The Terry Fox Research Institute, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and BC Cancer Agency launch innovative pilot project to accelerate precision medicine in Canada

SOURCE Terry Fox Research Institute

Foolproof Action Plan to Getting & Staying Healthy This Year ... and the Best Ways to Stay on Track

Do you want this year to be the year you actually keep your New Year’s Resolution to achieve better and healthier habits?

“It’s the ultimate personal challenge,” says Leigh Stringer, author of The Healthy Workplace. "It takes guts and determination to make and keep those life-changing commitments in our lives, but it can be done.” Stringer offers up 5 major reasons we fail, and how to stay on track:

1. Get Serious. We need a strong reason to overcome our natural lack of motivation.

Becoming healthier is a really good idea.  But to get us to change our behavior – to actually change the way we eat, move, sleep and manage our stress on an ongoing basis – requires a really powerful motivator.  We need a reason that makes it “absolutely essential” for us to do something differently, and think of ourselves differently.  Our lame excuses need to be trumped by a greater calling.  We need a real sense of urgency and a stronger “why.”

Deciding to be healthy has to be more than just a cool thing to do or a “nice to have.”  Making the firm decision to change lifelong habits for the better requires steely resolve and a strong, unquestionable purpose.  It has to be bullet-proof.

Take Action:

• Think.  What would incentivize you to make a firm decision and commit to it?
• Write down what motivates you and post it where you will see it several times a day.  This is your “why.”  A strong ‘why’ can navigate when the how is not so clear.

2. Choose friends wisely. You can influence your own behavior by hanging out with healthy people. 

Social influence and peer pressure positively impact our exercise behavior, awareness of our intent to exercise and produce results, and the attitude maintained during the exercise experience.  You are more likely to stay on an exercise program if you have a friend (either an individual or group) who works out with you.  Connecting with other people is critical.  We are hard-wired to want to impress and relate to our friends. In addition, if you commit to being at the gym every day, you will feel good and will achieve your goals by keeping your promise to yourself.

Take Action:

• Find a friend you like to exercise with and set up meetings on your calendar to do so. Make friends with people you meet at the health club.
• Surround yourself with people who are healthy and have already adopted the behaviors you are trying to achieve.  Decide to be around them often. It will help nudge you to make better decisions and achieve your goals.

3. Be accountable. Get a partner to help you stay that way. 

If you are accountable for the commitments you make, you are much more likely to achieve your goals and succeed.   One great way to keep honest is to find an accountability partner – someone you trust and who will check in with you on a regular basis (daily, weekly or whatever is needed) to see how you are doing, give you positive reinforcement, track how well you doing, and encourage you to stick with your commitments.

Take Action:

• Find someone you trust to be your accountability partner.
• Talk to them about your goals and specific objectives.
• Get specific with them about actions you will want to take as well as rewards and consequences for taking or not taking them
• Set up regular check-in times. This can be a text message, a periodic but regular encounter, or a phone call, whatever makes sense.
• Review your progress and your goals and objectives honestly to track your performance, and modify your targets. Keep your goals ambitious but attainable.

4. Make Getting Healthy a Game. Sticking to your goals and resolutions isn’t very fun, but technology can help make it fun.

Do your best to make getting healthy fun. You can turn your journey into a game and adorn your arms and body with wearable devices that help motivate, engage and prompt you to make better decisions.  Apply video game-thinking and game dynamics to engage yourself and change your behavior. The technology is available and has really evolved. You can turn any goal or objective you want into a game-like activity  that will become ever more desirable and highly addictive.  Gaming is now understood as a significant way to encourage people to adopt more healthy behavior. Two of the most powerful elements are competition and progressive reinforcement, where a player gets a challenge, meets that challenge and then receives an immediate reward for its accomplishment. Retained engagement is known to produce 90% improvements on start to finish challenges.

Take Action:

Here are a few more apps you can try:

• Pact, funded by the founder of Guitar Hero, helps you make pacts with yourself to regularly exercise and eat healthily, and you are paid in real dollars to do so.
• LifeTickis a goal-tracking app that asks you establish your core values, then follow the S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time-specific) goal-setting method to create tasks or steps that are required to achieve your goal.
• Habit Listhelps you track your “streaks” – how many times in a row you completed a habit, and will send you reminders to keep you on track.
• Liftallows you to choose your goals and then select the type of coaching you require: advice, motivation, and/or prompting from the Lift community.
• StickK, developed by Yale University economists, requires you to sign a commitment contract which binds you to a goal. It will cost you real money if you fail to reach it.

