Woman, put yourself first for a little while: It is not about weight loss and diet. It is about your well-being.

Saturdays in Samoa are usually, the "do-everything day" for women. From organizing the Sunday To’onai (feast) to mountains of laundry, kids' sport activities, gardening and church decorations - to name a few. Women's own health and well-being is often not a priority. 

However, that is changing for a special group of women in Apia, who have committed an hour and 30 minutes of their Saturdays, as well as several hours a week - to improving their fitness and happiness. They have signed up to the United Nations and My Fit Samoa 12 Weeks "Choose to Challenge" programme for women's health and well-being - launched in early March. The more than 60 career-driven mothers and grandmothers vary in age from 20 to more than over 60 years. But age is not their big concern, they want to live their lives to the best.

Diabetes, cancer, obesity and hypertension are becoming increasingly common in Samoa. Recent research reveals that 23 percent of women and 22 percent of men have diabetes, with 76 percent of women and close to 60 percent of men obese. This is already impeding Samoa's development progress. Health and well-being lie at the heart of UN efforts to ensure a better and sustainable future for everyone. 

The Choose to Challenge initiative aims to remind women of their value, to prioritize their health and encourage them to embark on life changes, including physical exercise and nutrition. 

“We want women to be able to improve the quality of their life, by allocating time to themselves and spending time to exercise and learning more about nutrition," said Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator for the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau. “They can share their experience and knowledge from the challenge with their children - which will help the kids perform better at school with healthy exercise and food.”

The Challenge is run through the UNDP Women in Leadership Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Population Fund, together with My Fit Samoa, a privately owned gym.

“I have never emphasized since our challenge began, that this is about losing weight and diet,” said trainer Tuiloma Walter Imo of My Fit Samoa. “Rather, we want to train your minds to embrace fitness and healthy eating. Fitness is not about muscles or a fine slim body. It is about being happy. While we men are the head of the family, you are the neck and shoulders that move the head.”

The women participating each pay a fee of 200 tala, which is refundable if they complete the 12 weeks of training sessions. In between the weeks of fitness training, there are training sessions about food and nutrition.   

The first Nutrition Workshop held on the second Saturday of the 12 Weeks Challenge, was delivered by FAO Nutritionist Consultant Rev. Brenda Sio. She told the women that it is important to eat what is in season, avoid sugar and salt, and use low calorie items for flavouring, such as ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, mint and lemon juice. 

“Be yourself and be content with your body. Your body is God’s creation and a gift. Love and appreciate that gift. Shift your mentality, know what is healthy to eat and what is detrimental," she said.