Weight-Wise Wednesday: Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet uses Mediterranean-style cooking and is considered a heart-healthy eating plan.

The Mediterranean diet is based on a healthy eating plan using the traditional cooking style of countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

Key components of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes:

  • Getting plenty of exercise
  • Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
  • Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
  • Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
  • Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
  • Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
  • Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)
  • Enjoying meals with family and friends

As the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid shows the diet includes plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables! Many people who switch to this diet say they’d never eat another way! For more on the Mediterranean Diet check out the Mayo Clinic website.

Does this look like something you’d like to try out? Let us know in the comments below! 

 

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PGX Office Tip: Desk Exercises

Stuck at desk all day? Here’s a simple desk exercise!

Relieve the tension in your legs with this easy desk exercise we’ve found for you!

Do you sit at your desk all day, staring at your computer, hunching and tense all over without even realizing it?  Work can be a really busy place that doesn’t always allow you the luxury of a midday stroll. We’ve done some internet sleuthing and found how you can loosen up stiff leg muscles without leaving your desk or disrupting your productivity!

Wellness Matters and BC Living have come together to share this easy exercise to relieve the tension in your legs.

It’s always best to get up from your desk, stretch and take a short walk around to keep your muscles limber, but when short on time, try this desk exercise!

 

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Matching Music to Movement

PGX checks out the latest in exercise apps!

Match your music to your pace and never miss a beat while you exercise!

Looking for motivation and the right tunes to get you ready for your workout? There’s a new app available from iTunes that allows you to match the music to your heart beat.

Check out this video featuring how Cadence Run DJ matches the rhythms of your music to a corresponding beats per minute number (BPM).

Get your daily fiber and keep on moving everyone!

Cadence Run DJ is available on iTunes.

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Hula Hooping Your Way to Health

Remember those young hula hooping days? PGX says get your hula hoop on today!

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. Just grab a hula hoop (or two or three or even four) and start moving!

Not only does it make a great workout, playing with hula hoops can be a lot of fun! No wonder kids are in such great shape. It’s not just all that energy they seem to be bursting with, it’s their choice of activity. The hula hoop is a great way to get your body moving.

What does this kind of activity do for you? With just one hula hoop, you can have a low-impact, calorie-burning workout that doesn’t require a gym membership. The movement that keeps the hoop spinning around your waist is excellent for toning your core, strengthening your back, and improving your balance and flexibility. Plus it’s way more fun than running on a treadmill, watching a TV station that the person next to you picked.

If one hula hoop can do all that for you, imagine what two or three or four can do! Want to know how many calories you can burn with a hula hoop?

The Chicago Tribune’s Joan Cary has got the numbers and a little bit of hula hooping history for you.

Happy Hula Hooping!

 

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Changing the Clocks and Your Children’s Health

With the change of the clocks, daylight fades earlier in the winter months. What does this mean for your children?

It is such a gorgeous sunny day outside as I write this, it’s seems hard to believe that in just a few hours, the sun will have set! Now that the clocks have been put back, our evenings come much earlier. What does this mean for your kids?

A recent study from UK researchers suggests that not changing the clocks would keep your children active by allowing them more outdoor play. What do you think?

BBC Health News reports on this interesting idea.

 

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Get the TIFF Red Carpet Physique

TIFF is on and the celebrities are out in full force, looking lean and toned.

PGX looks at how you can get those lean and toned limbs, celebrity style.

With the Toronto International Film Festival, or any Hollywood to-do that rolls out a carpet for that matter, comes the parade of svelte physiques, waiting to get their photographs taken! True, some of the stars could use some more meat on their bones but there are healthy looking, toned figures on the red carpet that are the result of good nutrition and exercise. On Wednesday, eTalk featured celebrity trainer Brent Bishop and he shared three easy moves that you can do at home to get those long lean limbs, flat abs and toned muscles!

These classic but tweaked exercises will help you reach your fitness goals. It won’t be long before those photographers are taking your photo and asking, “Who are you wearing?!”

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Most Important Meal of the Day?

Q: What is the most important meal of the day? I’ll give you a hint:

A: It’s breakfast!

If you answered brunch, lunch, snack time, dinner, supper or anything other than breakfast, I have to burst your bubble just a bit. It’s definitely breakfast and for good reason.

For starters, don’t those breakfasts look incredibly delicious? Who wouldn’t want to eat tasty meals like that to start off the day. Or how about an omelette? Waffles? Yogourt and granola? Eggs Benny? There are tons of options for you! And if you are in a rush in the morning, grab a more portable breakfast, like toast or a hearty smoothie.

Studies have shown that eating breakfast is one of the keys to staying healthy and that people who begin their days with this meal are less likely to become obese, have blood sugar problems and overeat the rest of the day. When you wake up, feeding your body will boost your energy levels and you’ll be able to function much better for the rest of your day. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? And it is quite possibly a very simple solution to your health and weight loss efforts. Give yourself time in the morning for a healthy breakfast. Add some PGX and you’re golden!

Read more about how important and awesome breakfast is in the BBC News.

 

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PGX and Your Immune System

Bad news? Flu season is here. Good news! Dr. Joyce Johnson shares how PGX can help!

Expert Dr. Joyce Johnson shares the details on how you can keep your engines running at full speed this flu season…

Pardon the poor vocabulary but yup! You read that title correctly: PGX and our healthy eating tips can assist you in your fight against the flu. Take two minutes of your day and watch this  News Canada video to learn more about what you can do to protect yourself and your family from coughs, scratchy throats, sneezes and running noses!

 

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