5. Pay Attention to your Environment. It may be working against you. 

Your environment greatly influences the decisions you make about your health. To the maximum extent possible, take a careful look around, and if necessary, change what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.  Choose to keep your personal space clean of the enticements that will destroy your ability to achieve your goals. Clean your kitchen and your will be 44 percent less likely to snack than if your kitchen is messy.  You will eat less if your kitchen is stocked with smaller vs. bigger plates (ideal is 8-10 inches in diameter).

Take Action:

• Pay attention to how your environment can sabotage your goals and objectives.  Don’t set yourself up for failure by keeping potato chips in an easy-to-reach cabinet. Move them or get rid of them and place them on the forbidden list.   Look at your home and work settings with fresh eyes, and put away (or throw away) anything that you are to giving up.
• Strategically place healthy snacks, running shoes or other prompts in prominent places to encourage you to make good on your commitments.

Choosing one of these strategies is probably not enough.  You will most likely keep commitments if you employ “multiple interventions,” including strategies that intrinsically and extrinsically motivate your behavior.

The Healthy Workplace: 

How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees-and Boost Your Company's Bottom Line 

Leigh Stringer

List $ 27.97

Trade hardcover 256 pages

Publisher: AMACOM (July 19, 2016)

ISBN-10: 0814437435  ISBN-13: 978-0814437438

For more information, please visit www.leighstringer.com

The Healthy Workplace utilizes real life and real time research and studies to prove that it pays to invest in people's well-being.  Leigh Stringer reveals how to: create a healthier, more energizing environment; reduce stress to enhance concentration. She explains how to inspire movement at work, use choice architecture to encourage beneficial behaviors; support better sleep; heighten productivity without adding hours to the workday. The book is filled with strategies and tips for immediate improvement and guidelines for building a long-term plan. The Healthy Workplace is designed to help boost both employee well-being and the bottom line.

About Leigh Stringer

Leigh Stringer, LEED AP, is a workplace strategy expert and researcher. Her work has been covered by national media, including CNN, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Good Morning America.

She works for EYP, an architecture, engineering and building technology firm.

She is the author of the bestselling book, The Green Workplace: Sustainable Strategies that Benefit Employees, the Environment and the Bottom Line (Palgrave MacMillan) and The Healthy Workplace:  How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees—and Boost Your Company’s Bottom Line (AMACOM).

Leigh is currently collaborating with Harvard University’s School of Public Health, the Center for Active Design in New York, the International Facility Management Association and the AIA DC Chapter on Health and Well-being to create new tools to connect like minds and to blur the boundaries across industries in order to advance and improve our well-being at work.  She is a regular contributor to Susan Cain’s Quiet Revolution Blog and Work Design Magazine.  Leigh regularly speaks at U.S. Green Building Council, CoreNet Global, the International Facilities Management Association and American Institute of Architecture events and writes for a number of workplace and real estate magazines and journals, along with her blog, LeighStringer.com.

Leigh has a Bachelor of Arts, a Masters of Architecture and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Leigh lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington, DC.

What People Are Saying

“Leigh is clearly on the cutting edge of the revolution that is occurring between workplace health and business performance.  The Healthy Workplace is research based, immensely practical and filled with genuine insights.”

-          Jim Loehr, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute and renowned performance psychologist

“We’ve spent so much time trying to make people happier at work, neglecting how to make them healthier. Stringer combines the best thinking from physiology, psychology, nutrition, and sleep science into practical advice. This is a great read on a critically important topic—a must-have for anyone concerned with waistlines and bottom lines.”

-          Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of ORIGINALS and GIVE AND TAKE

“Leigh Stringer has written the definitive guide for 21^st century workplaces, and every smart CEO, manager and worker should have a well-thumbed copy of The Healthy Workplace on their desks to use as a ready reference. With fascinating research, backed by hard-hitting statistics, Stringer lays out a compelling case that, far from a luxury, creating healthy workers and workplaces is imperative for fueling productivity, creativity and a better quality of work and life for everyone.”

