Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but skipping it could be inadvertently packing on the pounds! Does your morning meal include a cup of coffee with side order cream and sugar? A slice of toast as you rush out the door? Having breakfast is not only a great way to ease into the day but it's great for your digestive system and metabolism.  

Here are the top 5 reasons you shouldn't skip breakfast:

1.  Rev Up Your Metabolism: Skipping meals can cause your metabolism to slow down. 

2. Energy Boost: Researchers found that people had more enegry throughout the  day when they ate a high-fiber breakfast compared with people who ate a high-fat breakfast. 

3. Memory Boost: According to a study high-energy foods for breakfast boosts short-term memory! 

4. Eat Less:  Those that ate breakfast were found to eat less later in the day according to researchers, compared with people who skip their morning meal.

5. Better Blood SugarLevels:  Breakfast-eaters are more likely to have good blood sugar levels and have less sugar highs and lows later on in the day.

Share your favorite healthy breakfast in the comments below!

Image source: MedicsIndex

Last weekend of summer!

Time to celebrate the last days of soaking up some rays with friends and family. Here are some quick tips to help you make the most of your weekend without feeling that unhealthy sluggishness on Tuesday morning.

Stay Active!

Spend some time getting active if you plan to indulge a little. Bring a friend so you can get caught up while burning some calories.

• Get outdoors.
• Go swimming.
• Walk the dog.
• Ride your bike.

Add Some Veggies:

Forget the high calorie chips and dip, instead load up on healthy veggies. Going to a barbeque this weekend? Take some PGX before you go and bring along a bag of healthy snacks!

Stay Hydrated:

Don’t forget to drink plenty of water especially if you’re outdoors and in the sun. When you’re not drinking enough water, you can mistake thirst for hunger. A good check before reaching for a snack is to gauge how much water you’ve had that day. On a hot day, drink a bit more than usual.

What are your Labor Day weekend plans? Tell us in the comments!

Image source: Modern Mom

Welcome back to another week of PGXs' Thursday Obsessions!

PGX is obsessed with the London 2012 Olympics and the inspiration that it provides the world.

The London 2012 Olympics are finally here, so it's no wonder that this week we're obsessed with The Games! Like many people around the world, I've been tuning into the 2012 Olympic Games since they began last Friday in London. And like many people, I've become obsessed with watching the world's greatest athletes achieve the seemingly impossible, day after day!

Personally, I find that witnessing these extraordinary athletes achieve their personal bests is incredibly inspiring (nevermind that some of their bests are breaking Olympic Records!). Watching an athlete who has given a sport their all, finally reap the benefits of all of their hard work is inspiring. Not that I believe that the Olympic Games are anywhere in my future, but I find myself wanting to challenge myself in my workouts. I want to run faster, longer and train harder. Here's to hoping that I can hang onto that Olymic Inspiration when the Games are finished!

Some of my favourite Olympic sports to watch are gymnastics (how DO they do all that?!) and volleyball. What are your favourites to watch? Do you find that the Olympics inspire your workouts?

Image source: www.facebook.com/London2012

When it's hot and humid outside, who really wants to cook?

Here's a breakfast recipe that I rely on that is super easy and requires NO cooking. Summer is here and I'm melting during the nights and the last thing I really want to do is cook when I get up. Thinking about even pulling out a frying pan makes me want to run for the pool. You can whip these ingredients all together the night before and it sets overnight. The crisp and cold oats are ready and waiting for you to eat in morning.

What is also great about this recipe is you can customize it in so many ways. Add in different fresh fruit each morning and it's a whole different breakfast meal! I like to make it into a breakfast parfait. I layer the overnight oats with fresh fruit and honey drizzled on top. My favourite tip I've learned is to add PGX singles. This helps me feel full long into the morning. Make sure to add the PGX into the oats right before you are going to eat them. I've heard others are using the PGX Satisfast (Protein Powder) in the oats just like the PGX singles I added. This gives them an extra dose of protein in their meal. Perfect for building those strong muscles and keeping you full longer! I think I'm going to try the Chocolate PGX Satisfast in my next batch. 

Recipe Source: Oh She Glows

Classic Overnight Oats

Ingredients (1 serving)

•1/3 cup regular oats

•1 cup almond milk, and more if needed

•1-2 tablespoons chia seeds

•1 ripe banana, peeled and smashed

•1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients in a bowl and place in fridge overnight. In the morning, add your desired toppings and serve without heating!

Let us know how you create your breakfast meal with overnight oats in the comments below or on our Facebook Page.

image source: Oh She Glows

What do you do when you hit a weight loss plateau?

One of the most common frustrations in weight loss is when progress slows down and then eventually stops even though you are meticulously following your plan. There is a reason for plateaus. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) - the energy you need to keep your vital functions going when the bdy is at reast consumes around 60 - 70% of the calories you burn. When you loose weight your body mass goes down and so does your BMR! Ah ha! 

Say you weigh 175 pounds and eat 1,900 calories  a day. To lose a pound a week, you restrict yourself to 1,400 a day. Over the course of the week you've cut out 3,500! (There are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat.) At first the weight comes off but then the scale refuses to move. This is because with your weight loss your BMR has also declined. Now that you weigh less, there is less of you to move around and you burn fewer calories. You're pretty much burning close to what you're consuming. So, now that you know what's happening, here's what you can do about it:

1. Shake things up! Surprize your body with something new. One of our Facebook fans, Sherry. J has this today, "Rethinking about what I could do to change things up.. Like increase my water if I have slacked off or eat more vegetables or more exercise or just change how I do the exercise (ride a bike rather than walk)." Great tip!
   
2. Remotivate! Recharge your engines and pat yourself on the back for how far you've come. Write down all the reasons you want to lose weight and post it where you can see it everyday. Or you could follow Facebook fan, Anne G.'s advice and try "Climbing a mountain!" Go Anne! Try doing something that you might not have been able to do before the weight loss. 
3. Hang in there, baby! Even though the scale isn't registering all your hard work you might still be losing weight - just not substantial amounts for the scale to register. 
4. Double-check your numbers. It's pretty easy to overestimate the number of calories you're consuming and the amount of calories you're burning. Write it all down and double-check the numbers. Are they adding up? 
5. Feel good about the skin you're in. Take this time to really assess how you feel and explore if further weight loss is needed. You might just be at a healthy weight for you.
   

For anyone currently going through a plateau, we've walked a mile in your pants - and know how frustrating it can be. If you've got some tips to share, please leave us a comment!

Image Source: Dynamic Chiropractic