This Weight Wise Wednesday, we're sharing some salad know-how!

Are hidden calories in your salad sabotaging your healthy diet?

Here on Weight Wise Wednesday we have a look at where the hidden calories sneak their way in and what are some healthy alternatives to include in your salad.

Salad Ingredients to Try to Avoid:

• Croutons, tortilla chips and large amounts of cheese (a touch of cheese is better)
• Processed meats: deli meat, fried chicken, and beef.
• Creamy or sugar filled salad dressings. The average Caesar salad dressing contains 150 calories in 2 tablespoons and 15 grams of fat*.

Healthy Alternative Ingredients to Include in Your Salad:

• Boiled eggs (contains protein and Omega 3's)
• Fresh vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, onions)
• Black beans and garbanzo beans - chickpeas (high in fiber)
• Lean protein (baked chicken, turkey and salmon)
• Edamame beans (high in protein, iron and fiber)
• Balsamic dressing - see our easy recipe below.

Balsamic Olive Oil Dressing

• 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 4 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
• Pinch of Sea Salt and Pepper
• Pinch of Garlic Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard (or to personal taste)

Shake in bottle and store leftover dressing in the fridge.

Easy way to add a few more healthy benefits:

• Chia Seeds (Omega 3's)
• PGX Singles (sprinkler over the salad - helps control hunger and control blood sugar levels)
• Flax Seeds or Flax Oil (high in Omega 3's and Fiber)

What are your favourite ingredients to include in your salad? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook Page. Join our healthy salad conversation.

Image Source: Michelle Foster

* Ref: LiveStrong.com 

PGX is looking for the healthy truth!

UBC and the Dietitions of Canada are out to bust those nutrition myths!

Wondering if energy drinks are the best way to get energized? Here's the quick answer: probably not. You may feel enerized in the moment but it's important to be aware of the possible side affects and risks that come with them.

How about fat free foods? If you only eat fat free, will that lead to weight loss or better overall health? Again, probably not. Being healthy and maintaing a healthy BMI takes more than just eating low in fat or fat free foods.

Nuts are fattening. Does that mean they're bad for us? Nuts contain unsaturated fats (the good kind of fat) and are a good source of protein and fibre. However they're best enjoyed in moderation.

Have more of these nutrition myths on your mind? Visit UBC's Student Update blog (you definitely do not need to be a student to find these tips useful!) and the Dietitions of Canada Nutrition Month 2012 page for the myth-busting answers to all those common health questions.

Stay healthy everyone!

Image source: The Scarborough Hospital

PGX and Julia Havey Investigate: Soft Drinks

Regular soda versus diet soda. What do these drinks do to our bodies? 

Every time I give a lecture about health and diets, I talk about how consuming soft drinks (or any sugary beverages) regularly can put up to 15 lbs on the human body in one year. Without fail at least one hand in the crowd goes up and someone asks “But what about drinking diet soda? Is that okay?”

In my humble opinion is that it’s not okay to have diet sodas. When people ask me about diet soda, I will always give them them the same advice to help them be healthier than ever. Your body is made of 75% water, not 75% pop, regular or diet! It's a slim chance that soft drinks will ever be part of the solution to optimal health.

Will diet sodas hinder weight loss? I think so. Will they make you gain more weight? Quite possibly! Science aside, I have plenty of anecdotes from readers who have shared how cutting out diet soft drinks have been a big part of their overall weight loss success.

Moving past the anecdotes, let's take a look at what the experts think about diet soda in the gulfnews.com article, "Diet soda likely to cause weight gain, experts warn."

Julia

Image source: Buzzle.com

Julia Havey and PGX check out the latest chicken creation from McDonald's.

These new McBites may not have you smiling...

A new McDonald’s ad caught my eye recently, reading: "Pop Smile Repeat." It’s catchy and reminds me of the famous “Snap, Crackle, Pop” or “Good to the Last Drop” or “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogans of the past. "Pop Smile Repeat" is the slogan for McDonald’s latest contribution to society: McBites. So, in the name of objectivity, I did my homework and I’m not lovin’ McBites. I hope that you won’t either.
 
Erik Trinidad of the Huffington Post wrote: “Just when you thought McDonald’s couldn’t do anything else to mass produce a fast food chicken item short of just serving fried chicken parts like KFC, it has introduced Chicken McBites, the Golden Arches’ answer to popcorn chicken….”
 
Trinidad goes on to say that McBites may have been introduced to be a lighter, snack version of McNuggets. However, the regular size box of McBites is about as filling as a box of 6-piece McNuggets. When you compare the calories — 470 vs. 280 — you can see that McBites have about 68% more calories than their predecessor, a result of the starchy, oily batter that outweighs its chicken counterparts.
 
Read Erik Trinidad’s full review at Huffington Post Canada.
 
Dr. Mehmet Oz referred to me on his “Oprah & Friends XM” show as an “obesity activist.” I hadn’t really thought of myself in those terms but I guess, in many ways, I am becoming one!

-

Image source: Huffington Post Food

Looking for ready made 'diet-friendly' foods? Think twice before you buy.

We've all seen them before: breakfast bars and shakes, meal replacement smoothies, reduced fat, reduced sugar frozen treats, ready made salads... Diet food. But do these foods actually help our journeys to healthier weights, or do they hinder them? A recent study from Purdue University takes a look at how these foods affect your efforts to lose weight...

Read the article at the Daily Record online.

Image source: Twins that Blog