-          Brigid Schulte, award-winning journalist, author of the New York Times bestselling Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time, and director of The Better Life Lab at New America

“The Healthy Workplace is a groundbreaking synopsis in the evolution of today's corporate workplace. Leigh Stringer not only demonstrates current challenges and trends which are changing corporate culture, but lays out in specific detail the ways companies can find solutions and innovations towards advancing the wellness agenda for their most coveted asset, their people. "

-          Paul Scialla, Founder/CEO of Delos and International WELL Building Institute

“Leigh goes far beyond ROI and productivity and digs deep into unseen benefits of workplace wellness in The Healthy Workplace. Autonomy, creativity, mindfulness, and reduced presenteeism are just a few ways your culture will benefit from various workplace health initiatives. If you are looking to start a workplace wellness program or simply want to be inspired and re-ignite your population, this book will be an imperative tool so start reading and get out there and change some lives.”

-          Sam Whiteside, Chief Wellness Officer, The Motley Fool

“If you pick books that offer both learning and enjoyment, Stringer’s writing delivers mightily on both. You’ll learn why the Huffington Post has napping rooms, why we have a preference for ‘savanna landscapes,’ and what ‘acres of neutral colored work stations’ do to workforce performance. Stringer offers many long lists of practical methods workplace wellness readers can take to people managers, facilities managers and food managers alike to make their workplace a healthy one. I urge you to read it!”

-          Paul E. Terry, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) and Editor, The American Journal of Health Promotion

“Whether you seldom think about the interplay between healthy lives and healthy business or you live and breathe it, this book provides a new way of thinking about the connections between psychology and sociology, medicine and health promotion, architectural design, management science and the history of industrialization.  Stringer convinces us like no other about the business case for raising human health and performance. Through insightful reporting of the research and company anecdotes, sprinkled with her wit and candor, Stringer challenges us to think differently and deliberately about designing healthier work organizations.  This book is for everyone who wants to unlock the potential of work for good!”

-          Eileen McNeely, PhD, MS, RNC, Co-Director, SHINE Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard School of Public Health

Asian Chicken and Rice Salad

Created by: BITE ME MORE – Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat

INGREDIENTS

Rice

2 cups water

½ tsp kosher salt

2 cups Minute Rice® Premium Instant Long Grain White Rice

2 cups Minute Rice Premium Instant Long Grain White Rice

Asian Dressing

¼ cup rice vinegar

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Salad

2 cups roasted deli chicken breast meat, shredded

1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips

1 large carrot, peeled and shredded

1 cup chopped cucumbers, unpeeled

½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

½ cup roasted peanuts

Garnish

2 tbsp chopped green onions

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

lime wedges

DIRECTIONS

• To prepare the rice, in a small saucepan bring water and salt to a boil. Stir in rice, cover and remove from heat. Allow to sit covered for 5 minutes. Place rice in large serving bowl and set aside.

• For the dressing, in a medium bowl whisk rice vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, vegetable oil, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds until smooth set aside.

• To prepare the salad, add chicken, red pepper, carrots, cucumbers, parsley and peanuts to the cooked rice. Pour dressing over to coat well. Garnish salad with green onions, sesame seeds and lime wedges.

Chicken & Mushroom Mock Risotto

Created by: THE DIY MOMMY – Christina Dennis

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

1 cup sliced fresh mushroom

2 cups Minute Rice® Premium Instant Long Grain White Rice

4 cups chicken broth

¼ cup cream cheese

1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast

DIRECTIONS

• Heat the olive oil in a pan on the stove on a medium heat setting. Add the onion and garlic and sautee until the onion is clear.

• Stir in the mushrooms, and sautee until the mushrooms are golden brown.

• Add rice, and stir for about 2 minutes.

• Slowly pour in the chicken broth, and stir the entire mixture until it's thick - about 5 minutes.

• Turn the heat down to a low setting and stir in the cream cheese and cooked chicken breast. Cook for about 2 more minutes or until the cream cheese is incorporated and the chicken is warm.

