Fitocracy: a Fitness App

On your marks. Get set. Exercise!

Get in shape with the app that turns fitness into fun and games…

We’ve all got a competitive side right? Now there’s a fitness app that appeals to our inner competitor (racer, fighter, Olympian?) and can help you stay motivated to workout! Fitocracy is an app that turns your exercise routines into games!

Fitness geeks and gurus, Brian Wang and Richard Talens, decided it was time to help people actually fall in love with fitness; not an easy task! With Fitocracy you can climb levels, earn points, and compete in quests and challenges, turning that routine workout into an addictive game world of health and exercise! A healthy habit addiction?! How very convenient!

So if you find yourself lacking in consistant motivation or just looking to stir the exercise pot, try this app and start competing with yourself and your friends. A little healthy competition can go a long way!

 

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Recipe: Mango Salad with Lime & Sweet Paprika Dressing

PGX presents Tasty Tuesday!

Enjoy a tasty and exotic salad that will definitely add a pop of healthy colour to your dinner table!

Salads are a popular staple in a meal for many people. But I know, from personal experience, that this green addition to the dinner table can often become repetitive, featuring the same leaves and the same dressing.

Treat yourself to something new with this delicious and incredibly colourful recipe from the Wooden Spoon: Mango Salad with Lime and Sweet Paprika Dressing!

Doesn’t that look delicious?! Click on through for the details and try adding a stick of PGX Daily Singles for that extra benefit of fibre!

 

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The Many Benefits of Exercise

Did you know that exercise does more than slim your figure?!

Read on to discover 24 fabulous benefits of getting your exercise groove on!

We often talk about how exercise will help you control those cravings and lose the weight you want to lose. But there really is so much more to exercise than that! Exercise comes with many benefits, both physical and mental! For example, it makes you strong, physically yes but also mentally. Think about it: when it would be so much easier to just plop yourself onto the couch after work or stay bundled up in blankets early in the morning, and you stll get yourself up and moving? Mental strength!

In my internet searchings for interesting tidbits to share, I came across an article at BC Living, 24 Awesome Benefits of Exercise. Here are 24 awesome (like they said) reasons why we should all get at the very least, 30 minutes of exercise three times a week. If you are like me and looking for some motivation, this article will be a big help!

Until tomorrow everyone! Get your exercise on!

 

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Correcting Your Exercise Moves!

Here are the top 5 exercises that people often do wrong…

Save yourself injury and really make your workouts effective by learning the proper exercise postures!

When I saw this infographic, I couldn’t resist sharing it with all of our dear PGX readers. These five exercises are very popular moves to do at home and make full body workouts accessible to anyone, no gym necessary. However, they are easier said than done. As someone who guilty of making at least one (or two…fine, maybe three) of these mistakes in my earlier days of fitness exploration, I find this chart to be an excelent reminder.

For a more detailed explanation of how to do all five of these moves correctly, visit the Spark People Blog: The Top 5 Exercises You’re Doing Wrong.

 

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Tips to Get More Zzz’s!

Sound sleep and sweet dreams!

Here are some useful tips to help you get better sleep every night…

Okay, we all know how important sleep is for rest, rejuvination, balancing appetite regulating hormones, avoiding irritating eye twitches that may frighten others around you, avoiding that unattractive selfish streak (studies show that when people don’t sleep well, selfishness can kick in more than usual and can affect their relationships), keeping the cranks away and the happy bubble unpopped… You see what I mean. But what if, try as you might to get the recommended six to eight hours of sleep everyday, you just can’t seem to get some shut eye?

Well before you go speak to a specialist about insomnia, we’ve got a couple of tips and ideas for you to try…

Turn off the gadgets. Give yourself at least one hour before bedtime of iPad, computer, cell phone and television-free time to unwind after a busy day. Why is this important? All of these electronics emit a blue light that mimics daylight, which then leads your body to produce less of sleep hormone, melatonin. Try grabbing a book or a magazine instead!

Avoid caffeine. Did you know that caffeine can linger in your system for up to 12 hours? It’s true. If you find that caffeine has a strong effect on your, make sure that you don’t have any after lunch!

Exercise regularly. Getting your daily exercise is one the best ways to destress, which is often the culprit of sleep troubles. Exercising in the morning is especially good because it gives your time to cool down and keeps you energized throughout the day (needing less caffeine to function). When you exercise, your core heats up and isn’t normally a cue to your body to drift off to dreamland. If you must exercise in he evening, the experts at Shape Magazine recommend a nice steamy shower that will heat your skin. This will help kick your body into cool down mode and help it wind down towards sleep.

Invest in your bed. We spend half of our lives sleeping, so why not spend a little money on your mattress and sheets? Mattresses usually have a lifespan of five to ten years. If your mattress is sagging in the middle, no amount of flipping it over will change the fact that it’s saying goodbye to you. Also, look for quality bed sheets made from natural materials (like cotton or silk) that will breathe. And don’t forget to make your bed in the morning! Coming home to a messy room can actually bequite stressful and affect how well you sleep.

Have a routine and bedtime. Try to follow a more regular schedule of winding down and falling asleep and waking up in the morning. Also, create a normal bedtime ritual that will help you to relax and put away the stress of the day.

If you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed. It seems rather counterintuitive but don’t stay and in bed trying to sleep. This hardly ever helps. In fact, it could create even more anxiety for you if you are constantly checking the clock and counting the minutes, wondering why you can’t sleep and how this will affect your day tomorrow. Get up and change your environment, but keep it low light.

Eat the right foods. There are certain foods that you can eat that contain more tryptophan or melatonin such as tart cherry juice, nonfat popcorn, turkey, garbanzo beans, and chamomile tea.

