A self-confessed heavy rice eater, Filipina Karla Paula Henry, the reigning Miss Earth, shared that one of the most difficult things she had to do for the duration of the pageant was to cut down on her consumption of the country's main staple.

In an interview on “Mornings@ANC,” the Filipino-Canadian beauty admitted that it was difficult for her to reduce her rice intake but “it was something that I had to do.”

“Being a Filipina, who is used to having rice three times a day, it was very hard for me to give that up and just eat protein, salad. It was something that I had to do for the pageant. We all have to make sacrifices for what we want and so my big sacrifice was cutting down the rice,” Henry said.

She divulged that after winning the crown she “ate as much rice as I could at that time.”

Henry bested 84 other contestants from all over the world, succeeding Canada's Jessica Trisko, Miss Earth 2007, during the coronation night on November 9.

Henry earlier won the Miss Earth Designers Award and Miss Photogenic special award.

Miss Tanzania, Miriam Odemba, was Miss Earth Air (1st runner-up); Miss Mexico, Abigail Elizalde, was Miss Earth Water (2nd runner-up), and Miss Brazil, Tatiane Alves, won Miss Earth Fire (3rd runner-up).

Henry said since the coronation night she and the other winners have been very busy with lots of activities.

Miss Mexico and Miss Tanzania are still in the Philippines to fulfill some commitments while Miss Brazil left the country a few days ago, Henry added.
Among Henry’s projects are the bike race for clean air, “I Love my Planet Earth” school tour and green lifestyle campaign. She is also encouraging local government units to plant 20,000 trees in their respective jurisdiction.

To those criticizing her victory, Henry said: “I think for the critics out there, they [should] re-watch the pageant [to] see for themselves and be the judge for themselves.”

“I don’t think that it (victory) has anything to do with the fact that Miss Earth is held in the Philippines. For the past eight years, Miss Earth has been held here in the Philippines and during that eight years a Filipino has not won… I think Carousel production and of course everybody behind Miss Earth has proven yet again that we are not biased and just really the girl that shines the most that night,” she added.