• Serve with a sprinkling of chopped green onion or parsley.

Easy Beef Bulgogi

Created by: CAROL AU COURANT – Carol Gomez

INGREDIENTS

1 lb of thinly sliced sirloin (or any tender prime beef cut), about 1/8 inch

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 yellow onion

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp garlic, minced

2 stalks green onion, chopped

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and grated

2 tbsp rice wine (mirin)

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 cup of Coca Cola

1 tbsp sesame seeds for garnish

2 cups Minute Rice® Premium Instant Long Grain White Rice

DIRECTIONS

• Mix all ingredients except the beef in a bowl to create the marinade.

• Add the beef and marinate for a few hours or overnight for best results.

• Grill or pan-fry until meat is cooked (approx. 30 minutes).

• Garnish with sesame seeds, add individual serving sizes into foil packets, close packet and serve with a side of Minute Rice® Premium Instant Long Grain White Rice

NOTES

• If you want to swap the coke for a healthier alternative, use half a cup of crushed asian pear or royal gala apple
• always taste your marinade before adding beef so you can adjust to your taste
• the meat quality and thinness is super important!
• if you double the recipe for leftovers, portion them out and freeze; thaw overnight the day before consuming.
• you can freeze the unused (& uncooked) meat in the freezer for a few weeks
• you can find pre-sliced bulgogi thinly sliced beef at most Asian stores, if not, ask the deli if they can thinly slice the meat about 1/8 inch. If you choose to cut the meat yourself at home, slicing is easier when meat is partly frozen.

Organ donation in Ontario increased by 30% in 2016

Trillium Gift of Life Network is proud to announce a third consecutive record year for organ and tissue donation and transplantation in Ontario. In 2016, deceased organ donation increased by 30 per cent, leading to more lives saved.

SOURCE Trillium Gift of Life Network

New CCSA Report Reveals Canadian Youth Perceptions on Marijuana

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) today released Canadian Youth Perceptions on Cannabis, a new study that offers a detailed look at the youth perspective on marijuana.

Against the backdrop of changes to the legal framework for marijuana, Canadian rates for marijuana use by young people remain among the highest in the world. To contribute to a better understanding of the issue, CCSA held focus groups with Canadians between the ages of 14 and 19.

Building on our 2013 report on the same subject, we developed Canadian Youth Perceptions on Cannabis to gain a more intimate understanding of the kinds of conversations that are taking place about marijuana every day in schools, at home and in the community. Youth views on marijuana, where they get their information and how they understand that information were all key questions that drove the research and laid the foundation for the key findings of this report.

The primary purpose for gathering these insights is to inform education, health promotion and prevention initiatives. Combining CCSA's previous research on youth perceptions and the current study, we are providing a clearer picture of what Canadian young people think about marijuana, what common misconceptions they hold, where there are gaps in the evidence and how best to move forward with prevention and education efforts, especially in light of anticipated changes to marijuana legislation.

Among the key findings from Canadian Youth Perceptions on Cannabis is that young people think marijuana is neither addictive nor harmful, and that it affects individuals differently. Some youth "self-prescribe" marijuana for stress and mental health management, such as for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, as well as for relaxation purposes. And, while they have a preference for messaging about marijuana that is based on the evidence, the Internet, media, enforcement practices and government's intention to legalize it are important influences on the views of young people about marijuana.

Other key findings of the study include:

• Participants identified peers, family, the availability of marijuana and the belief that marijuana is acceptable as influencing their decision to use it.
• Some participants were also influenced by their beliefs in the medical, physical and mental health benefits of marijuana.
• Participants thought that the effects of marijuana are based on the person and his or her attitudes, rather than the drug itself, a rationale that provides youth an opportunity to selectively decide when it is safe or harmful to use marijuana.
• Most youth felt that long-term, frequent marijuana users were subject to negative health effects, whereas recreational users were not.
• Many young people believe marijuana is less impairing than alcohol when it comes to driving, but recognize that using it before driving can slow reaction time and affect other skills needed to safely operate a vehicle.
• Although many youth want facts about marijuana, the study found that they have difficulty navigating through conflicting messages, resulting in confusion, false beliefs and the likelihood that youth will rely on friends, drug dealers or personal experiences to form their opinions.