Lavender. The scent of lavender is really quite relaxing and studies have shown that people who smelt these purple blossoms (or an aromatic oil) slept deeper and woke up with more energy. In any case, it just smells lovely!

And there you have it! Get more great sleep tips from Shape Magazine and happy snoozing to you!

 

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Bike to Work!

Spring is here! Hop on your bike and take advantage of it!

Get your daily exercise on your way to work and put the pedal to the metal!

The sun is shining. The weather is sweet. Make you wanna move your dancing feet. Well, Bob Marley had it mostly right. The sun is shining and it is sweet, but right now it makes me want to move my bike pedals!

One of my best friends used to bike to work all the time, rain or shine. Now that’s impressive! But it is equally impressive to make the effort on the sunny days! If there is ever a perfect time to consider commuting by bicycle, spring and summer is the time to do it! It’s National Bike Month in the USA and June is Canada’s National Bike to Work month. To all our Canadian friends, let’s get a pedal up on the trend and to all our American friends, May has just arrived and it’s time to put the pedal to the metal!

Biking is fun and easy way to exercise and get all your muscles working and your heart pumping. It can also be a way to save money on parking, help the environment, and skip the the traffic and hectic roads! If you’ve never biked to work and find the very thought of it daunting, then ease it into your routine. Start going for bike rides and get your muscles used to the movement. Try doing other exercises like lunges, squats and the plank to make your leg and core muscle groups strong.

Increasing your fitness activities can never hurt! Learn about more useful exercises to help you get ready for this beautiful biking weather from Alive Magazine’s Dust Off Your Wheels.

 

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Exercises to Bring Out Your Inner Kid!

Make exercise fun and become a big kid again!

Remember your monkey bar days? Exercise can be that fun, it’s true…

Remember the days when you used cute, colourful plastic plates for your veggies and always had recess to run wild in the playground? I’d lying if I said I didn’t miss them sometimes, especially in the middle of a workout! Back then, working out wasn’t called “working out.” It was just play time in the great outdoors! Now, exercise is all too often a series of boring, mind-numbing repetitions and staring blankly ahead at the next machine in your gym routine!

Well, maybe we can’t completely lose the repetitions but the exercises can be more fun than the average push up! Jay Cardiello of Shape Magazine shares hi top five exercise moves that will have you feeling like a scampering young’un in 5 Exercises to Make You Feel Like a Kid Again!

Remember, fitness can be fun and if the whim hits you, grab a friend, go to the park and frolic like nobody’s watching!

 

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The Eatery App & PGX

There’s an app for that! Change your eating habits for the better with help from PGX and The Eatery app.

Empower yourself with the tools you need to achieve your weight loss goals!

Now a days, there’s pretty much an app for everything. Whether it’s for Facebook, Twitter, or that awesome app that tells you the name of the song that’s playing on the radio, smart phones and their applications play a large part in how we socialize and spend our free time. So, why not start using one to help you lose weight!

Allow me to introduce (drum roll, please), The Eatery! Getting started is easy: Just take a picture of your food (don’t forget to sprinkle your PGX on top or into the mix!), rate your meal on how healthy it is, and record how much of your meal you ate. Then invite your friends to follow you for support, encouragement, or to strive for the same goals along side you. As The Eatery says, “You never have to eat alone.” Finally, The Eatery will provide you with feeback and stats on your eating habits, forcing you to see the facts on what you’ve been eating – this, maybe more than anything, will push you to eat healthier.

Why we like The Eatery:

It gives you a sense of community by allowing your friends to follow your progress, and vice versa. You can achieve your goals together, and have a buddy (or multiple!) to support and encourage you on your weight loss journey!

Have you used this app or something similar to help you achieve your weight loss goals? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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Motivation Monday – Be Happy

Don’t forget an important key to great health is simply being HAPPY!

Not only is exercising and eating healthy beneficial to your overall health but being happy everyday can make a big difference in how you feel. Do at least 3 things a day that bring a smile to your face. You will be amazed by how much lighter and happier you feel by the end of the week.

The best part is that smiles are contagious – spread the happiness around.

 

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Get Your Morning Energy Boost!

PGX wants you to start your day with energy!

Not a morning person? Here are 5 easy tips to give you a blast of energy!

I am not a morning person. Plain and simple. I love the quiet of the morning and the idea of waking early to watch the sunrise, but when it comes right down to actually waking up and getting out of bed, I am not a morning person. I do not just naturally wake up at 6 am, and if I do? I promptly go back to dream land.

So what can we night owls, and anyone else feeling sluggish in the morning, do to get that much needed energy boost?

Here are five fabulous tips from Real Simple to wake us up in the morning!

    • Enjoy a pop of colour! Bright colours like yellow and orange are known to have invigorating effects on your mood and can give you that shot of energy. So be bold and don that bright yellow raincoat or use those fuzzy orange towels!
    • Let in the natural light! When you wake up, resist the urge to keep your room dark. Throw back the curtains, open the window and blink in the light! Enjoy breakfast outside. Dr. Joyce Walsleben, Ph.D. says, ?If you can go outside within 15 minutes of waking for 20 minutes and face east, even on a cloudy day, you?ll get enough light to energize yourself for the day.?
    • Need a morning shower to wake up? End it with a blast of cold water! That will definitely wake you up!
    • Laugh! Laugh and laugh some more! Laughter can give you the recharging benefits of a good workout, help reduce stress and help boost immunity. So turn on your favourite morning sitcom because a little laughter goes a long way…
    • Dab on some jasmine-infused scent. According to neolorologist Alan Hirsch, jasmine helps increase beta-waves which make you more alert.

Looking for more ideas that will keep you energized throughout the day without the unhealthy energy drinks? You can find more great energy boosting tips in the Real Simple article, 25 Easy Instant Energy Boosters by Eleni Gage.

 

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