style meal that Francesca prepared. Photo credit: Francesca Rehnborg
That’s why I want to share an article with you that goes into greater detail about the Greek Mediterranean diet. It provides a straightforward approach to eating that everyone should try to include in their daily habits.
Healthy eating tips from Artemis Simopoulus
The expert featured in the article is Artemis Simopoulus, another close friend of mine who has worked with Amway and the Nutrilite brand for many years. She has spoken to people all over the world about the importance of a healthy diet and how to go about creating it.
The article is a quick read that highlights how good eating and good health aren’t that difficult. It just takes a little thought, love, and passion for the food we eat.
Of course, products like those from the Nutrilite brand help balance the total package and help people optimize their nutrition.
So, I hope it helps you better understand how simple it is to support your health and well-being, which is what we are all about — and with the potential to help people worldwide.
I thank you for reading and listening to my friends and me, embracing our concepts, and sharing the Nutrilite product line with people all over the world. You help make the world a better place, and it is just the beginning. So, keep it up! We still have a long way to go before we get everybody to embrace this way of thinking.
Enjoy, and I hope you gather additional information for yourself and your families.
As we near the beginning of a new year, I, for one, believe that the optimism we create is going to become the future we live in. In a world too often dominated by headlines of challenge and disruption, optimism — and a positive mental attitude — has the potential to transform us, and surprisingly enough even help increase our healthspan.
A Foundation of Personal Wellbeing
Have you ever thought about where wellbeing really comes from? Why we might be motivated to stay healthy? We can probably list many reasons. And some of those reasons might really impact us!
But here’s something important I’ve come to understand: Personal wellbeing isn’t just about you (or me). It’s about the people around us, our family, friends and the greater community.
It’s always wonderful to be with family during the holidays.
Once you realize that you can best help others when you are healthy and by being your best self, you see how interconnected we are and how your own health contributes to everyone and everything around you. That is the biggest motivator!
So, think of it this way, before we can nourish others, we must first nourish ourselves. This isn’t selfish—it’s essential.
Our physical well-being forms a foundation from which our mental optimism is built. Not only do our actions increase the quality of our lives and our own healthspans, but they can also contribute to increasing the quality of life for those around us.
Finding Sanctuary in Nature
I often talk about the walks I like to take, and the simple way each step can connect us to our purpose. And there’s also profound wisdom in simply staying connected to the earth – not only with both feet, but also with our intentions. Stepping away from technology and the constant interruptions it creates in our lives has never been as important and beneficial to our wellbeing.
Whether you have a small garden on your balcony or you are just walking through a field, nature offers us a break from the chaos of the modern world. It’s another reason why Amway is so interested in organic and regenerative farming; because in providing the plants used to make botanical ingredients for Nutrilite products, they’re also staying connected to the earth and cultivating it in such a way that the soil remains fertile and ready for future generations to benefit from.
Surveying the vineyards on the family farm in Oregon.
Not to mention that finding sanctuary in nature allows us to reconnect with something much larger than ourselves—the cycle of life, seasonal renewal, and the natural abundance that has sustained us for generations.
The Ripple Effect of Kindness
True optimism manifests in us in how we might respond to our own struggles. In a world where negativity prevails, suffering can lead to bitterness and a mistaken desire for others to share in our pain. Optimism offers a different path. It can transform our challenges into opportunities for positive change.
Look at it this way. When we face difficulties, we can use the wisdom and empathy we gain from the experience to help others navigate similar struggles. This is authentic kindness in action—it’s not superficial. It can lead to a deeper commitment that sees others positively and finds ways to help them avoid the challenges you went through.
The ripple effect it creates leads to stronger social connections that lift everyone and makes the world a better place.
Looking Forward with Optimism
So, as we move into the future, we get to choose how we show up in the lives of other people. By choosing optimism, we end up creating a better world in every moment for the people we interact with.
Taking care of yourself, nurturing your connection with nature, and all the effort you make to transform personal challenges into opportunities to help others, leads to a future where we can happily coexist.
Optimism isn’t just about hoping for a better future—it’s about actively creating it, starting with us and rippling outward to others.
Last month, Francesca and I toured through Asia visiting China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan. The trip was an opportunity for us to talk about Amway’s leadership as a Health and Wellbeing company and to begin celebrating the upcoming 90th anniversary of Nutrilite.
Throughout my visit, I spoke to employees, company leaders and – from the stage – tens of thousands of Amway Business Owners all of whom were eager to learn more about the legacy of the Nutrilite™ brand and the power of nutrition in today’s world. Many leaders have enthusiastically embraced the Product of the Product philosophy and are doing all they can to improve their health and wellbeing, and their outlook about the future.
In the Beginning
It’s what my father, Carl F. Rehnborg, envisioned when he founded Nutrilite nearly 90 years ago. He was an adventurous man who was innately curious. As a young entrepreneur living and working in China in the early 1900s, he spent lots of time building his business by traveling throughout the Chinese countryside.
While doing so, he made the quintessential observation that ultimately led to the creation of the Nutrilite™ brand: People living in the countryside were much healthier than people living in the city; they were more physically active, and they ate more fruits and vegetables.
Photo of Carl F. Rehnborg in Shanghai, Picture During the Years of 1915 and 1916, Carl F. Rehnborg was an accountant with standard Oil Company of New York, in Tientsin, China, which is in the northern part of the country
But let’s rewind and think about this. Just getting to China from the United States in the early 1900s was a monumental task. For him, it included traveling across the continental United States, and then extended passages across the Pacific Ocean where he had lots of time to dream about the future, and the opportunity to learn about a completely different culture – and build a business.