Next Steps

Canadian Youth Perceptions on Cannabis illustrates the complexity around the issue of youth marijuana use and confirms the importance of providing evidence-informed messaging to young people about the science around the effects of the substance.

By integrating findings from this report into future education and prevention efforts, those who work in health promotion and with youth can better address the misconceptions of young people while also promoting a dialogue that can lead to a greater understanding of why youth start using the drug. The study reveals that clear messaging about the legality of marijuana, the role of police, the health risks and risks related to marijuana-impaired driving, and the definition of marijuana impairment might help to increase awareness of its overall harms. A desire for low-risk cannabis use guidelines — a harm reduction approach — was also suggested by youth.

Quotes

"Over the years, CCSA has produced research reports and policy briefs, and mobilized knowledge about marijuana aimed at increasing awareness of the evidence on this topic and informing policy and practice. To that end, we hope that the findings from our second Canadian Youth Perceptions on Cannabis report will help support the federal and provincial governments' work in establishing a framework for legalization, with a particular focus on keeping the substance out of the hands of youth and establishing public education efforts that reflect what we know from the evidence."

Rita Notarandrea, CEO, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

"It is essential that we have a balanced, evidence-informed picture of youths' perceptions of cannabis in order to move forward in providing a comprehensive body of evidence to parents and others who support youth and, of course, youth themselves. This report addresses that need."

Joanne Brown, Executive Director, Parent Action on Drugs

"This study connects us to the latest evidence which, in turn, helps us inform our own communication with youth and youth-centred organizations and schools in communities across Canada. This is particularly important at a time when we are preparing for legalized marijuana, with an expressed purpose in keeping the substance out of the hands of youth. We need more of this on the ground research for the future."

Mario Harel, President, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police

"Legalization and regulation is an important, positive step towards a public health approach to cannabis and we know there is a higher proportion of cannabis users among youth aged 15–25 in Canada than in other developed countries. This report by CCSA sheds light on youth perceptions and provides some of the much-needed information for the public health community to craft evidence-informed health promotion messages and educational materials."

Ian Culbert, Executive Director, Canadian Public Health Association

CCSA was created by Parliament to provide national leadership to address substance use in Canada. A trusted council, we provide national guidance to decision makers by harnessing the power of research, curating knowledge and bringing together diverse perspectives.

CCSA activities and products are made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views of CCSA do not necessarily represent the views of the Government of Canada.

SOURCE Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

Let's talk about the prevalence of youth suicide and take action, say Ontario Psychiatrists

Report shows that suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death of young people 

Suicide is the leading cause of death among Canadians age 15 to 34, after car accidents, says an alarming report from Ontario Psychiatrists. But unlike car accidents, the report identifies that the number of suicides across Canada has remained unchanged for more than four decades, with 70 per cent of mental health issues starting in childhood and suicide accounting for 24 per cent of all deaths among young people.  Ontario Psychiatrists are calling for immediate action, releasing a report that makes strong recommendations and calls on government to mend system gaps and reduce the risk of suicide among Canadian youth.

"Despite the prevalence of mental illness and suicide among young Canadians, today's society is still facing challenges around stigma and access to services making it far too hard for our youth to get the care they need," said Dr. Diana Kljenak, Co-Chair of the Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists. "Heroic efforts by Bell Let's Talk and others within our health care system, government and communities are made everyday to encourage discussion around suicide and mental illness, but we need action. Now."

The report Stemming the Tide: Strengthening youth suicide prevention in Ontario and in Canada, was developed by Ontario Psychiatrists with input from Ontario policy analysts, national mental health organizations, clinicians, researchers, as well as psychiatrists and individuals with lived experience with suicide. Outlining the current state of mental health and youth suicide, the report points to system gaps and funding issues as areas in need of improvement.

Ontario Psychiatrists identify the need for greater leadership on the issue and list seven challenges and recommendations to address the problem of youth suicide:

1. Invest in better mental health support for children.
2. Close the system gaps.
3. Build better care coordination and service alignment.
4. Improve the collection and quality of data.
5. Provide better access to funding.
6. Provide better support for parents, families, caregivers and communities.
7. Invest in child and youth mental health research.

"The federal and Ontario government have agreed that our mental health system needs to improve in order to meet the needs of Canadians whether they are in crisis, at risk of crisis or averted a crisis," said Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, Co-Chair of the Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists. "Suicide is a symptom of mental illness. By taking action to address mental illness and improving access to treatment, we will improve care and reduce the suicide rate among young Canadians."

About the Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists: The Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists is a formal partnership of the Ontario Psychiatric Association and the Section on Psychiatry of the Ontario Medical Association. The Coalition represents over 1,900 psychiatrists in Ontario. One of the Coalition's primary goals is to advocate for improved mental health services in Ontario and to work with other stakeholders and government to develop better policy. Psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and provide high quality mental health services to Ontarians.

SOURCE Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists

Looking to eat well?  Keep it simple to make it stick

Stock a smart pantry to stay on track

At the start of 2017, many of us vowed that this year would be different. In 2016, we were too busy to grocery shop, our kids turned their nose up at dinner – so we caved and got takeout more than we’d like to admit.  But this year it was going to be different. We were going to eat better, take proper care of ourselves and our families, and not fall into the same traps. But chances are old behaviours have already started rearing their heads, prompting many of us to ask: what am I doing wrong?

You’re doing nothing wrong.  Contrary to popular belief, it can take anywhere from 18 to over 250 days to form a new habit. Every single one of us operates on a different timeline, which means our environment greatly influences our success. And when it comes to forming new eating habits, what we keep in our kitchen – or put in our pantry – can sway what we actually end up eating.

Not to mention, getting a meal on the table during the week is no easy task.  There is a reason why dinnertime has earned the title of the “witching hour.” From picky eaters, to turning into a short-order cook, or being just too tired to shop, these parental pain points have us yearning for a mid-week win. Well, wait no longer. Help is on the way, with the Minute Rice® #WeekdayWin Challenge. Need a 15-minute recipe for a real? A meal your picky eater will actually eat?  Our #WeekdayWin network - a community of moms, foodies and family experts - has the answers. For the next eight weeks, our network will uncover the best, mom-endorsed recipes and meal planning tips to solve the most common pain points for Canadian families. Sourced from their community of moms, our network will help families across Canada to create a new habit with simple meals they can feel good about. After all, who knows better than Mom?

So just what are those dinner time dilemmas for parents?

Shop your pantry for that mid-week win.

Recent Canadian Minute Rice® Research confirms that eight-in-ten women (82%) say that when they’re too busy to grocery shop, they rely on a stocked pantry with key items like rice, pasta or olive oil to prepare easy, wholesome meals at home. As much as many of us romanticize the idea of the daily, European-style shop, our busy North-American lives rarely – if ever, during the week – allow for it.

“When you spend as much time online as we do, you can be lured into falsely believing that every meal you make needs to be an original creation, with carefully-sourced ingredients that were bought day-of,”  says family food blogger and #WeekdayWin Network member Julie Albert, who co-founded Bite Me More with her sister Lisa Gnat. “We love cooking like that occasionally, but we can’t do that every day. Our pantries are packed with simple basics that we can quickly match up with a few other ingredients to satisfy our families when we have lots of other things going on,” echoes Lisa.

Kid Friendly meals?  The struggle is real.

Every parent has experienced it in one form or another – the long-faced, pouty-lipped expression coupled with an “I don’t want to eat this” (or on worse days a “you can’t make me.”) Minute Rice’s study reveals that nearly four-in-ten parents admit to struggling to find kid-friendly meals their family will eat, and 36% avoid dinnertime altercations altogether by preparing a different meal or dinner for their kids than they do for the adults.

If the adults want fish and veggies with rice, it’s easy enough to substitute scrambled eggs in place of fish, or fruit in place of veggies, without having to create a second full meal from scratch. Interestingly also, a person’s willingness to do this may somewhat depend on where they live: the research shows that people in Ontario are almost twice as likely to customize meals for kids as those from the Prairies.

“Between school, work, and activities many parents have limited time with their kids these days,” says Julie. “Many simply don’t want to spend family time fighting over dinner. Pantry ingredients like instant rice allow for easily adaptable meals that every member of the family can enjoy.”