As a young businessman, he started off in China representing Standard Oil selling cooking oil traveling up and down the Yangtze River. But, again, based on his observations, he believed that selling canned milk in China would serve an immediate need and benefit the Chinese population. He soon returned to the States and was able to convince Carnation Milk to let him represent their company in China.
It was while selling canned milk and becoming more embedded in Chinese society, that he realized most people he was interacting with had nutritional gaps in their diets that plant materials could help fill. He also soon understood that eating well, exercising, and leading a healthy lifestyle was the best way to combat poor health. Simply because it helps prevent problems from occurring in the first place.
So, from the very beginning, through my father’s observations, a deep understanding of health and wellbeing has been engrained in the DNA of the Nutrilite™ brand.
The New Opportunity
Today, Amway understands how Health and Wellbeing can help improve peoples’ quality of life and help increase health span – helping people live better, healthier lives. The commitment to Health and Wellbeing is coming to life in different ways across the globe, but everything is rooted in a consistent direction.
Together, we are focused on six interconnected domains that illustrate how a healthy body, a healthy mind, personal growth, community connection, financial wellbeing, and taking care of our planet can positively transform our overall wellbeing.
Going Full Circle
An exciting part of our Asian trip was the opportunity to share the stage with co-chairmen, Steve Van Andel and Doug DeVos, and CEO, Milind Pant. Spending quality time with them in each country we visited made me realize how interconnected we are and how important our partnership is.
During our final presentation in Taipei, an on-stage interview session between the four of us and Michelle Lin, Managing Director of Taiwan and Hong Kong, I heard Doug say something that truly resonated.
The whole team onstage at the Platinum Rally in Taipei.
While speaking about the direction we are going as a company, Doug said:
“Health and wellbeing is who we were in the first place. And now we’re discovering more about who we are. And if we do that, we can build an even better future together.”
Listening to Doug speak, I realized that we are – in many ways – going full circle.
What my father observed so many years ago is as important today as it ever has been. And it is now at the center of the future Amway is pursuing.
This past month I visited Malaysia and Singapore and experienced the joys of traveling to Amway markets once again. It was great to be on stage sharing my optimal health journey with so many new people. And I’m so impressed by the passion of the staff and leaders. They are incredibly focused on being the best they can be and building the future of our business.
I believe that when we have the opportunity to experience different geographies and cultures, we often change our perspectives about ourselves. My travels have helped me see the world differently and better understand how connected we all are. And I believe that being able to connect through health and wellness makes our bonds even stronger.
Back when I was in my 40s, I was eager to take the Nutrilite brand around the world. To do this, I felt that I needed to experience the customs and dietary practices of various cultures around the world firsthand. So I set sail on a three-year journey on a sailboat called the Firebird that would take me to 36 countries.
During my travels, I discovered that the people I met with the best nutrition were also the happiest, most prosperous, and most involved in their communities. It was this observation that confirmed my belief that taking charge of our own nutrition is critical to living full, satisfying lives, to going after our dreams, and to having enough drive to act on what’s really important to us.
Continuing in my 50s and 60s, I traveled extensively around the world, helping Amway open up international markets at a record pace, introducing Nutrilite products to 47 new markets over a 20-year period from 1986 to 2006.
My latest trip reaffirmed my belief in the power of optimal nutrition and the incredible goodwill of people all over the world who make up our Nutrilite community.
Here are some photos from the trip.
Cheers!
Enjoying the sights in beautiful Malaysia. Photo credit – Braden BeckFrancesca and I enjoyed our time on stage with Amway Managing Director, Mike Duong. Photo credit – Braden BeckEnjoying a wonderful meal with Amway Managing Director, Mike Duong. Photo credit – Braden BeckFrancesca and me telling our Nutrilite story at the Malaysia National Leadership Conference. Photo credit – Braden Beck.
Recently, I received an inspiring note from Takeshi Saito, one of our Nutrilite Experience staff members. He’s been a dedicated Nutrilite employee for many years, and he recently helped host a group of Vietnamese ABOs visiting our Buena Park, California headquarters.
Sitting next to a life-size statue of my father Carl F. Rehnborg. It’s easy to see why it’s a favorite photo stop for visitors at the Nutrilite Health Institute. The statue was inspired by his famous “Pepper Tree Talks” and his many conversations filled with visionary ideas. Buena Park, California. March 2017.
Because of his welcoming, genuine, and outgoing personality, he was able to make a connection with one of the visiting ABOs who stayed in touch with him. She sent him a message explaining how excited she was that she’d received a copy of a special book published more than 35 years ago. It was a used book she found on a popular online marketplace months ago, but she finally received it during the holidays.
The note caused me to pick up the book once again and re-read portions of it. It still strikes me how prescient my father’s writings were. How he clearly recognized the importance of sustainability and the need to take care of the planet and, therefore, our future.
Much of the writing found in his collection coincided with the groundbreaking work of Rachel Carson, who wrote the famous book Silent Spring back in 1962 which inspired the modern environmental movement. My father and Rachel Carson corresponded with each other during that time, they were both forward thinking and recognized many of the perils we were beginning to face as a world community.
There is an essay that encapsulates his thoughts about where we were going and the changes we need to adopt to keep the future bright for everyone. It was written in 1962 and it was called Preserving and Protecting Our Environment.
You can find this passage on page 148:
“For the first time in human history we will now begin to study our environment instead of taking it for granted and thinking of it as able to supply our every careless whim forever. Maybe we are already too late in getting ready to begin our study. Time will tell, but this looks like a very good time to start worrying – right now, not a few decades in the future.”
We are more than a few decades into the future. It’s here and it’s time to take meaningful action. Sometimes we just need the right inspiration.
I’m so thankful for the inspiration to revisit my father’s writings.
Cheers!
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Welcome to my blog on healthy living with the Nutrilite™ brand.