In keeping with these sentiments, the majority of women (79%) feel that meals they can make at home in 15 minutes, with fewer ingredients, make their life easier during the week. And simple ingredients can help solve that dinnertime dilemma.

Wholesome doesn’t have to be pricy.

The study also revealed that 67% of Canadians want their family to eat wholesome and natural foods, but they feel it’s expensive to do so consistently. In reality, it doesn’t have to be. There are many wholesome foods available that don’t cost an arm and a leg – and many of them can live in your cupboard, which can come as a surprise to some Canadians.

For example, half of us don’t know that instant rice is simply rice that’s been partially pre-cooked, a fact men and women equally agree on.  One in four of us admit to not knowing what instant rice is at all.

“Rice is a grain we’ve been eating for thousands of years, that is simple, delicious, naturally fat-free, gluten-free, and non-perishable,” says Norma D’Onofrio, Senior Brand Manager, Minute Rice. “Our instant rice is just rice that’s been partially pre-cooked and dried so that people can save time at home. No additives, and it’s just one ingredient. It’s really that simple.”

This means that those who stock their pantry with staples such as instant rice are in a position to save cooking-time, while also eating a wholesome grain that’s been around for ages.

“Once you’ve decided that rice is going to be a part of the family meal, you only have to select a veggie and a protein to complete your plate,” says Lisa.    “A simple solution is imagining your meal in terms of ‘thirds’.  Pairing a grain, a serving of vegetables and a protein – like beef or chicken – can be your family’s formula to making dinner time easy in three simple steps.”

What’s your #WeekdayWin?

Most Canadians decide what’s for dinner about an hour before they start cooking, and when you’re in the middle of your busy week, it’s fair to assume that creativity is waning.  So start your year off right by following #WeekdayWin for our network’s inspiration, tips, and the winning mom-tested recipes tasted and scored by our network of savvy moms and Canadian families.   And there’s more.  This February 8^th, Bite Me More will provide some mid-week inspiration on our Facebook Live debut which tackles 15 minute meals (for real).  Need further motivation?  Visit MinuteRice.ca  for versatile, delicious and easy 1-2-3 meal ideas and see our network in action.

You’ll soon get used to the satisfaction of consistently getting a meal on the table that’s good for your family – and that you can feel good about serving. Achieved your first Weekday Win?  Celebrate with us and share your #WeekdayWin to inspire others.  We’ll bask in your glory, and you may even have the opportunity to be showcased on our site.

-30 –

About Minute Rice:
Made by the Catelli Foods Corporation, Minute Rice pre-cooked instant rice is available in tastes and formats that suit all palates. Wholesome, 100% Natural, Premium Long Grain White Rice; Premium Whole Grain Brown Rice - that’s ready in ten minutes; convenient Ready to Serve Cups;  flavourful Basmati and Jasmine varieties.  For more information, visit MinuteRice.ca.

About the Research Study:

A survey of 1578 Canadians was completed online between November 28th and December 1st 2016 using Leger’s online panel, LegerWeb. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/-2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

Study: Brain Exercises May Help with Impact of Ringing in the Ears

A study just published in JAMA Otolaryngology indicates that certain brain exercises from Posit Science may help patients better cope with tinnitus – a condition commonly referred to as “ringing in the ears.”

The US Centers for Disease Control estimates some 15% of Americans (about 50 million people) have experienced tinnitus; roughly 20 million Americans struggle with burdensome chronic tinnitus; and two million have extreme and debilitating cases. The global number has been estimated at about 360 million people.

In 99 percent of cases, people with tinnitus hear a persistent or intermittent sound (ringing, tones, buzzing, whistling, clicking, etc) that cannot be heard by others, nor objectively measured. In recent years, it has been reported that the incidence is particularly high among firefighters and other first responders exposed to loud sound blasts – a group that was heavily represented in this study.

Typically, individuals with tinnitus have worse than average working memory, selective attention, processing speed and reaction times. The researchers hypothesized that since the plasticity-based brain exercises in BrainHQ had been shown effective in these areas in other populations, they might be beneficial in tinnitus.

In the study run at Washington University in St. Louis, researchers randomized 40 patients, who reported having bothersome tinnitus for at least six months, into an intervention and a no contact control group. The intervention group was asked to train one hour a day, five days per week, for eight weeks with a regimen of online auditory brain training exercises derived from the online BrainHQ exercises from Posit Science. Another 20 healthy adults acted as a second control for comparison purposes.

Intervention and control participants were measured at the beginning and end of the eight-week training period across a number of behavioral and cognitive self-report instruments, through brain scans and with qualitative assessment.

Researchers reported no significant between group differences on the behavioral and cognitive self-report instruments, but the qualitative assessment indicated that half the intervention group reported they felt improvement in their tinnitus.

When asked how much their tinnitus had changed from the start of the study, 50% of the intervention group reported they experienced improvement (with 30% reporting they were much or very much improved), as compared to only 15% in the control group who reported improvement (all of which was reported as minimal improvement).  Researchers noted that the qualitative assessment mainly reported improvements in tinnitus, memory, attention and concentration.

The MRI neuro-imaging showed significant between group differences, with the intervention group showing strengthening in areas associated with control and attention. The researchers found this to be consistent with the hypothesis that the plasticity-based exercises drive structural changes in the brain associated with better outcomes.

"We believe that continued research into the role of cognitive training rehabilitation programs is supported by the findings of this study, and the role of neuroplasticity seems to hold a prominent place in the future treatments for tinnitus," the researchers reported. "On the basis of our broad recruitment and enrollment strategies, we believe the results of this study are applicable to most patients with tinnitus who seek medical attention."

“These are encouraging results in addressing a common condition that can have effects ranging from the bothersome to the severely debilitating and life-altering.” said Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science, the maker of the BrainHQ exercises. “These results further earlier work using our exercises and assessments in this area.  We plan to seek additional support for further research, which may someday allow us to bring to market a targeted program for people with tinnitus.”

Want a delicious Super Bowl meal that burns belly fat and help you get lean?  Chili!  You can even use fatty ground beef.   [Recipe below.]

Husbands, boyfriends and other men over 40 can also build testosterone levels – and have more energy, more strength and less belly fat, according to Clark Bartram, 53, Performance & Nutrition Industry Expert for Six Pack Abs, and Lead Advisor to the International Sports Sciences Association.  When men’s testosterone levels are low, they face muscle loss, low energy and loss of sex drive.  Additionally, their body stores most of the food they eat as belly fat.

Clark Bartram cooks testosterone boosting, belly fat burning chili, his Super Bowl meal of choice.

When a man turns 30, his testosterone levels can decrease by 1-2% a year.  By the time he reaches his 40s and 50s, his testosterone production can be down to half of what it once was, according to Bartram.

“Giving you half the testosterone production and double the belly fat – that’s not good,” he says.  “That’s why it’s so important for us older men to start boosting our natural testosterone immediately.”

Rather than get testosterone treatments or “legal steroids” (with frequent side effects) from a physician, Bartram says, “Let food be your medicine.”

The fats in red meat as well as salmon and tuna boost testosterone, he said.  Other such foods are: almonds, garlic, eggs, cabbage, spinach, asparagus, avocados, bananas, watermelon, citrus fruit, grapes, and honey.

For Super Bowl chili, adding white button mushrooms are a key ingredient to blocking estrogen, the female version of testosterone.  Estrogen can cause a man to bloat, develop breast tissue and store more fat around the waist.  Rising estrogen levels also cause your belly fat to start producing a testosterone killing chemical that creates even more estrogen.

At TestMaxMeals.com, Bartram offers more testosterone boosting food tips, 3 so-called “healthy” foods that can dramatically decrease testosterone levels, and 3 “cheat” foods that boost testosterone.  He also explains how to quickly prepare and cook an entire week’s worth of your favorite testosterone boosting foods in less than an hour and at a low cost.

Clark Bartram’s Super Bowl Chili Recipe

2 lbs. ground beef (15% fat)                  1 can kidney beans
1 cup white button mushrooms              1 can black beans
1/2 cup chopped onions                        1 can organic chopped tomatoes
2 tbs. chili powder                                 pinch of salt
jar organic tomato puree                        garlic to taste

1.) Sauté ground beef until it is brown.
2.) Place meat into big pot and add all other ingredients.
3.) Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes.

Enjoy.